Are you a WordPress developer looking for an option to do local WordPress development? If you go with DevKinsta, you’d probably thank yourself. After all, DevKinsta is a popular local development tool known for its user-friendly interface and many useful features.
However, while DevKinsta has its strengths, it may not suit everyone’s needs or preferences. You might be one of those looking for a DevKinsta alternative that will give you more flexibility, customization options, or better compatibility with your current workflow. Additionally, you might not be using Kinsta for hosting, so you may want tools that aren’t tied to a specific hosting provider.
Well, you should keep reading. In this article, we’ll explore five DevKinsta alternatives. They’re powerful in their own right, each with unique features and benefits—ones might appreciate more than DevKinsta. Let’s dive in and discover other local development solutions that might improve your local WordPress development experience.
A Look at DevKinsta
First things first—let’s get a closer look at what DevKinsta is. What exactly is DevKinsta? It’s a free local development tool that is designed specifically for WordPress developers. It was created by the Kinsta team, which is a popular managed WordPress hosting provider.
DevKinsta simplifies the process of setting up and managing local WordPress development environments. With it, you can easily create and manage local WordPress sites on your computer without the need for a live server or internet connection. This helps you experience faster development, testing, and experimentation before pushing changes to a live website.
DevKinsta is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux, making it accessible no matter the machine or operating system you use. It uses Docker technology—an open-source software platform used to create, deploy, and manage app containers on a common operating system—to ensure a secure and isolated environment for each local site, preventing conflicts between different projects.
Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned WordPress developer, DevKinsta offers a convenient and efficient way to develop and test WordPress sites locally. Its integration with Kinsta’s hosting platform also makes it easy to push local changes to a live site when ready.
What can DevKinsta help you do?
Here are some of DevKinsta’s most useful features for developers:
- One-Click Site Creation: DevKinsta lets you create local WordPress sites with a single click. It automatically configures Nginx, PHP, and MySQL, making the setup process a breeze. Additionally, DevKinsta supports WordPress multisite installations, providing flexibility if you happen to be working on various projects.
- Database Management: DevKinsta uses Adminer, a database management tool, to simplify database operations. You’ll be able to easily edit tables, import and export backups, run SQL queries, and much more, all within the DevKinsta interface.
- HTTPS and Email Testing: You can test and build WordPress sites with HTTPS security, ensuring your site or sites’ security. The tool also includes a built-in SMTP server and email inbox, allowing you to debug outgoing emails from your local WordPress sites.
- Error Logging and PHP Version Switching: DevKinsta provides a convenient way to debug PHP errors using the built-in WP_DEBUG toggle. This way, you’ll be able to quickly resolve any issues with your code. Additionally, DevKinsta supports multiple PHP versions, enabling you to test your sites with multiple versions.
- Global Deployment and Updates: One of the best features of DevKinsta is its ability to deploy sites directly to Kinsta’s global data centers. This feature allows you to push your local site to a live environment when you’re ready. You also get automatic updates, ensuring that you always have access to the latest features and improvements.
- Multilingual Support: DevKinsta offers support for 10 languages, including English, Italian, Portuguese and French. This makes it easier for developers worldwide to use DevKinsta and create exceptional WordPress sites.
These features combine to make DevKinsta a powerful and user-friendly tool for streamlining local WordPress development, testing, and deployment.
Does DevKinsta have limitations?
From the above, it sounds like DevKinsta is pretty awesome already. So why look for alternatives?
Well, this particular review in ProductHunt for DevKinsta wasn’t exactly a glowing one:
Here are other limitations or cons of using DevKinsta that you have to consider before fully committing to this:
- To run DevKinsta smoothly, your computer should meet the minimum requirements. Additionally, virtualization must be enabled in your computer’s BIOS settings. In short, if you don’t have a powerful computer, you’re probably better off going past local WordPress development.
