Recently, I started using Laravel Herd instead of XAMPP and Laragon — and honestly, the difference is clear from day one ⚡
Laravel Herd focuses on speed, simplicity, and developer experience.
What is Laravel Herd? #
Laravel Herd is an official local development tool by the Laravel team.
It allows you to run Laravel projects locally with almost zero configuration.
No complex setup.
No port conflicts.
No heavy services.
Key Features #
✅ Fast Laravel project execution
✅ Easy PHP version switching
✅ Built-in support for Node, npm, and Vite
✅ Automatic local domains
✅ SSL enabled by default
✅ Clean and lightweight UI
✅ Better performance than traditional stacks
Database Support #
The free version of Herd does not include a built-in database.
However, you can easily connect:
- External MySQL
- Docker
- XAMPP / Laragon
- Any standalone database service
📌 Built-in database is available in Herd Pro only.
When Should You Use Laravel Herd? #
Laravel Herd is perfect if:
✔️ You work mainly with Laravel
✔️ You want speed and simplicity
✔️ You prefer zero-config tools
✔️ You focus on coding, not setup
Final Thoughts #
Laravel Herd is not just another tool.
It’s a workflow upgrade for Laravel developers.
Highly recommended 💜
