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Lerd

A Herd-like local PHP development environment for Linux — Podman-native, rootless, zero system dependencies.

Lerd bundles Nginx, PHP-FPM, and optional services (MySQL, Redis, PostgreSQL, Meilisearch, MinIO) as rootless Podman containers, giving you automatic .test domain routing, per-project PHP/Node version isolation, and one-command TLS — all without touching your system's PHP or web server. Laravel-first, with built-in support for Symfony, WordPress, and any PHP framework via YAML definitions.

Lerd vs Laravel Sail

Laravel Sail is the official per-project Docker Compose solution. Lerd is a shared infrastructure approach, closer to what Laravel Herd does on macOS. Both are valid — they solve slightly different problems.

Lerd Laravel Sail
Nginx One shared container for all sites Per-project
PHP-FPM One container per PHP version, shared Per-project container
Services (MySQL, Redis…) One shared instance Per-project (or manually shared)
.test domains Automatic, zero config Manual /etc/hosts or dnsmasq
HTTPS lerd secure → trusted cert instantly Manual or roll your own mkcert
RAM with 5 projects running ~200 MB ~1–2 GB (5× stacks)
Requires changes to project files No Yes — needs docker-compose.yml committed
Works on legacy / client repos Yes — just lerd link Only if you can add Sail
Defined in code (infra-as-code) No Yes
Team parity (all OS) Linux only macOS, Windows, Linux

Choose Sail when: your team uses it, you need per-project service versions, or you want infrastructure defined in the repo.

Choose Lerd when: you work across many projects at once and don't want a separate stack per repo, you can't modify project files, you want instant .test routing, or you're on Linux and want the Herd experience.

Lerd vs ddev

ddev is a popular open-source local development tool that spins up per-project Docker containers with a shared Traefik router. It supports many frameworks (Laravel, WordPress, Drupal, etc.) and runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Lerd is narrower in scope — Laravel-focused, Podman-native, shared infrastructure — closer to the Herd model.

Lerd ddev
Container runtime Rootless Podman Docker (or Orbstack / Colima)
Architecture Shared Nginx + PHP-FPM across all projects Per-project containers + shared Traefik router
Services (MySQL, Redis…) One shared instance Per-project (isolated by default)
Domains .test — automatic, zero config .ddev.site or custom — automatic via Traefik
HTTPS lerd secure → trusted cert instantly Built-in via mkcert
RAM with 5 projects running ~200 MB ~500 MB–1 GB (5× app containers + router)
Requires changes to project files No Yes — needs .ddev/config.yaml committed
Works on legacy / client repos Yes — just lerd link Only if you can add ddev config
Framework support Laravel built-in; any PHP framework via YAML definitions Laravel, WordPress, Drupal, and many more
Defined in code (infra-as-code) No Yes
Team parity (all OS) Linux only macOS, Windows, Linux

Choose ddev when: your team is cross-platform, you work with multiple frameworks (not just Laravel), you want per-project service isolation, or your workflow already depends on Docker.

Choose Lerd when: you're on Linux, want a zero-config shared stack you can drop any project into without touching its files, prefer rootless Podman, or want the lightweight Herd-like experience.

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