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DDEV vs Laravel Herd: catalog facts
DDEV	Laravel Herd
Free Free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license, funded by sponsorships.	Freemium Free for the core environment; Herd Pro is a paid upgrade with extra features.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS
Sets up PHP and Node.js environments quickly Project configuration can be version controlled and shared	Native binaries with no Docker or VM required Switch PHP versions quickly
Requires a Docker provider to be installed first macOS setup recommends at least 8GB of RAM	Database services, mail and log tools are part of the paid Pro tier Focused on PHP and Laravel rather than other stacks
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Closed source
License: Apache-2.0	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.