How is Laravel Cloud different from Forge?

Laravel Cloud is a fully managed hosting platform. Forge is a provisioning and management tool that sets up servers at a cloud provider you control.

Does Forge provide autoscaling?

Forge does not include built-in autoscaling and scale-to-zero; scaling is manual via resizing instances or your provider.

Which cloud provider does Laravel Cloud use?

Laravel Cloud runs on AWS, fully managed by the Laravel team. No separate AWS account required.

Which delivers faster time to production?

Cloud reduces setup and ongoing operations so many teams reach production faster. Forge still requires server lifecycle management.

Which is more cost-effective: Laravel Cloud or Laravel Forge?

Laravel Cloud uses usage-based pricing, so you only pay for the resources your app is actually consuming. Compute scales to zero when your app is idle and scales back up automatically when traffic returns. Spending limits give you a hard ceiling so there’s no bill shock. Laravel Forge charges a fixed monthly subscription plus cloud provider costs that bill continuously whether your app is handling requests or not.

New scale-to-zero compute, spending limits, and a $5 Starter plan are now available on Cloud. Learn more

Laravel Cloud vs. Laravel Forge

Laravel Cloud replaces hours of server setup and infrastructure maintenance with one-click managed Laravel hosting. Forge helps you configure and run servers, but Cloud eliminates them altogether so you can launch faster and reduce long-term ops costs.

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Start in Cloud with $5 in free usage credit.

Laravel Cloud

Laravel Cloud is a fully managed hosting platform for Laravel applications that lets teams focus on shipping instead of configuring. It handles web and worker compute, managed databases, and caches, scaling up with traffic and down to zero when idle to keep costs low.

Push from Git in under a minute and let Cloud handle builds, replicas, and routing.
No need to create a separate server account: it’s all built in, from zero-downtime deployments to security (SOC 2 Type 2-compliant).
No manual capacity planning and no idle compute costs. Apps autoscale with traffic and down to zero when not in use.

Laravel Forge

Laravel Forge is a control plane for provisioning and managing servers at popular cloud providers, such as DigitalOcean, Vultr, Hetzner, AWS, and more. You can also provision instantly with Laravel VPS. Forge automates server setup, installs the required system software, configures web servers and queues, and gives you SSH access for added flexibility.

Install and configure SSL, firewall rules, and deployment hooks while retaining server root access.
Provision instantly with Laravel VPS, choose a supported server provider, or bring your own server.
Forge supports vanilla PHP, WordPress, Statamic, static HTML pages, and other stacks, including Node.js, Nuxt, and Next.js.

Network

Edge network

DDoS protection

Active

CDN

Enabled

Edge caching

Enabled

Domains

Custom domains

Verified

beep.today

US East (Ohio)

App cluster

Compute

Flex 512 MiB

Sleep after

Managed queuedefault

Memory

256 MiB

Workers

0-10 workers

Worker cluster

Compute

Flex 512 MiB

Scheduler

Enabled

US East (Ohio)

Beep

Database

name

[email protected]

Adi Abbot

benson@bensing...

Ben Benson

carlson@carlit...

Carl Carlson

[email protected]

Del Diago

[email protected]

Eric Eggerton

Cachebeep_main

Type

Valkey

Storage

250MB

Global

Beep

Disk

Private

Default

Yes

Over 20K teams deploy faster with Laravel Cloud

Why Laravel Cloud is better than
Laravel Forge

No infra to manage makes for blazing-fast development teams, as Cloud runs and scales everything.

Built-in databases, cache, and backups are ready instantly, no provider setup required.

Pay only for active compute, with apps that scale to zero automatically when idle.

“
Laravel Cloud gave us the stability, scalability, and peace of mind we desperately needed. I truly believe Laravel saved both my company and my sanity.”

Sam Pizzo

CEO at CMS Max

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Comparing Laravel Cloud vs. Laravel Forge

Laravel Cloud minimizes setup and ongoing operations so teams can launch faster and save on their project’s biggest expense: engineering hours. It’s the best option for scaling Laravel apps. Forge lets you control and customize server instances directly, which is ideal when you need specific system packages, root access, or a custom network setup.

