# Laravel Forge review (2026): is it worth $12 a month? > Server management and deploys for Laravel, PHP and Node apps Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Forge provisions and manages servers for Laravel and other PHP apps, plus WordPress, Statamic, Nuxt and Next.js. It installs Nginx, PHP, a database and Redis, handles SSL, zero-downtime deploys, queues and scheduled tasks, and lets you use either Laravel VPS servers or your own cloud provider. Pricing is a flat monthly fee that does not include what a cloud provider charges. - **Category:** Web Hosting - **Made by:** Laravel - **Website:** https://laravel.com/forge - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want a free plan or trial. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Laravel Forge is a paid product, starting at $12 per month (Hobby, monthly billing). - **Pricing model:** Paid - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 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. | Read from https://laravel.com/forge/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Laravel Forge before buying. ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Laravel developers who want flat-rate server management - Solo developers running many apps on their own cloud accounts - Teams that want shared servers and monitoring in one dashboard ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 1.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Laravel Forge manages servers and deploys for Laravel and PHP apps at $12 a month. There's no free plan or trial, you also pay for the servers, and Hobby includes only one external server. - **Value for money: 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: F.** No free plan or trial on the pricing page. - **Features: C.** Server 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: C.** No store rating on record. You connect a cloud account and set up servers and sites. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web only, with DigitalOcean, AWS, Hetzner and a documented REST API. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Laravel's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among web hosts - Laravel Forge's GPA of 1.8 is higher than 9 of the 54 other web hosts we grade, and level with 10. - It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 24 of 54) and worst on free plan and trial (F, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $12 a month, against a middle price of $9 for the category: 33 of the 52 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 3 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/web-hosting ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Laravel Forge you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 35 of the 54 other web hosts grade higher. It costs $144 a year. - You could not: Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with DigitalOcean, AWS, Hetzner, Laravel, WordPress, Statamic, Next.js, Nuxt **Tags:** Public API, Workflow automation ## Alternatives - [Ploi](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ploi): Server and site management panel for PHP and Laravel apps. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/laravel-forge-vs-ploi) - [RunCloud](https://toolgpa.com/tools/runcloud): Web server control panel for PHP sites on your own cloud servers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/laravel-forge-vs-runcloud) - [SpinupWP](https://toolgpa.com/tools/spinupwp): WordPress server management for servers you rent yourself. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/laravel-forge-vs-spinupwp) - [GridPane](https://toolgpa.com/tools/gridpane): WordPress server control panel with a free core plan. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gridpane-vs-laravel-forge) - [DigitalOcean](https://toolgpa.com/tools/digitalocean): Cloud servers, app hosting and managed databases for developers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/digitalocean-vs-laravel-forge) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://laravel.com/forge/pricing - https://laravel.com/forge - https://laravel.com/forge/docs/api-reference/introduction Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/laravel-forge Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).