You will have to spend 5 minutes doing it yourself. As far as I can tell, DesktopServer bundles XAMPP and serves as an extension to the XAMPP server that automatically installs WordPress and handles creating virtual servers and hosts file entries for you automatically. Not quite sure what all DesktopServer does behind the scenes but Local usually needs to update /etc/hosts file for the custom domains to work. WP is only what it is due to the open source and community. Its actually essential Sign up to get your free copy of my New Customer Questionnaire. Still figuring it out, but Ill probably get there someday! If I read this right, you are incorrect MAMP Pro offers an automated install of WordPress. The process isnt fun and its entirely possible to make mistakes. Noties: WordPress will install phpmyadmin and Apache, therefor it will not need Xampp. MAMP Pro, on the other hand, does all of this and more via an easy-to-use, albeit ugly, native application. In case you were wondering, the stack consists of the following components: Now, if you werent using the Bitnami Stack, youd be installing each of those components separately. This is useful for developers but for writers not so much. This time the server started up as expected. Also, its completely free. It has a GUI for installing WordPress as well as lots of other software. Its been around for longer than most web developers and offers a workable solution. Have you tried running WP using Parallels Desktop VM? I tried it a year ago but it was still too immature, now apparently they are releasing a 3.0 version (called Lando) so maybe its time to give it another try. Additionally, it installs MAMP Pro which you can use as a free trial for 2 weeks but will cost you $79 after that. Its fast, has a good cPanel and all the tools we tend to like such as phpAdmin and 1-click installs for WordPress. Ill give XAMPP the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe the Mac app is just their weak link. might give it a try. It worked! I use VmWare with full stack servers running inside of some kind of Vagrant Box, usually an Ubuntu 16 (LTS) Bento Box. I use Bitnami Stacks to do local installs: https://bitnami.com/stack/wordpress and it is simple enough that I can have non-technical folks install and use it as a safe way to learn WordPress, or one of the many many other stacks Bitnami provides. For $100, Updraft has a 5-year license of their "migration" module. I switched from MAMP to Laravel Valet directly and I am so glad I did it. Many times when migrating between local and remote copies, my URLs would get messed up. Umm, https://deliciousbrains.com/wp-migrate-db-pro/ and https://mergebot.com/ are pretty good. Are there other GUI-based tools that you think I should have covered on this list? Instant WordPress. Its just never fun to disrupt your workflow! XAMPP starts off with a silly pronunciation (we can all agree, it should be pronounced zamp) and continues the trend with a clunky install process, unintuitive interface, and lack of features. Sign up for my newsletter and get your free copy. The installer ran fine but thats about all it did. I am looking to create two database sites. Ive been using MAMP Pro for a number of years and have found it to be reliable, adequately configurable, and a bit slower than Local. Im not much for managed WordPress hosting, I like a normal LAMP environment for ease of use with GIT personally, but I think youre article accurately sums up these tools. Its available for both Windows as well as Mac. It will automatically set up SSL for your sites, open source MailHog integration to catch outbound emails the list goes on. Your website looks old though, makes me wonder if DS has been abandoned. My advice is, dont even bother with Windows binaries of PHP or PECL extensions nothing beats having full access to the real Linux software, development tools like xdebug, and a near-identical environment to that which your production servers will be running! All in all, Id say DesktopServer works well for WordPress site developers. Locals "Lightning" update has made things quite fast, I wonder how it would compare with Laragon. Just wondering.. Like DesktopServer, Local is a WordPress-centric offering, so whenever you create a new site, its a WordPress site out of the box. XAMPP isnt all bad. If you do, youll getport conflicts as well as some MySQL errors. Theres an option to uncheck phpMyAdmin if you dont want access to the database. WordPress Multisite is the same software that powers Wordpress.com, enabling administrators to host and manage multiple websites from the same WordPress instance. Desktop Server is great too! System Requirements Bitnami XAMPP modules require either XAMPP or a Bitnami LAMP, MAMP or WAMP stack already installed. While it does give you a couple of options for server environments (you can use Apache or Nginx, as well as select between a couple PHP and MySQL versions), it doesnt let you run multiple types of environments at the same time or do any of the legwork of setting up new sites for you. It provides an easy interface to share your sites on the internet using Ngrok. Just a heads up DesktopServer has been discontinued, and Local has gone downhill fast, I have spent a few days trying to get it up and running. Desktop Server runs under PHP5.5. Bitnami tutorials simply dont seem to exist in droves, probably because theyre not very necessary. Bitnami Application Catalog Find your favorite application in our catalog and launch it. Take a look here at the ridiculously long, drawn-out process for installing XAMPP plus Wordpress on your machine. Windows is and always will be poorly supported for PHP development, because hardly anyone deploys PHP projects to Windows servers. One-click apps defaulting with WordPress, Drupal, and Laravel, but you can create more. Instead you just launch the app and if its your first time running it, youll be greeted with the following screen: Local is a cross-platform application and supports all major operating systems. Hey! Its more like a a spanish cs sound for words like Contexto or Flexible and like a spanish J in words like Mexico. Having been around for a long time, I like to mettle, so periodically I clone the site and run it locally using ServerPress to control the server. You can browse Bitnami modules for XAMPP here . 