Cleavr vs Laravel Forge (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Cleavr grades higher than Laravel Forge: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Cleavr grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Cleavr
Server and deployment manager for PHP and Node.js apps on your own VPS
Laravel Forge
Server management and deploys for Laravel, PHP and Node apps
Which one is for you
Pick Cleavr if
- Fits if you run a handful of PHP or Node.js sites on a VPS and want a dashboard instead of SSH
- Works for freelancers who already pay a VPS provider and only need the deployment layer
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want hosting included, because every server is billed separately by your provider
- Tight if you need more than one server, as Lite is capped at one
- Pricey if you need backups, which start at Pro at $15 a month
- Watch out: team members and API access need Business at $30 a month, and the trial is 5 days
- Not for you if you need to see monthly-billing prices, which the pricing page doesn't list
Pick Laravel Forge if
- Fits if you run Laravel apps and want flat-rate server management
- Works for solo developers with many apps on their own cloud accounts
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan or trial
- Watch out: servers are billed separately
- Tight if you use other clouds: Hobby has 1 external server
- Pricey if you want shared-server discounts, as Laravel VPS discounts start at Growth ($19)
- Watch out: only monthly prices could be read
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACleavrFair | 1.8GPALaravel ForgeWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CLite is $5.50 a month billed yearly, just above the $5.00 cheaper-quarter line for web hosting, and that covers one server. Backups and monitoring start at Pro, $15 a month, and your VPS is billed on top. | C$12 a month on Hobby, about the category middle ($11), with servers billed separately by your provider or Laravel VPS. Growth is $19 and Business $39. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 5-day trial with Pro and API access and no card until you subscribe. No free plan, and five days is short. | FNo free plan or trial on the pricing page. |
| Features | CProvisioning, Git deploys, SSL, databases and monitoring for PHP and Node apps. Backups and server monitoring need Pro, team members and the API need Business, and Lite stops at one server. | CServer setup, zero-downtime deploys, queues, databases, SSL and an API. It does the server-management job fully, but that's a smaller job than hosting, and Hobby limits you to 1 external server. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You connect a provider account or a custom server and set up each app yourself, so there is a learning curve. | CNo store rating on record. You connect a cloud account and set up servers and sites. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it connects to Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Slack, and has an API on Business. | BWeb only, with DigitalOcean, AWS, Hetzner and a documented REST API. |
| Best for | setting up PHP and Node.js apps on your own VPS | managing Laravel and PHP servers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Cleavr and Laravel Forge. How we grade
Price against what you get
Cleavr starts at $5.50 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Laravel Forge starts at $12 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Cleavr starts $6.50 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 2 score higher than Cleavr for less, and 3 score higher than Laravel Forge for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Cleavr also covers databases.
At a glance
| Cleavr | Laravel Forge | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $5.5 per month, billed yearly ($66 a year) | $12 per month (Hobby, monthly billing) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 5-day free trial with Pro access and API access; no credit card required until you subscribe. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Vistafari LLC | Laravel |
| Price read from | cleavr.io | laravel.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Cleavr
- Servers are not included: you pay your VPS provider separately.
- Lite is limited to one server, and backups and server monitoring start at Pro.
- Team members and API access need Business, which is $30 a month billed yearly.
- The pricing page shows yearly-billed figures; the monthly-billing prices are not listed in the page text.
Laravel Forge
- Forge is a paid service with no free plan or trial listed on its pricing page.
- You also pay your cloud provider, or Laravel VPS charges, for the servers themselves.
- Hobby includes only 1 external server; unlimited external servers start with Growth at $19 a month.
- The pricing page has a Monthly and an Annual toggle; the annual figures could not be read, so only monthly prices are listed.
Key features
Cleavr
- Server provisioning
- Servers are created at Vultr, DigitalOcean, AWS, UpCloud, Linode or Hetzner, or a custom VPS is connected.
- App types
- AdonisJS, NuxtJS, NextJS, Laravel, Strapi, NodeJS, WordPress, PHP and static HTML apps can be installed from the dashboard.
- Zero-downtime deploys
- Deployments run with one click or by push-to-deploy from GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket, to one server or several behind a load balancer.
- Databases and backups
- MySQL, PostgreSQL and MariaDB servers are managed, and backups can go to AWS S3, Wasabi, Backblaze, DO Spaces, SFTP or local storage.
- Security
- Free Let's Encrypt SSL, Fail2Ban, UFW configuration, SSH key handling and site isolation are listed.
- Monitoring and API
- Server health monitoring and notifications to Slack, Discord, Telegram or email are available; the API needs the Business plan or an active trial.
Laravel Forge
- Laravel VPS
- A one-click server option that Forge says is set up in under 10 seconds, with Nginx, PHP, MySQL or Postgres and Redis installed, and a shared web terminal.
- Zero-downtime deploys
- Deploys can be scripted, queued and stacked, and zero-downtime deployments are included for a single server.
- Bring your own cloud
- Servers can also be created at providers such as DigitalOcean, AWS and Hetzner, though on Hobby only one external server is included.
- Databases and queues
- Forge can provision, back up and monitor database clusters, and supervises queue workers without manual Supervisor setup.
- SSL and hosted domains
- Free automated SSL is included, along with on-forge.com hosted domains for launching an app before domain setup.
- API
- A documented REST API covers servers, deployments, databases, firewall rules, backups, monitors and other resources.
Plans
Cleavr
Lite$5.5
per month, billed yearly ($66 a year)
One server, unlimited apps, cron jobs and process monitors.
Pro$15
per month, billed yearly ($180 a year)
Everything in Lite plus unlimited servers, server monitoring and log reports, database and filesystem backups, and quick scripts.
Business$30
per month, billed yearly ($360 a year)
Everything in Pro plus team members and team management, resource management and Cleavr API access.
Laravel Forge
Hobby$12
per month, monthly billing
Unlimited Laravel VPS servers, 1 external server, unlimited sites and deployments, managed databases and community support.
Growth$19
per month, monthly billing
Unlimited servers, 5% discount on Laravel VPS and standard support, plus the other features of Hobby.
Business$39
per month, monthly billing
Unlimited servers, 15% discount on Laravel VPS and advanced support.
Ways to pay less
Cleavr
- Annual discount
Yearly billing savings
The pricing page states yearly billing saves $30 a year on Lite, $36 on Pro and $72 on Business.
- Education
50% off yearly plans for students
Students, non-profits and individuals from low-income regions can ask for 50% off yearly plans by emailing proof of status.
- Startups
Free for open-source projects
Open-source projects can ask to be sponsored with Cleavr at no cost in return for a README credit and link.
Laravel Forge
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Cleavr or Laravel Forge?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Cleavr is cheaper to start with: $5.50 a month, against $12 a month for Laravel Forge. Cleavr starts at $5.5 per month, billed yearly ($66 a year), and Laravel Forge starts at $12 per month (Hobby, monthly billing).
Which has a free plan, Cleavr or Laravel Forge?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Cleavr nor Laravel Forge has a free plan. Cleavr has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.