Exploring the Top 5 XAMPP Alternatives for Local Web Development Servers in 2024

20 Best Alternatives to XAMPP Servers: Xampp is one of the most popular web servers available on Windows and Linux operating systems. It is an open-source application that is widely used by programmers for website development and testing purposes. Web servers are an integral part of the development process. Every activity done on the internet is first stored somewhere so that the user can access it. Server stations are used to store any type of data, information, and documents.

What are the best XAMPP server alternatives? If you’re looking for XAMPP alternatives, then here’s the best guide for you. Here, we’ll take a look at the 20 best XAMPP alternatives that can help programmers accomplish a variety of tasks. Below we’ll take a look at some information about servers and XAMPP servers before looking at alternatives to XAMPP.

What is a server?

As mentioned earlier, the server is responsible for storing information for users to use on the network. We can roughly see two types of servers, namely; Web servers and application servers.

However, in reality, there are servers for almost everything, depending on how they work. For example; If it is used to store videos and images, it is called an image video server, which is used for email-mail servers, for chat applications – chat servers, etc.

As a result, the server acts as a collection point for certain information stored by the user from one end and is available to those seeking that data or information on the other end.

Users experience the famous “server downtime” when a website’s or application’s server receives a lot of traffic or is not maintained for a period of time.

What is the purpose of the XAMPP server?

XAMPP is an abbreviation for (X) Cross-Platform, (A) Apache, (M) MySQL, (P) PHP, and (P) Perl. It is an open-source web server on which users can run PHP, My SQL, and Apache to make their websites accessible to everyone through this server.

Developers can also use the XAMPP server to develop a local web server because of its ability to handle server applications, database management systems, coding languages, as well as network programming. The XAMPP server is also the first choice for testing.

However, if you want to find other alternatives to XAMPP servers, then you can read ahead to find more alternatives.

20 Best XAMPP Alternatives: A Collection of Best Web Servers

What are the commonly used web servers? Let’s find out the features of the best alternatives to XAMPP servers in this section of the article.

WampServer

Top Web Server Recommendations: WampServer is a very popular tool for creating websites using applications like PHP. It comes with three main tools, including PHP, MySQL, and Apache. WampServer is only available for Microsoft Windows operating systems. So, ideally, WampServer is a tool for making web applications and PHP development.

WampServer is available in multiple languages, so you can easily view elements from your browser, no matter which language you’re using. You can try online or offline mode, as both are equally effective.

In terms of features, WampServer can easily accommodate all the next versions of PHP, Apache, and MySQL. If accessibility is your concern, then you can limit it to localhost; Otherwise, in this case, you can grant access to everyone.

System support: Microsoft Windows

ServerPress

What are the best XAMPP server alternatives? ServerPress is a tool that can run on both macOS and Windows. With a desktop server, the local installation of WordPress becomes very easy. As a workflow partner, we will make sure that you have to spend the least amount of time doing everything you need to do and have time to do everything you want.

So, which features work best for us?

ServerPress can create a locally installed WordPress site in a short amount of time, with a fully optimized native AMP stack, SSL, and PHL 7 support.

System support: Mac & Windows

EasyPHP

EasyPHP is another popular but easy-to-use website development server. If your main focus is coding and you don’t want to bother with the rest of the configuration, then this is the best tool. It lets you use PHP and MySQL for database management, and it also offers a scripting language.

Even beginners can try developing with EasyPHP. Try to tackle apps like Joomla, WordPress, and Drupal.

But ideally, hosting a website with EasyPHP is not possible. It can enable offline hosting in your machine, which allows you to operate it easily. Conversely, if you’re looking for a WAMP environment, try EasyPHPDevServer.

System support: Windows

FlyWheel

Local is speed, and it’s an oversimplified process. Over the years, FlyWheel has designed Local, and with it, you can build WordPress websites very quickly.

What are the commonly used web servers? Local by FlyWheel allows you to quickly save all your files, including configuration files, databases, and local settings.

Here are some features that can help you immensely. Simple demo URLs are very possible, and it will allow you to present your work in a matter of seconds. Hassle-free native SSL support, one-click WordPress installation, and much more are available with the software.

Flexible environment options are definitely feasible with Local by Flywheel, which also provides a hot swap between NGINX and Apache 2, 4 or an easy switch between PHP versions.