2- Then install It's simple. In the application password, you can select any new password and retype the same (note the login and application password). Take a deep breath. Perhaps installing WP the long way, using XAMPP gives you features and control you dont have when you go the Bitnami Route, but I didnt discover what those might be in my research. I also recommend it to anyone who is just beginning with WordPress (users or developers). If we dont support OS, how can we justifiably use WP? Nice review but I cannot install local by flywheel on my laptop. Certainly none of the options are perfect. Launch applications to the cloud with one click. Then select which folder you want to install it in, or leave it at the default (Programs). This tutorial uses a Mac OS X native installer, but similar steps apply on Windows and Linux platforms. I dont have much choice, just bought this new Win 10 machine. If youre seeing any issues, please reach us via support. I fired up Local By Flywheel and within an hour had a new site up and running on my Windows 10 laptop. If you were to Bing installing a local WordPress, the results would most likely direct you to an XAMPP tutorial. Ive been a long time user of MAMP Pro, but have had issues using it on Windows and clashing with antivirus software, so have set up Xampp on our PCs. Good to hear that, Kirk. Then, youll be setting up your database, etcyou know the drill (and if you dont, refer to that tutorial link I gave you at the beginning of this section). Youll need to go through their application to open the SSH container separately for each site. In case you were wondering, the stack consists of the following components: Now, if you werent using the Bitnami Stack, youd be installing each of those components separately. Laravel Valet is such a neat command line software to use in the Mac environment. Originally called Pressmatic, Local was later acquired by Flywheel who has since been giving it away for free to all new users. Powerful yet simple, everyone from students to global corporations use it to build beautiful, functional websites. I dont recall any problems setting up Local on Window. Ive run sfc scan now and dism.exe. Its really not a limit in that you can actually create as many sites as you want, but you ARE limited to the number of sites you can manage at one time. Anyway, I hope that helps clear a few things up and should anyone have any questions, feel free to contact me directly! For me, that's C://xampp. It is the most complete UI-based local development solution for WordPress developers on the market, and its mind-bogglingly free. Thats why the XAMPP tutorial is so darned long. A few of these are new to me though, so thanks for the intro! Its easier than you think to install a local version of WordPress on your laptop. SHAMPs XAMPPs interface, at least on MacOS, is less than intuitive. It doesnt come with WP-CLI, but it is two steps to install and the it is available from any terminal window including phpStorms terminal. Ive been using Local for the last year or so and been really happy with it, especially how it handles WP multisite/network using subdomains, something that is a lot more complicated to setup in typical LAMP/MAMP/XAMP setups, or with DesktopServer. Duplicator Pro still needs a pile of other actions and knowledge to get the job done. The respective trademarks mentioned in the offerings are owned by the respective companies, and use of them does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. Updates to all sites can be pushed at once, ensuring . As mentioned before, Local offers a variety of server environment options and automatically sets up WordPress (including both variations of multisite) for you. DesktopServer is super easy to use and gets you up and running with WordPress in a snap, but might be a little too basic for developers who need to test in different server environments. It's a great resource for anyone who wants to get detailed info on branding, target audience, and goals from their new customers. Hi, thanks for this, have you experienced any issues with local and db migrate pro? XAMPP also has SSL feature while WAMP doesnt. Setting up a site in Local usually takes 60-90 seconds for me, and using the site feels fast too. Otherwise, Id have been lost at sea. Local is dope! Ive wanted to do local development for a while, but found it to be too hard to configure. On top of the free version, Local offers two paid plans for individuals and teams costing $20/month and $50/month respectively. While many computers are capable of hosting a WordPress site without needing to install any extra packages, there are a few advantages that a dedicated local development environment can offer.