- DevKinsta relies on Docker Desktop to create separate containers for each website. This means you need to install Docker Desktop during the setup process, which may add an extra step to the installation procedure. Additionally, that means you need more memory and processing power for your device.
- Although DevKinsta can be used offline mode, as a G2 review says, there’s no way to share a local site with anyone. This can make your workflow hard especially if you’re in a team of multiple developers.
- While DevKinsta integrates seamlessly with MyKinsta—advantageous for users who host their sites on Kinsta—this integration might not be as beneficial for users who do not plan to use Kinsta for hosting.
- Despite DevKinsta being able to simplify the local WordPress development process, it may still require some technical knowledge to set up and use effectively. Users without experience with Docker or local development environments will need to invest time in learning how to use DevKinsta. As a user also reviews in G2, “As easy as it is to use, it took some effort to get it set up and running correctly. I had to install and uninstall multiple times to get everything working, and I had a hard time finding much help online for the issues I was having.”
InstaWP: The Best DevKinsta Alternative For WordPress Development
If you need something easier to use than DevKinsta, but is still packed with plenty of features for efficient WordPress development, look no further than InstaWP. It’s designed to make the development process easier and more efficient for developers, designers, and agencies. Now, it’s not an offline tool, but if you watch this video, you’ll see why utilizing this online tool is much better:
But to summarize, as explained in this article, InstaWP being online means:
- You can use it anywhere with any device.
- You won’t need a computer that has plenty of hard drive space
- You don’t need a lot of memory since InstaWP backs up your work on its cloud
- It’s a more realistic version of WordPress since it’s online, which is a limitation of any local development.
You can read through the entire documentation for more details about InstaWP but let’s try to summarize everything below of what makes InstaWP super great to use, especially for agencies.
You Don’t Need Any Assets
Since InstaWP is a cloud-based platform, you don’t need to install anything on the computer. Everything you need to start is all on the InstaWP website. Just sign up and get to work, saving you time on setup and configuration.
You Get 1-Click Test Sites
InstaWP boasts of one-click demo sites, and it’s true. Do you see the + Add New button on the bottom right of the screen?
Click on that and this window will appear:
You can configure your test site however you want (click here for more info), then just press the Create Site button on the lower right corner. This is what will happen next:
See? Instant WordPress test site or sandbox! You can now test all the changes you want without affecting any site, and be able to identify and fix issues.
Additionally, you can protect your staging sites with SSL encryption to ensure secure testing environments.
You Can Clone Your Live Site
Aside from making an instant staging environment, you can also clone your live site via InstaWP’s plugin, InstaWP Connect. You can read about it more here, but to summarize, thanks to this plugin, you can create a test site based on your live site.
You can make all the changes you want to the test site without fear of affecting your live site. And if you’re wondering how to take the changes you want to your live site from your test site, it’s also possible, thanks to InstaWP’s 2-way sync!
Think of it this way. You can make any changes you want on your test site. When you’re happy with it, just activate the 2-way sync and the change will happen on your live site!
You can also choose which changes you want synced, and which ones you don’t. Talk about time-saving, agree?
It Makes for Easy Collaboration
InstaWP makes collaboration easy. Sharing projects is simple; you don’t need to give your team members your device or go make an offline copy. Just give them the credentials of your test site and you’re good to go—the power of an online WordPress sandbox!
The same goes for clients—just give them direct access to the WordPress admin panel through shared URLs or magic login links and add them as users. You can also make workspaces where you can invite clients and assign them roles like Admin, Manager, or Member.
Testing is Easy
Because it’s online, InstaWP is already a basis if anything will go wrong or not with the actual website. As mentioned above, when you do local WordPress development, there’s still a chance of things going wrong when you take your site online. You won’t have that problem with InstaWP, since it gives you a realistic replication of the actual environment, meaning tests will reflect true site performance.
Additionally, since InstaWP is pretty much like a WordPress replica, you can download themes, plugins, and so on just like you’re running an actual WordPress site. That means testing is going to be simple!
