DevWorkspace Pro vs XAMPP

XAMPP gives you a free, open-source bundle of Apache, MariaDB, PHP and Perl, installed in one go, with no containers involved. For learning PHP or running a simple site locally, that is often all you need.

The limits show up later. You might need a newer PHP version, or a different one for each project. You might be working in more than one stack, or want AI agents, GitHub and security scans for every project. That is the gap DevWorkspace Pro fills, with per-project PHP through DDEV.

Comparison table

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

What's in each

XAMPP, from Apache Friends, is a free and open-source bundle of Apache, MariaDB, PHP and Perl for Windows, Linux and OS X. On Windows it also ships phpMyAdmin, Tomcat, FileZilla FTP and Mercury Mail. The XAMPP Control Panel starts and stops the servers, and on Windows it can also install them as Windows services.

DevWorkspace Pro does not bundle servers. Projects run in DDEV, Laravel Sail, Docker Compose or with your own tools. Every project, whatever the stack, gets the terminal, files, Git, GitHub and AI sessions.

A note on XAMPP's defaults

XAMPP's defaults favor convenience. Its Windows FAQ says it is "configured to be open as possible", and that the MySQL administrator (root) has no password by default. The FAQ asks you to secure XAMPP before you publish anything online, and points to the XAMPP Security console for setting passwords.

Keep this in mind before you expose XAMPP on a shared network or put a XAMPP site online.

Who should use which

XAMPP is a good fit if:

• You are learning or teaching PHP and want one free installer.
• Your computer cannot run a container runtime.
• Your site works on the PHP versions XAMPP ships.
• You want Perl, Tomcat or an FTP server in the same bundle.

DevWorkspace Pro is a good fit if:

• You need a newer PHP version, or a different version per project. DDEV sets the PHP version per project.
• You want the same setup on every machine in your team.
• Your projects include Node, .NET, Python, Go, Rust or Flutter.
• You run AI agents in many projects and want to resume sessions after a restart.
• You want dependency security scans and uptime monitoring.

Where XAMPP wins

• Price. XAMPP is free and open source.
• One installer. Apache, MariaDB, PHP, Perl and phpMyAdmin install in a single step.
• No containers. You don't need Docker or WSL2.
• Extra servers. Tomcat, FileZilla FTP and Mercury Mail on Windows.

Using XAMPP and DevWorkspace Pro together

1. Keep XAMPP for older sites that need its PHP versions.
2. Import the site folders into DevWorkspace Pro and pick the native run method.
3. Use DevWorkspace Pro for Git, GitHub, AI sessions and the Composer and npm security scan.
4. Move new projects to DDEV when you need a newer PHP version.

Watch out for ports. DDEV lists a local Apache as the most common port conflict, so stop Apache in the XAMPP Control Panel before you start a DDEV project.

Moving a site from XAMPP to DDEV

1. Export the database from phpMyAdmin.
2. In DevWorkspace Pro, click New Project, choose the stack and pick DDEV as the run method. Set the PHP version and the database type.
3. Copy the site files from the XAMPP htdocs folder into the project folder.
4. Import the dump with ddev import-db in the Terminal tab.

Sources

• XAMPP home (components, free, open source): https://www.apachefriends.org/
• XAMPP downloads (versions, OS): https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html
• XAMPP Windows FAQ (components, Control Panel, Windows services, default passwords, not for production): https://www.apachefriends.org/faq_windows.html
• DDEV PHP version per project: https://docs.ddev.com/en/stable/users/configuration/config/
• DDEV troubleshooting (port conflicts): https://docs.ddev.com/en/stable/users/usage/troubleshooting/
• DevWorkspace Pro docs: https://docs.devworkspacepro.com/getting-started