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It's a split decision.
Choose Laravel Forge if you want a Laravel-focused deployment control panel, root access, zero-downtime deployments and a choice between Laravel VPS and connected cloud providers. Choose RunCloud if you want a lower starting price, support for named providers such as AWS and Hetzner, or published API quotas on higher plans. Forge starts at $12/month; RunCloud starts at $9/month and has a seven-day trial. Both manage servers rather than replacing your application stack.
01Side by side
| Laravel Forge | RunCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly subscription; cloud-provider charges are separate. | Monthly subscription by server allowance; add-ons available. |
| Free tier | No free plan; Hobby starts at $12/month. | No free plan; seven-day trial. |
| API and SDKs | API quotas not listed; root-access deployment management. | Business and Enterprise plans publish API quotas. |
| Integrations | Laravel VPS, cloud providers, PHP, Nuxt, Next.js, WordPress, Statamic. | Vultr, Linode, UpCloud, Hetzner, AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean. |
| Deployment model | Server provisioning and scripted zero-downtime deployments. | Git-based atomic deployments for zero downtime. |
| Platforms | Web control panel; supports multiple web-app stacks. | Web control panel for supported cloud servers. |
| Limits and scaling | Growth and Business list unlimited servers, sites, deployments. | Plans allow 1 to 500 servers; add-ons available. |
| CLI and docs | Homepage links to documentation; CLI not named. | Documentation and API resources; CLI not named. |
Laravel Forge Choose Laravel Forge if
- Choose Laravel Forge if your apps use Laravel or supported PHP-based stacks.
- Choose Laravel Forge if root access and server provisioning matter.
- Choose Laravel Forge if you want unlimited servers on Growth or Business.
RunCloud Choose RunCloud if
- Choose RunCloud if a $9/month starting plan suits your server count.
- Choose RunCloud if you need its named cloud-provider integrations.
- Choose RunCloud if you need published API quotas on Business or Enterprise.
02Pricing at real usage
Forge has no free plan. Hobby is $12/month for one external server plus unlimited Laravel VPS servers, sites and deployments. Growth is $19/month and Business $39/month; both list unlimited servers, sites and deployments, with 5% or 15% off Laravel VPS, respectively. Cloud-provider charges are separate, and Forge does not publish Laravel VPS prices.
RunCloud offers a seven-day trial. Essentials is $9/month for one server, Professional $19 for 50, Business $49 for 100, and Enterprise $399 for 500. Server add-ons are available on Professional and Business; extra backup storage, workspace members and API calls can also increase bills on applicable plans. Budget separately for the cloud infrastructure you connect. Both vendors show annual billing options but do not publish annual plan rates.
03API, SDKs and integration
Forge is a web-based server provisioning and deployment tool. It can provision Laravel VPS servers or connect to cloud providers, then install a stack including Nginx, PHP, MySQL, Postgres and Redis. Its homepage links to documentation and names support for vanilla PHP, Nuxt, Next.js, WordPress and Statamic. Forge offers scripted zero-downtime deployments and keeps root access available.
RunCloud is also a web control panel, with Vultr, Linode, UpCloud, Hetzner, AWS, Google Cloud and DigitalOcean named as supported providers. Its homepage links to documentation and API & Developers resources. The vendor does not publish Forge API or SDK specifications; RunCloud lists API quotas but does not name protocol or SDK languages. Business includes 120 requests/minute and 10,000 monthly requests billed monthly or 20,000 billed yearly. Enterprise includes 300 requests/minute and 400,000 monthly requests. RunCloud describes its deployment method as Git-based atomic deployment.
04Open source, self-hosting and lock-in
Both products manage servers on cloud infrastructure; Forge also offers its Laravel VPS option and explicitly keeps root access available. That gives you control of the server, but it does not establish that either management panel can be self-hosted or that configuration and account data can be exported in a particular format. Neither vendor publishes licence, self-hosting or data-export terms.
Treat the control panel and the server as separate parts of a migration plan. Moving providers may mean reprovisioning the server and adapting deployment settings, so verify what you can export before committing. RunCloud advertises free migration for a first web app for a limited time. Forge’s root-access model leaves server administration available to you, but it is not a data-portability guarantee.
Questions people ask
Is Laravel Forge cheaper than RunCloud?
Not at the starting price: Forge Hobby is $12/month, while RunCloud Essentials is $9/month. The included capacity differs: Hobby includes one external server and unlimited Laravel VPS servers, while Essentials includes one server. Compare the plan allowance you need and add cloud-provider charges to the subscription.
Can I use Laravel Forge for non-Laravel apps?
Yes. Forge names support for vanilla PHP, Nuxt, Next.js, WordPress and Statamic, as well as Laravel. It also provisions the web-server and database stack. Choose based on whether its deployment and server-management workflow fits your app, not just the framework name.
Does RunCloud include cloud hosting?
RunCloud is a control panel for managing cloud servers, and it names providers including AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean and Hetzner. Its plans price the RunCloud service by server allowance. Check the provider’s infrastructure bill separately when estimating the cost of running your application.
Which product has an API?
RunCloud lists API quotas on Business and Enterprise: 120 requests/minute on Business and 300 on Enterprise, with monthly request allowances also specified. Forge’s published material does not list API quotas. RunCloud does not name API protocols or SDK languages in the published details.