There is Git Integration
With InstaWP, you can seamlessly integrate Git to manage code history, track changes, and collaborate on development projects. It’s easy to enable with a single click.
You Get Access to Advanced Tools
InstaWP lets you access the following:
- A built-in advanced code editor so you can edit your site’s code directly within InstaWP; and
- A database editor that lets you manage your site’s database, making bulk modifications or deletions easy and efficient.
You Can Save Multiple Versions
InstaWP allows you to save and manage multiple versions of your WordPress projects. This feature lets you revert to previous states or create backups as needed. You can create and store snapshots of your site at different stages of development, ensuring you can recover work easily if needed.
This is particularly useful if any unexpected problems arise.
Get a Seamless Transition to Live
InstaWP makes it easy to move sites from staging to live servers, ensuring a smooth transition from development to production. You can push changes from staging to live with just a few clicks, minimizing downtime and ensuring that updates are deployed accurately.
See those rockets at the right side of all these test sites on the Dashboard?
Press that on any of the sites that you want to migrate to live, and this will pop up:
You now have the option to host your site on InstaWP Live, choose from supported providers, or migrate via URL.
Centralized Management
No matter how many test sites you plan to have, with InstaWP, you can manage all of them from one centralized dashboard. This simplifies site management and monitoring. To make things even easier for you, use a single username to access all projects, making it easier to switch between sites and manage multiple projects efficiently.
You Get Data Protection
InstaWP automatically saves your data to the cloud, protecting it from hardware failures or power outages. That’s right; even if power shuts down or your laptop or hard drive crashes, your work is safe and accessible from the cloud and via any device. In case you can’t access any device, just get a team member to continue your work—you won’t have to make up for lost time, because there won’t be any!
A DevKinsta and InstaWP Comparison Table
To summarize the comparison, check out the table below:
| Feature | DevKinsta | InstaWP |
| Platform | Local | Cloud-Based |
| Site Creation | One-click local site creation | One-click site creation in the cloud |
| Configuration | Automatic Nginx, PHP, MySQL setup | Pre-configured templates and custom configurations |
| WordPress Multisite | Supported | Supported |
| Database Management | Adminer | Built-in database editor |
| HTTPS Support | Yes | Yes |
| Email Testing | Built-in SMTP server and inbox | Built-in SMTP server and inbox |
| Error Logging | Built-in WP_DEBUG toggle | Log viewer for error, access, command, and debug logs |
| Deployment | Deploy to Kinsta’s data centers | Push changes from staging to live servers |
| Team Collaboration | Limited | Extensive (invite team members, assign roles) |
| Git Integration | No | Yes |
| Code Editor | No | Built-in code editor |
| Version Management | No | Save and manage multiple versions |
| Centralized Management | No | Manage multiple sites from one dashboard |
| Security | Local site security | Cloud security with SSH/SFTP |
| Data Backup | Manual backups | Automatic cloud backups |
| Language Support | 10 languages | 10 languages |
| PHP Version Switching | Supported | Supported |
| Automatic Updates | Yes | Yes |
| Browser Access | No | Yes |
| Client Demos | No | Easy demo site creation and sharing |
| Third-Party Integrations | Limited | Integrations with tools like Atarim, Ruttl, Usepastel |
| Price | Free | Free and Paid Plans |
While both DevKinsta and InstaWP are good options for WordPress development, InstaWP stands out because of its cloud-based platform that gives greater flexibility and accessibility. InstaWP’s features such as extensive team collaboration, Git integration, built-in code and database editors, and automatic cloud backups make it a superior choice for modern development needs.
Additionally, InstaWP simplifies creating demo sites and pushing changes from staging to live servers. With both free and paid plans, InstaWP provides scalable solutions for developers, designers, and agencies, making it the ideal DevKinsta alternative—and an even better option at that.
