DevWorkspace Pro vs Laragon

Laragon is a Windows tool, and on Windows it is small, portable and quick: native PHP, Node and databases, plus one-click Laravel and WordPress apps. The question is what happens when someone on your team uses a Mac or Linux, or when your projects outgrow a native PHP stack.

That is where DevWorkspace Pro comes in. It runs on all three operating systems, works with DDEV, Sail and Docker Compose, and gives every project AI agent sessions, GitHub and security scans.

Feature comparison

"Not listed" means the feature does not appear on the official Laragon pages as of the date of this page.

The short version of each

Laragon is a native local development environment for Windows. PHP, Node.js, Apache, Nginx, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Python and Go all live in one portable folder. On top of that you get "Quick app" for WordPress, Laravel and Symfony, app.test URLs, SSL, Mailpit and ngrok sharing.

DevWorkspace Pro does not install runtimes. Each project runs in DDEV, Laravel Sail, Docker Compose or with your own tools. Whatever the stack, every project gets the terminal, files, Git, GitHub and AI sessions.

Who each one is for

Stay with Laragon if:

• You only work on Windows.
• You want a small native stack with no Docker or WSL2.
• You like one-click WordPress, Laravel or Symfony apps with .test URLs.
• You want a portable install you can move between folders or drives.

Look at DevWorkspace Pro if:

• You use macOS or Linux, or your team mixes operating systems.
• Your projects use DDEV, Sail or Docker Compose, so every machine runs the same setup.
• You have .NET, Rust or a Flutter app next to your PHP code.
• You run Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode in many projects and want to resume sessions after a restart.
• You want dependency security scans and uptime monitoring next to your code.

What Laragon does well

• Small and light. Laragon says its core is under 6 MB and uses about 4 to 10 MB of RAM.
• No containers. Native binaries start fast and need no Docker or WSL2.
• Portable. The whole stack sits in one folder.
• Hobby pricing. Non-commercial use is free, with all features.
• Lifetime license. A commercial lifetime license costs less than the DevWorkspace Pro lifetime plan.

Laragon and DevWorkspace Pro on one Windows machine

The two work at different layers, so they don't get in each other's way.

1. Keep Laragon for PHP, Node, the web server and the databases.
2. Import your Laragon project folders into DevWorkspace Pro.
3. Pick the native run method. DevWorkspace Pro detects the stack and shows the Run card.
4. Use DevWorkspace Pro for GitHub issues and Actions, AI sessions, security scans and Focus Pad.

Going cross-platform

For the same setup on macOS and Linux, move your PHP projects to DDEV. On Windows, DDEV runs in WSL2.

1. In DevWorkspace Pro, pick your distribution in Preferences → General → WSL Distribution.
2. Create the project with DDEV as the run method.
3. Import your database dump with ddev import-db.

Getting Started has the details.

Sources

• Laragon home (stacks, size, features): https://laragon.org
• Laragon FAQ (Windows 10 and 11, license change): https://laragon.org/docs/faq
• Laragon free license policy: https://laragon.org/free-license-policy
• Laragon pricing: https://laragon.org/pricing
• DDEV developer tools (Mailpit): https://docs.ddev.com/en/stable/users/usage/developer-tools/
• DDEV sharing: https://docs.ddev.com/en/stable/users/topics/sharing/
• DevWorkspace Pro docs: https://docs.devworkspacepro.com/getting-started