A free Laragon alternative for Windows
Laragon is a solid tool, but since v7 it's no longer freeware — personal use is allowed yet it keeps prompting for a paid license, and it serves one PHP version at a time. Dunebox is genuine freeware with no prompts, runs all five PHP versions at once, and is fully portable.
Dunebox vs Laragon
Side by side
| Feature | Dunebox | Laragon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Freefreeware, no prompts | Paid licensefree for personal, with prompts |
| PHP versions serving at the same time | ✓5.6–8.5, concurrent | Switchprofiles, one active |
| Databases managed, free | ✓MySQL ×3, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis | ✓MySQL / MariaDB |
| Mail catcher built in (Mailpit) | ✓ | ✓ |
Local .test + trusted HTTPS |
✓ | ✓ |
| Optional wildcard local DNS — no hosts-file edits | ✓ | — |
Context-aware php/artisan/composer |
✓per project, auto | Global |
| Fully portable — no installer, no service | ✓ | Partly |
| Claude (Code / Desktop) integration | ✓ | — |
Why developers switch: no license prompts, every PHP version running together (a different
one per site, not a global switch), an optional wildcard DNS so *.test just works without
touching the hosts file, and one portable folder you can move or carry on a USB stick. Competitor details
change over time — see the full comparison.
See also: Dunebox vs XAMPP · Dunebox vs Herd
Switch to Dunebox.
It's freeware.
Download a zip, extract it anywhere, open it once — everything configures itself. No installer, no Windows service, no license prompts.
Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) · ~2–3 GB · internet on first launch