Feature

Laravel Cloud

Laravel Forge

Key differences

A hosted Laravel platform that delivers managed compute, storage, and databases in a single product, with automatic scaling and scale to zero to eliminate idle costs.

A server provisioning and management service that sets up and maintains servers at your chosen provider while giving you full control of the machine and its configuration.

Key differences

A hosted Laravel platform that delivers managed compute, storage, and databases in a single product, with automatic scaling and scale to zero to eliminate idle costs.

Provider account required

No additional provider account required to use Cloud itself

Requires a cloud provider account or Laravel VPS to provision servers

Provider account required

No additional provider account required to use Cloud itself

Framework support

Built specifically for Laravel apps

Works for Laravel and other PHP apps, along with Nuxt and Next.js support

Framework support

Built specifically for Laravel apps

Server management

Fully managed; you do not manage OS or server instances

You retain SSH/root access and manage OS updates and customizations

Server management

Fully managed; you do not manage OS or server instances

Autoscaling

Horizontal autoscaling and scale-to-zero for idle environments

Manual scaling

Autoscaling

Horizontal autoscaling and scale-to-zero for idle environments

Control vs. convenience

Focus on convenience and predictable operations

Focus on control and deep customization

Control vs. convenience

Focus on convenience and predictable operations

Performance and scalability

Cloud adjusts capacity based on actual traffic and can automatically add or remove replicas to match demand. Environments scale to zero when unused and wake automatically on request, eliminating costs for intermittent workloads.

Forge provisions servers sized to your needs and lets you scale by resizing instances or adding new machines at your provider. This model gives consistent performance for long-running processes but requires manual scaling or custom automation to handle spikes.

Performance and scalability

Deployment speed

Fast Git-to-live with platform builds and managed rollouts

Quick to provision via provider APIs but you manage scaling and OS maintenance

Deployment speed

Fast Git-to-live with platform builds and managed rollouts

Automatic scaling

Yes, with replica autoscaling and worker clusters

No built-in automatic horizontal scaling

Automatic scaling

Yes, with replica autoscaling and worker clusters

Cold starts / Limits

Runs on managed EC2 classes for predictable runtime with cold starts under 500 ms.

You control VM types and runtimes so long lived processes are supported (only if using Ubuntu)

Cold starts / Limits

Runs on managed EC2 classes for predictable runtime with cold starts under 500 ms.

Deployment

Connect your repository, choose a branch and settings, and Cloud runs builds, migrations, and traffic shifting to new replicas so updates deploy without downtime. The platform manages build agents and orchestration.

Forge connects to your Git provider and uses deploy hooks and commands you specify to publish releases to the server. You get fine-grained control over the deployment lifecycle and can run custom provisioning or maintenance steps on the server itself.

Deployment

Git integration

Yes, native Git workflow and platform build

Yes, via deploy scripts and quick deploy; you author the commands

Git integration

Yes, native Git workflow and platform build

Zero downtime

Built into the platform via rolling updates and replicas

Supported out of the box, but depends on your configuration (cannot be enabled retroactively for existing apps)

Zero downtime

Built into the platform via rolling updates and replicas

Monitoring and security

The Cloud dashboard exposes runtime metrics, request logs, and database telemetry without extra configuration. Security features, including TLS provisioning, edge protections, and backup automation, are managed for you by the platform.

Cloud is SOC2 Type 2 compliant.

Forge provides server metrics, deploy logs, and basic firewall configuration. It automates SSL issuance and can apply recommended firewall rules, but you are ultimately responsible for patching, IAM, and provider-level security controls.

Monitoring and security

Monitoring and alerts

Built into the platform view for every environment. Nightwatch integration available

Server level monitoring and logs; integrate third party tools as needed, including Nightwatch

Monitoring and alerts

Built into the platform view for every environment. Nightwatch integration available

Backups and recovery

Managed backups, and point-in-time recovery with Serverless Postgres

Automated backups are available but you’ll have to configure them on your server’s dashboard

Backups and recovery

Managed backups, and point-in-time recovery with Serverless Postgres

Pricing

Laravel Cloud bills only for resources you consume, and compute scales to zero when idle, keeping costs low even for spiky workloads where peaks run 2-3x above your average. With infrastructure fully managed for you, the engineering hours typically spent on ops go toward shipping product instead.

