$ local php environment
Local PHP. Every OS. Yours.
macOS, Linux and Windows — no WSL. Seven PHP versions side by side (7.4 → 8.5), MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite and Redis, a real-time debugger and Mailpit out of the box. The things Herd puts behind its $99/year Pro tier.
Phage is sponsorware: the source code goes MIT at 50 liberators
0/50 · Free the Code →
Free binaries — the copy button copies your OS install command
- 7 PHP versions, 7.4 → 8.5. FrankenPHP for 8.5, PHP-FPM below — switched per project.
- Debug, databases and mail. Live dumps, N+1 detection, MySQL · PostgreSQL · SQLite · Redis, Mailpit.
- One command to share. A public tunnel, plus a QR that opens the site on a phone — already signed in.
Phage in numbers
PHP versions (7.4 → 8.5)
OSes: macOS, Linux, Windows
DBs: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Redis
Documentation languages
$ comparison
Phage vs Herd vs Laragon
Three tools that do the same job. Here's the honest breakdown — including the parts where the others win.
Runs on
Phage
macOS · Linux · Windows
Herd
Licence
Phage
Open source at 50 liberators
Herd
Price
Phage
free binaries
Herd
Commercial use
Phage
✓ included
Herd
Debug / dumps
Phage
✓ included
Herd
Local email (Mailpit)
Phage
✓ included
Herd
PHP versions
Phage
7.4 → 8.5
Herd
Databases + GUI
Phage
MySQL · PostgreSQL · SQLite · Redis + Adminer
Herd
Share a site
Phage
Cloudflare · Pinggy, no account — + QR phone & magic-link login
Herd
AI agents
Phage
MCP server
Herd
Runtime
Phage
FrankenPHP (Caddy) + PHP-FPM
Herd
Runs on
Phage
macOS · Linux · Windows
Laragon
Licence
Phage
Open source at 50 liberators
Laragon
Price
Phage
free binaries
Laragon
Commercial use
Phage
✓ included
Laragon
Debug / dumps
Phage
✓ included
Laragon
Local email (Mailpit)
Phage
✓ included
Laragon
PHP versions
Phage
7.4 → 8.5
Laragon
Databases + GUI
Phage
MySQL · PostgreSQL · SQLite · Redis + Adminer
Laragon
Share a site
Phage
Cloudflare · Pinggy, no account — + QR phone & magic-link login
Laragon
AI agents
Phage
MCP server
Laragon
Runtime
Phage
FrankenPHP (Caddy) + PHP-FPM
Laragon
* Sponsorware: the binaries are free today; it is the source itself that becomes MIT — open source for everyone — at 50 liberators. Until then, the source is available to liberators.
where the others are ahead
- Herd — the polish of the app, the Laravel Forge integration, and one-click extras: Meilisearch, MinIO, MongoDB, Valkey. Plus herd.yml to share team config.
- Laragon — cloning an entire project with its database. The agency feature nobody else has — it is on our roadmap.
If Herd's polish or Laragon's project cloning matter more to you than running on Linux, keeping your binaries free, or dropping a subscription — use them, they're good tools. Phage is for the people who want those three things.
$ sponsor slots
Looking for PHP developers? They are here.
31 slots put your logo in front of PHP developers: on the site's sponsors page and on the app's Sponsors page, plus the release notes, a private channel with the author, priority support and a quarterly roadmap call. Billed yearly — and nothing per seat: the binaries stay free for your team, commercial use included.
See it run
$ everywhere
Runs where you do
Native on macOS, Linux and Windows. No WSL, no VM, no Docker tax on your filesystem.
- macOS and Linux, first-class Native builds for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora). Herd has no Linux version — and says it has no plans for one.
- Windows without WSL A real Windows build: no subsystem, no VM, no slow filesystem bridge.
- One binary, one app A single Go binary for the CLI, plus a native desktop app (Go + React, no Electron).
$ multi-php
One PHP version per project
Modern Laravel on 8.5, that legacy WordPress on 7.4 — at the same time, on the same machine.
- Seven versions, side by side PHP 7.4 through 8.5, installed once and switched per project — legacy apps included, not just the last three releases.
- FrankenPHP when speed matters, PHP-FPM when compatibility does 8.5 runs on embedded FrankenPHP (Caddy, worker mode); 8.4 down to 7.4 run on classic PHP-FPM. Phage picks the backend automatically.
- Switched per project, never globally phage php:use 7.4 legacy-wp — and only legacy-wp.test moves to 7.4. Nothing else in your setup changes.
$ debug & data
The debugging Herd charges $99/year for
Dumps, queries, N+1, databases and email — included, with no Pro tier to unlock.
- Phage Debug A zero-config, Ray-style live UI: log(), dump(), sql(), measure() — with IDE deep-links into VSCode and PHPStorm. Nothing to require, nothing to license.
