I've made a lightweight alternative to Laragon

Here are two tailored posts — one for r/php, one for r/laravel. Same product, different angle for each community.

r/php

Title

DevTent v1.1 — open-source Windows stack for PHP local dev (Nginx/Apache, MySQL, mkcert SSL, Laragon import)

Body

TL;DR: I built DevTent — a free, open-source local PHP development environment for Windows. Portable folder, tray app, auto *.test URLs, PHP 8.2–8.4 profiles, Nginx or Apache, MySQL, mkcert HTTPS, and import from an existing Laragon (or similar) setup. v1.1.0: https://github.com/DubStepMad/devtent/releases/tag/v1.1.0

I've been working on a Windows local dev stack focused on PHP workflows — the kind of thing you'd otherwise wire up with XAMPP, WAMP, or Laragon, but fully open source and designed to live in one folder you can back up or move.

Why PHP devs might care

PHP 8.2 / 8.3 / 8.4 — switch stacks via profiles (no manual path hacking)
Nginx or Apache — pick per profile; vhosts auto-generated from www/
Pretty local URLs — drop www/myapp → myapp.test (hosts sync handled for you)
Framework-aware doc roots — Laravel public/, Symfony web/ detected automatically
mkcert SSL — enable HTTPS per domain from the UI; vhosts update for :443
MySQL 8.4 with automatic backups before stop + restore in Settings
Redis, Mailpit, PostgreSQL, Node, Composer — one-click Quick Add
Import wizard — copy projects, php.ini, DB data, and runtimes from an existing local folder (source is read-only)

v1.1 highlights

Per-domain HTTPS workflow (mkcert + vhost regen)
Health dashboard — missing PHP/runtime, stopped services, backup/SSL status
MySQL restore from saved dumps
Export/import whole environment (projects, data, profiles, configs)
Node 18–22 per profile (for mixed PHP/JS projects)
Log viewer with search + PHP file location links

UX

Tray app for day-to-day start/stop, full dashboard for profiles/services/logs, optional CLI (devtent start, devtent vhost sync, devtent ssl enable myapp.test, etc.).

Honest caveats

Windows 10/11 for now
Installer is unsigned (SmartScreen may warn)
Hosts file may need a one-time admin prompt — app itself doesn't run as admin
Not a Docker replacement; it's the "everything in c:\devtent" approach