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Comparison

Flock vs Laravel Herd

Herd and Flock agree on the big idea: Laravel should run natively, without Docker, on a .test domain with real HTTPS. They part ways on what you pay for. Herd keeps databases, mail and debugging in its $99-a-year Pro tier. In Flock they are simply part of the app.

Download Flock Switching from Herd

Side by side

Row by row, no fine print.

Flock
Laravel Herd
Price
Yes: Free, open source, no account
$ Paid: Free core, services need Pro ($99/yr)
Platforms
Yes: macOS, Windows and Linux, native apps
Partly: macOS and Windows, no Linux yet
Runs natively
Yes: Native processes, no VM or containers
Yes: Native, nginx and PHP-FPM
PHP versions
Yes: 8.1 to 8.5 side by side
Yes: 7.4 up to 8.6 (release candidate)
PHP per project
Yes: Pinned in .flockrc or isolated per site
Yes: Isolated per site
.test domains
Yes: Built-in DNS, subdomains included
Yes: Automatic
Trusted HTTPS
Yes: Root limited to .test, no warnings
Yes: One click or command per site
Databases
Yes: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB
$ Paid: Pro only
Cache, search, storage
Yes: Valkey, Meilisearch, Typesense, RustFS
$ Paid: Pro only
Database UI
No: Use your own client
No: Not included
Mail catcher
Yes: An inbox per app, HTML preview
$ Paid: Pro only
Dumps and logs
Yes: Per-request timeline and Laravel log
$ Paid: Pro only, in Insights
Xdebug
Yes: Turns on when you set a breakpoint
Partly: Bundled, set up in php.ini; auto in Pro
Node.js
Yes: Per project from .nvmrc
Yes: Per site through nvm
Other languages
No: PHP and Node.js only
No: PHP and Node.js only
FrankenPHP and Octane
Yes: Per site, with Octane worker mode
No: nginx with PHP-FPM
Public preview link
Yes: Cloudflare tunnel, one command
Yes: Through Expose
AI agentic development
Yes: Built-in MCP server
Yes: MCP server built in, runtime context Pro
Built in Partly or by hand $ Paid tier Not available

Compared in October 2026 from each tool's own website. Something out of date? Tell us on GitHub.

Which one fits

Pick the tool, not the hype.

Choose Flock if…

  • You want PostgreSQL, MySQL, Valkey or Meilisearch without a subscription.
  • Your team pins PHP and Node in a committed file, so every machine matches.
  • You run Laravel Octane, or want to try FrankenPHP on one site.
  • You prefer open source tools you can read and contribute to.

Choose Laravel Herd if…

  • You want the tool built by the Laravel team itself.
  • You still maintain a PHP 7.4 project, or test the next PHP before it ships.
  • You already pay for Pro and share sites through Expose every day.

FAQ

Flock and Herd, answered.

No. Flock is written from scratch: a background service with an embedded Caddy web server and DNS, and native apps in SwiftUI and WinUI 3. It just serves the same kind of projects.

Yes, but only one of them can serve sites, because both need ports 80 and 443. Quit Herd before you start Flock, and the other way around.

Not yet. Set the version once with flock isolate, or better, pin it in .flockrc so it travels with the project. Importing sites from other tools is on the roadmap.

More comparisons

Flock vs Laragon Flock vs XAMPP Flock vs AppServ Flock vs ServBay Flock vs FlyEnv Flock vs Local Flock vs Docker (Laravel Sail) Flock vs Lerd Flock vs Yerd Flock vs EnvKit

Join the flock.

Install Flock, park your code folder and open https://your-app.test.

Download Flock Star on GitHub