Portly

Fast, portable, open-source local web development environment for Windows
_{by Erdem Software · MIT · no ads, no tracking}

English · Türkçe

_{The app itself speaks 31 languages (Arabic, Persian and Urdu right-to-left).}

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Portly runs Apache or Nginx, PHP, MySQL or MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, Memcached, Node.js, Mailpit, Composer, Adminer and phpMyAdmin from a single folder. No installer needed and nothing installed into Windows by default: no Windows services (an optional service mode, off unless you switch it on in Settings > Features, can run the stack as a service), no registry clutter. It even works from a USB stick.

Why Portly?

	Laragon	Portly
License	Closed source, paid for commercial use	MIT, completely free, no ads
App updates	Download a new installer	One click inside the app (SHA-256 verified)
Package list	Local packages.conf	Remotely updated catalog + live PHP versions from windows.php.net
PHP version per site	No	Yes (every PHP version on its own FastCGI port)
HTTPS	One certificate, recreated per project	Local root CA trusted once, a certificate per site
Network safety	Listens on all interfaces	127.0.0.1 by default (no firewall prompt)
PHP hardening	Defaults	session.upload_progress and allow_url_include off
Crash safety	—	If Portly dies, Windows stops the servers it started (job object)
Port conflicts	Error message	Shows the program holding the port; switch to a free port in one click or close that program
Sharing	ngrok (account needed)	Local network (phone / tablet on the same Wi-Fi, QR code, https, password) and internet through Cloudflare: random address without an account, or a fixed address on your own domain
Migration	—	Projects and databases from Laragon, XAMPP, WampServer, AMPPS, UwAmp, Uniform Server, Open Server, EasyPHP, MAMP (projects from Herd and Local)
Databases	MySQL	MySQL or MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, SQLite; Redis and Memcached
Database tools	HeidiSQL	phpMyAdmin (opens logged in while root has no password), Adminer, HeidiSQL, DBeaver, Beekeeper Studio, DbGate, DB Browser for SQLite
WordPress	Manual	One-click WordPress (WP-CLI, admin user ready)
Languages	34 (txt)	31, plain JSON, open to contributions
Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1	Unclear	Separate Legacy edition

Features

• Projects: every folder in www becomes https://name.portly; Laravel-style public folders are detected. Group folders and sub-projects (blog.shop.portly), templates for Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter, CakePHP, Drupal, Vue, React, Svelte, Nuxt, Next.js, Angular and Astro. Each card shows what the project is built with and its database.
• Share a project
  • Local network: open it on your phone with a QR code. Works over https; a guide on the phone installs Portly's certificate on iPhone and Android once. Optional password, time limit, start with Portly, list of connected devices; PHP errors from the phone show up in Portly's log.
  • Internet: a free Cloudflare quick tunnel (no account), or your own domain such as demo.example.com through your Cloudflare account. Same password, time limit and device list.
• Per-site PHP version, one-click PHP extensions (17 PECL extensions, verified per PHP version), Xdebug, terminals that follow the project's PHP / Node version (.php-version, composer.json, .nvmrc).
• Services: Start all / Stop all with a padlock per service (choose which ones belong to the group), MySQL / MariaDB in one card, optional Tomcat + Java.
• Update notices ("PHP 8.6 is out" → install and switch in one click), end-of-life and CVE warnings.
• Database safety: check & repair, safe moves between MySQL / MariaDB versions, large SQL import, automatic backups, forgotten root password reset, InnoDB recovery mode.
• Developer workflow: background jobs (queue, scheduler, Vite), site logs, profiler, portly CLI with hooks, portly.yml project file, push / pull over SSH.
• Sites: extra and wildcard domains, your own certificates, archive, Fix SSL, Firefox / Java certificate trust, Caddy and FrankenPHP (Octane).
• Problem prevention: OneDrive folders, non-ASCII and long paths, a second PHP or PHPRC, antivirus blocking the hosts file, quarantine check.
• Modern sidebar UI with light / dark theme that follows Windows, per-monitor DPI and screen-reader support. Rarely used features are switched on in Settings > Features.