4 Other DevKinsta Alternatives To Check Out
While InstaWP is already a very robust and ideal tool to take over WordPress development, admittedly, it’s not the only option out there. Here are a few more alternatives that you can look at, catering to different needs, preferences, and pricing.
Local by Flywheel
Local by Flywheel or Local is a user-friendly local WordPress development tool that simplifies the process of creating, managing, and testing WordPress sites on your local machine.
Pros:
- Intuitive interface for quick site setup
- Built-in SSL support
- Fast site access
- Easy setup process
- Customizable development environment
Cons:
- Higher resource consumption compared to some alternatives
- Uses Nginx instead of Apache, which may affect certain configurations
LocalWP can be a strong alternative to DevKinsta for local WordPress development. Its user-friendly interface, built-in features, and ease of setup make it an attractive option for developers seeking a streamlined and efficient local development workflow.
MAMP
MAMP is a software solution that allows users to run an Apache web server on macOS (also now on Windows), supporting MySQL databases and scripting languages like PHP, Perl, or Python. It provides a local server environment for developing and testing websites before deploying them live.
Pros:
- Easy setup and simplicity in creating a local development environment
- Comes with PHP and phpMyAdmin preinstalled for easier database management and PHP development
- Supports multiple programming languages, including PHP, Perl, and Python
- Free and open-source (although there is a MAMP Pro version)
- Fast installation process with a user-friendly interface
- Lightweight and suitable for working on multiple projects simultaneously
Cons:
- Requires local installation of server components, making it harder to monitor the development environment
- Not virtualized, which can make it more difficult to replicate the production environment locally
- Limited cloud functionality, as it is primarily designed for local development
- Compatibility issues with certain operating systems, such as macOS Catalina
MAMP is a good alternative to DevKinsta for local WordPress development because it provides a similar local server environment with support for Apache, MySQL databases, and PHP. Both tools allow users to create, manage, and test WordPress sites locally before deploying them live, but they differ in terms of ease of use, features, and integration with hosting providers.
XAMPP
XAMPP is a free, cross-platform web server solution stack that includes Apache, MariaDB, PHP, and Perl. It’s a good alternative to DevKinsta because it provides a complete local server environment with all the necessary components.
Pros:
- Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, Linux, macOS)
- Easy installation and configuration, especially for beginners
- Includes essential components for web development
- Supports popular CMS platforms like WordPress and Joomla
- Provides additional modules and extensions
- Enables seamless transition from local to live hosting
Cons:
- Can be more resource-intensive compared to other local server solutions
- Potential security concerns for projects with sensitive information
- Configuration and setup may be more complex for some users
- May lack support for certain advanced features or technologies
InstantWP
InstantWP is another free and portable WordPress development environment that allows users to create and test WordPress websites locally on their Windows or macOS machines. It provides a self-contained offline sandbox for developing and testing WordPress sites without the need for an internet connection, just like the others on the list.
Pros:
- Portable software that can be installed on a USB drive
- Quick and straightforward setup process
- Web-based file manager for managing themes and plugins
- Built-in SSH terminal for advanced system management
- SFTP support for secure website management
Cons:
- Documentation and interface available only in English
- May lack some advanced features and customization options
- Primarily designed for Windows, limiting usability for macOS users
InstantWP can be a good alternative to DevKinsta for local WordPress development because it offers a simple, portable, and user-friendly way to create and test WordPress sites offline. While its features can pale in comparison to DevKinsta, it can be an attractive option for developers looking for a lightweight and efficient local development environment.
Conclusion
To wrap things up, while DevKinsta is a powerful tool for local WordPress development, it might not be the best fit for everyone due to its hardware needs and reliance on Docker Desktop. Among the DevKinsta alternatives, InstaWP stands out because it is cloud-based, offering more flexibility and easier access. Its various features make for easy staging, collaboration, management, development, and transition from staging to live servers. Overall, InstaWP is a great choice for developers, designers, and agencies looking for a simple and versatile tool. Sign up today to experience it for yourself.