- Debug Bar, N+1 and a profiler An injected toolbar with every query — and a flag the moment you build an N+1. Xdebug configs are generated for you, and SPX profiles every request.
- Databases and mail, built in MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite and Redis in the CLI and the GUI, bundled Adminer and a Redis browser, and Mailpit catching every mail() locally.
$ share & agents
Send it to a phone. Or to your agent.
Public tunnels, QR sharing and an MCP server — how you hand a local app to someone else in 2026.
- Public tunnels, no account phage share:start myapp gives you a Cloudflare or Pinggy URL, HTTPS included — no signup, no token to paste.
- A QR that opens your site — already signed in Scan it and your site opens on a real phone. On a protected tunnel it is a one-time magic link: the phone lands signed in. Nothing to type on a phone keyboard.
- An MCP server for Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot "Switch this site to PHP 8.4 and share it with me." Phage exposes its CLI as MCP tools, so your agent does it instead of you.
The lab in pictures
Real screenshots of the native app — no mockups.
Laravel · WordPress · Symfony · CakePHP · Slim · Drupal · Statamic · Craft CMS
$ getting started
Three steps, and your first site is live
1. download — free binaries (macOS, Linux, Windows)
Then open http://myproject.test — the native app (Go + React) is included.
Sponsorware: let's unlock open source
Phage's binaries are free for everyone, today. Freeing the code unlocks the source itself, every release candidate before the stable, a weighted roadmap vote and priority support. At 50 liberators the source becomes MIT — free for everyone, forever.
Code Liberator
Private repo access, every release candidate before the stable, a weighted roadmap vote, priority support.
/ month
- Full source code (private repo)
- Every release candidate before the stable (phage update --channel rc)
- Weighted roadmap vote — your 👍 counts +3
- Priority support
Binaries
The app is free for everyone: macOS, Linux and Windows. Public builds land with the stable release — liberators get each release candidate first. No trial, no nag screen, no Pro tier.
one-time
- Native macOS / Linux / Windows apps
- All stable releases, free forever
- Public roadmap and changelog
- No ads, no tracking, no Pro tier
Roadmap
QR sharing + magic-link login, and an MCP server
The QR opens your site on a phone, already signed in. And agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot) drive Phage over MCP.
FrankenPHP + PHP-FPM (8.5 → 7.4), .test domains, databases + Adminer, debugger, Mailpit, tunnels, native GUI
The core of the tool — free binaries for macOS, Linux and Windows.
Clone a project, files and database
The one thing Laragon does that Phage does not yet: duplicate a whole site in one command, database included. It is our priority.
The services Herd keeps for its Pro tier
Meilisearch, MinIO, MongoDB, MariaDB and Valkey in one click, locally — instead of wiring them up by hand.
Work on an incoming request without reproducing it
Capture a real request (a webhook, a production bug, an API call) and debug it in your own code, locally, without replaying it by hand.
Install Phage from Homebrew, the AUR and winget
The packages are already produced by our scripts — they just need publishing to the official repositories, so that "brew install phage" becomes true.
MIT open source
The repo goes public under the MIT license. Free, forever.
Frequently asked questions
The app is. Every stable build for macOS, Linux and Windows is free to download and use — no trial, no nag screen, no Pro tier. Freeing the code ($10/month) unlocks the source code now, plus every release candidate before the stable, a weighted roadmap vote (your 👍 counts +3) and priority support. At 50 liberators the source itself becomes MIT, free for everyone, forever.
No. Once the threshold is met, the code is public permanently. Past liberators owe nothing more.
It covers infrastructure and development time, and proves real demand — the same logic Alpine.js and Pest used at launch.
Phage is already a working product used daily. Sponsorware funds future development — it is not a prerequisite for the project to exist.
macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon and Intel), Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+, Fedora 35+) and Windows 10+ natively, no WSL required.
Three concrete things. It runs on Linux — Herd has no Linux version and says it has no plans for one. The debugging, mail and log tools Herd reserves for its $99/year Pro tier are included, and the binaries are free. And Phage is heading to MIT, so the code ends up yours. Where Herd is ahead: the polish of the app, the Forge integration, and one-click extras like Meilisearch or MongoDB. If those matter more, Herd is a good choice — we are not going to pretend otherwise.
Laragon is Windows-only, and its commercial licence costs $49/year or $149 for a lifetime seat — the free version reminds you to buy it on every launch. Phage runs on macOS, Linux and Windows, allows commercial use, and keeps its binaries free. Where Laragon is ahead: cloning an entire project with its database. That one is on our roadmap.
Ready to drop the friction?
Download it, use it — and if it saves you time, 50 liberators is all it takes to make it everyone's.
Free the Code