View pricing.

Forge charges for the Forge control panel, and you pay your chosen provider separately for server instances, storage, and bandwidth. This model can be cost-effective when you need predictable, always-on instances, but you are responsible for provisioning, infra management, and ongoing server costs.

Pricing

Pricing model

Usage based with scale-to-zero so idle apps cost nothing

Forge subscription plus provider bills (flat-rate pricing); provider costs depend on server sizes and region

Pricing model

Usage based with scale-to-zero so idle apps cost nothing

Cost control

Platform controls autoscale and sleep settings

You control instance types and autoscaling via your provider tools

Cost control

Platform controls autoscale and sleep settings

Trial available

Start in Cloud with $5 in free usage credit.

No trial available

Trial available

Start in Cloud with $5 in free usage credit.

Who should choose Laravel Cloud vs. Laravel Forge?

Laravel Cloud

Pick Laravel Cloud when you want minimal setup, automatic scaling, and managed data services so your team can concentrate on product work rather than infrastructure. It is a strong choice for teams who prefer predictable operations and lower ongoing maintenance costs.

Laravel Forge

Pick Laravel Forge if you need full control of your server environment, want root access, or must run custom system software. Forge is suitable when you already manage provider accounts and want a faster path to provision and maintain servers yourself.

Deploy now with Cloud

Start in Cloud with $5 in free usage credit.

Launch in under a minute from Git to live with fully managed infrastructure.
Build and ship faster with native Laravel integration across your stack.
Scale and save costs automatically with built-in scale-to-zero.

Get started Contact sales

Trusted by developers, startups, and enterprises

Join thousands of developers and companies around the world.

“Laravel Cloud makes it easy to demo projects to clients. I can deploy a fresh app in seconds. You only pay for what you use, letting you focus on business value instead of infrastructure.”

Peter Steenbergen

Search & GenAI Specialist, Elastic

“Laravel Cloud has saved us thousands of dollars per month and eliminates the need for a dedicated engineer to monitor our server.”

Sam Pizzo

CEO, CMS Max

“Laravel Cloud is the next generation platform for powering Laravel applications. This is the future of infra for PHP devs.”

Rafael Lunardelli

CTO, Devsquad

“Onboarding was smooth. UI is eye candy. Tinkering with scaling, replicas and resources is seamless.”

Bradley Bernard

Software Engineer, Snap

“Selected my repo, hit deploy, and boom. 60 seconds later my site was ready! I didn't even have to configure anything.”

Duncan McClean

Software Developer, Statamic

“Wow, Laravel Cloud is very smooth! Took almost no time to deploy a Filament app with database and custom domain.”

Silvan Hagen

Developer & Consultant

“The first deployment is as easy as possible: connect your git, and boom, your page will be online.”

Tim Geisendoerfer

CEO & Founder, Innoge

FAQ: Laravel Cloud vs. Laravel Forge

Laravel Cloud is a fully managed hosting platform for Laravel applications. Forge is a provisioning and management tool that sets up servers at a cloud provider you control and gives you SSH access.

Yes. Laravel Cloud allows app, database and cache to scale to zero with our Flex compute so idle resources won’t increase your bill.

Forge does not include the same built-in autoscaling and scale-to-zero as Cloud. You manage scaling by resizing instances or configuring your provider’s autoscaling features.

Laravel Cloud runs on AWS, fully managed by the Laravel team. You get the reliability and global scale of AWS without having to create or maintain your own AWS account. All infrastructure is automatically handled for you.

Cloud reduces setup and ongoing operations, so many teams go from repo to production faster. Forge speeds server provisioning compared to manual setup, but you still manage the servers and their lifecycle.

Laravel Cloud uses usage-based pricing, so you only pay for the resources your app is actually consuming. Compute scales to zero when your app is idle and scales back up automatically when traffic returns, meaning you’re never paying for capacity that’s sitting unused. For teams that want predictability, spending limits give you a hard ceiling so there’s no bill shock at the end of the month.

Laravel Forge charges a fixed monthly subscription fee, and you’re also responsible for your own cloud provider costs — servers that bill continuously whether your app is handling requests or not. For apps with variable traffic or multiple environments, those idle server costs add up.