If you’re looking to use a preconfigured Vagrant box for your local development environment, you might be wondering which is better for LAMP/LEMP development. After spending the last few months using two of the most popular options, I can compare Laravel Homestead to Scotchbox Pro. Let’s find out!
Laravel Homestead:
Pros:
- Free!
- Well documented
- Frequent updates and healthy community
- Supports per project installation via composer
- PHP version switching
Cons:
- Multiple PHP version switching is only compatible with Nginx
- Meant for use with Laravel projects, although I haven’t ran into any issues, it’s just something to keep in mind
Scotchbox Pro
Pros:
- Has a free version (I would opt for the pro version, the free version caused me some headaches)
- Made for beginners
- Good tutorials and documentation
Cons:
- PHP version switching is not supported
- Doesn’t always have the latest versions of software
- Smaller community, expect limited support for issues, or outdated information
- $15 – I put this as a con, but I thought it was a pretty fair price
Conclusion
Laravel Homestead feels more stable and mature to me, and with it being the official development environment of Laravel, I would have to say is my top choice! But if all you need a quick and easy LAMP box, won’t need PHP version switching, and are happy with the version of software it comes with, then Scotchbox Pro would fit the bill.