MarkDash vs Laravel Herd
The short answer
Pick Laravel Herd if you build with PHP or Laravel and want PHP, nginx, .test domains, HTTPS and databases installed and managed for you.
Pick MarkDash if your projects start with a command like npm run dev, rails s or hugo server, and you want them all in one place, along with anything else listening on a port.
At a glance
| Feature | MarkDash | Laravel Herd |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Native menu bar app, macOS 15 or later | PHP and Laravel environment, macOS 14.6 or later on Apple silicon, and Windows |
| Price | $9.99 per Mac at launch, then $19.99, paid once. 14-day trial | Free; Pro $99 a year for 2 devices |
| Lists listening ports | Yes Every listening TCP port with process, PID, folder and command. Rescans every 4 s | Partly Its own sites and services, not every port |
| Knows the project | Yes Your saved sites by name; any other server by its folder | Yes Site Manager, by folder |
| Starts your projects | Yes One click, with your login shell’s PATH. Detects the command from the folder | Partly Its own nginx, PHP and services |
| Stops a server | Yes Quit signal to the whole process tree, force kill after 3 s | Partly Its own services |
| Restarts a server | Yes For the sites you saved | Partly Its own services |
| Live logs | Yes For the servers MarkDash starts | Partly Log Viewer and per-service logs |
| Saved pages that follow the port | Yes Save /admin, /blog… per project. Paste a localhost URL and it’s filed under the right one | No |
| Links, notes and a board | Yes Categories, notes, search, To do / Doing / Done board | No |
| Menu bar | Yes | Yes |
| Scripting | Partly Shortcuts and Spotlight: open, start and stop sites, open links. No CLI | Yes herd CLI |
| Also does | No No tunnels or share links | Yes Installs PHP versions, .test domains, HTTPS; databases and mail with Pro |
Where MarkDash pulls ahead
- Any stack that starts with a command: Node, Bun, Rails, Django, Hugo.
- It sees every listening port, including servers started in a terminal or by a coding agent.
- Port conflict warnings with a kill button.
- Saved pages per project and a links board.
Where Laravel Herd is the better pick
- It installs and manages the whole PHP stack, which MarkDash doesn’t do.
- .test domains with HTTPS instead of localhost ports.
- MySQL, Postgres, Redis, mail and Xdebug with Pro.
- It has a free tier.
Using both
Many Laravel projects run Vite next to Herd. Herd serves the PHP site at a .test domain, and MarkDash can start and watch npm run dev next to it.
What they cost
Herd is free for PHP, nginx, DNS and Node. Pro is $99 a year for two devices and adds databases, mail and debugging tools; Teams is $299 a year for 10 licenses.
MarkDash is a one-time purchase per Mac, from $9.99, after a 14-day free trial with every feature. See the licenses.
Questions
Does MarkDash replace Laravel Herd?
No. Herd installs PHP and serves your sites; MarkDash runs commands you already have and watches ports. For a Laravel app, use Herd for PHP and MarkDash for Vite and anything else you run.
Try MarkDash on your own projects
Free for 14 days, then $9.99 per Mac, paid once. macOS 15 or later.
More comparisons
- MarkDash vs lsof and killThe built-in commands for finding who holds a port.
- MarkDash vs Activity MonitorApple’s process viewer, which has no port column.
- MarkDash vs PortlivoThe closest app to MarkDash, with sharing and a CLI.
- MarkDash vs LocalhostBarA small, free, open source list of localhost ports.
- MarkDash vs PortKillerFree, open source port killer for Mac and Windows.
- MarkDash vs RaycastDev Servers and Port Manager extensions for the launcher.
- MarkDash vs kill-port and fkillThe npm commands that free a busy port.
Sources for Laravel Herd: herd.laravel.com · Herd installation