Editions

Download	Windows	Updates	Packages
Portly-x.y.z-win10-11.zip	10 / 11 (64-bit)	Yes: app + package catalog	Latest: PHP 8.5, MySQL 8.4 LTS / 26.x, Apache 2.4, Node 24 LTS ...
Portly-x.y.z-win7-8.zip (Legacy)	7 SP1 / 8 / 8.1 (64-bit)	No (frozen catalog)	Last versions that run on Windows 7: PHP 8.2, MySQL 5.7, Apache 2.4 VS16, Node 13
macOS / Linux	—	—	Coming. The settings export is already platform-neutral. Star the repo or donate to help it happen.

The Legacy edition needs .NET Framework 4.8 (already part of Windows 10 / 11).

Quick start

1. Download a zip from Releases and unzip it to a folder without spaces, e.g. C:\Portly.
2. Run Portly.exe. The recommended packages are preselected on the first start: click Install selected.
3. Click Start all.
4. Create a folder in www: www\shop becomes https://shop.portly. A folder named like a domain (www\example.com) opens as https://example.com, so URLs stay the same when you go live; a Local / Live switch on its card brings back the live site on your PC, while the local copy keeps working at https://example.com.portly.

http://localhost opens a dashboard with all sites, Adminer, Mailpit and phpinfo(). More in docs/04-kullanim.md (Turkish).

Portly\
├─ Portly.exe            the app
├─ lang\  templates\     languages and config templates (renewed by updates)
├─ bin\                  packages: bin\php\php-8.5.12-..., bin\mysql\mysql-8.4.11-winx64 ...
├─ etc\                  generated configuration (rewritten at every start)
├─ usr\                  your settings, own templates, SSL authority (never touched by updates)
├─ data\                 databases (one folder per MySQL series)
├─ www\                  your projects (another folder can be chosen in Settings)
└─ logs\  tmp\  backup\

To change a config template, copy it from templates\ to usr\templates\ and edit the copy; updates leave it alone.

Build from source

Requirements: any .NET SDK 6 or newer (the app targets .NET Framework 4.8, so it runs on Windows 7 SP1 – 11 without extra runtimes). With Inno Setup installed, build.ps1 also makes the setup programs.

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File build.ps1            # both editions -> dist\
dotnet build src\Portly\Portly.csproj -c Release              # Windows 10/11 edition only
dotnet build src\Portly\Portly.csproj -c Release -p:Edition=Legacy
dotnet run --project tests\Portly.SmokeTest -c Release        # end-to-end test on test ports

Architecture: docs/02-mimari.md, releasing: docs/03-yayinlama.md (Turkish).

Translations

Language files live in src/Portly/lang. Copy en.json, translate the values, keep the {0} placeholders and send a pull request. Missing keys fall back to English. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Privacy

Portly has no telemetry, no analytics and no accounts. It only connects to other systems for things you start or switch on:

• Update check (on by default, can be turned off in Settings): downloads the package catalog and release information from this GitHub repository. Nothing about you or your projects is sent.
• Installing a package: downloads it from its official source (windows.php.net, dev.mysql.com, nodejs.org ...).
• Sharing a project on the internet: runs Cloudflare's cloudflared; visitors reach your site through Cloudflare. Local network sharing stays inside your network.

Portly changes system settings only with a prompt: the hosts file and trusting its local certificate authority ask for confirmation (Windows UAC).

Uninstall: the portable zip is removed by deleting its folder; the setup version uninstalls from Windows Settings > Apps. To remove the trusted Portly certificate authority too, open certmgr.msc > Trusted Root Certification Authorities > Certificates and delete "Portly Local CA".

Code signing policy

Windows releases are built from this repository by GitHub Actions. Code signing through the SignPath Foundation is applied for; until then releases are unsigned and their SHA-256 sums are published with each release.

Team roles:

• Authors / committers: Erdem Software
• Reviewers: Erdem Software
• Approvers (release signing): Erdem Software

Donate

Portly is free and will stay free: no ads, no paid tiers, no tracking. If it saves you time, you can support its development.

• Card: Buy Me a Coffee
• Binance Pay ID: 50018297
• Crypto (USDT on TRC-20, BEP-20, Polygon, Solana, Ethereum): in the app, Menu > Donate

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_{Apache, PHP, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Nginx, Node.js, Redis, Memcached, Mailpit, Composer, Adminer, phpMyAdmin, Cloudflare and the other tools are downloaded from their official sources and are the property of their respective owners. Portly is not affiliated with Laragon.}