System support: Mac, Linux, and Windows

UwAmpServer 

Best Web Server Collection: UwAmpServer uses tools like SQLite, Apache, and PHP integration. If the user decides to test the web application offline, then it can actually be done without using any internet connection. The best part is that the tool doesn’t require installation, and you can put it in a zipped folder if you want.

Users often find UwAmpServer very interactive. You can find a lot of information and you can easily check the configuration settings. It is absolutely possible to run a new PHP version with a UwAmp server. Users can comfortably recall CPU usage data or run flash drives using UwAmpServer.

System support: Mac & Windows

AMPPS

Popular Web Server Recommendation: With cross-platform support, AMPPS installs the full set of elements required for a web server (WAMP/MAMP/LAMP), providing features such as Apache, MySQL, Perl, Python, PHP, and MongoDB.

With AMPPS, you can create and manage local domains, databases, and install more than 390 websites and services. It has a beautiful user interface and comes with domain admin features and auto-installation tools for multiple web applications.

System support: Mac & Windows

MAMP

MAMP stands for Mac OS X, Apache, MySQL, PHP and is a variant of LAMP. With this, you can run Live Web Server from your Macbook.

MAMP provides the tools you need to run and test WordPress and various other desktop applications. MAMP has a GUI (Graphical User Interface) to manage the local web server. On top of that, MAMP can use any type of coding language.

System support: Mac & Windows

Abyss Web Server

Abyss Web Server offers an impressive multi-platform personal web server that supports HTTP/1.1 and several other features like anti-piracy control, anti-theft system, and many more.

As a result, this is a great alternative to XAMPP servers. It is compatible with SSI directives and SSL/TLS.

System support: Mac & Windows

Apache HTTP server

What are the best XAMPP server alternatives? This is another useful alternative to XAMPP Server, developed by the Apache Software Foundation. Web producers can use this server to serve web content.

It supports SSL, TLS, proxy services, web hosting, and many more. The impressive features of this server are session tracking, Perl, Lua, and PHP support, URL tracking, and handling multiple request processing modes, among others.

System support: Linux & Windows

The Uniform Server

With The Uniform Server, developers can primarily validate and validate HTML encoding. This server only runs on Windows operating systems, including Apache, Perl, PHP, and MySQL.

The best thing about The Uniform Server is that it doesn’t require installation and can be customized to your needs.

Denwer

Denwer is a Russian server tool that contains a bunch of PHP, Apache, MySQL, phpMyAdmin, Perl, and a web hosting management system. It is used by developers to develop and debug websites.

The installation is simple, and it provides users with a lot of customization options. Once installed, developers can start coding with PHP.

SecureWamp

With this web server, you can use it for development purposes or for production setups. A centralized GUI helps to control the settings. If you want to host your website securely, then SecureWamp offers the best option.

DesktopServer

This is the main competitor of XAMPP and can be used for the development and testing of the WordPress platform. It’s a very user-friendly tool that allows you to create a brand new website with just a few clicks.

Laragon

This is ideal if you want a server that is powerful and takes up less space to assist with rapid web development. It uses its own services instead of Windows services.

Winginx

Best Web Server Collection: Nginx users often use this local web server for programmers on the Windows operating system to develop multiple projects, perform test tasks, and launch local websites. It’s easy to install and also supports PHP, MongoDB, MySQL, and NodeJS.

USB Webserver

What are the commonly used web servers? You don’t have to install this software because it can run directly from your USB, hence the name USB Webserver. With this server application, you can develop PHP websites. Not only that, but you also have access to PHP, Apache, phpMyAdmin, and Mini Relay.

BAMP

BAMP stands for functions on Brew, Apache, MongoDB, PHP, and macOS. It can manage local servers with the help of the Homebrew toolkit.

EasyPHPDevserver

Popular Web Server Recommendation: This is a Windows-based server that supports PHP, Apache MySQL, NGINX, PostgreSQL, Python. EasyPHPDevserver can help you set up a local server for development.

Devilbox

Our next choice is Devilbox, which offers LAMP and MEAN as well as PHP stack support. It can help develop countless projects with SSL certificates, DNS records, and more.

FoxServ

The software server runs on MS Windows and Linux and provides PHP installer, MySQL as well as Apache. It supports programming languages such as PHP modules, PEP, and Zend Opt.

Final words

So, here is the complete roundhouse of the 20 best XAMPP alternatives. I hope you can choose the server of your choice from this article and use it according to your needs.