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PortBayvsMAMP

MAMP has powered local PHP work on the Mac since 2001 and is still actively shipped, with MAMP PRO sold as a one-time license. PortBay is the modern take — open source, with real .test domains, trusted HTTPS, per-project databases and Node, mail and tunnels in the free tier.

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PortBay vs MAMP comparison page.
The short answer

Which one is right for you

Pick PortBay if

You want the full stack, open source.

You want real local domains, automatic HTTPS, and Node alongside PHP without juggling Apache config. You like that PortBay is open source, imports your existing MAMP hosts, and doesn't gate basics like SSL behind a paid tier.

Stick with MAMP if

It already fits your workflow.

You're already on MAMP PRO, you prefer a perpetual one-time license over a subscription, and your stack is PHP + MySQL with Apache the way you've configured it for years. You need a Windows build today.

Where PortBay and MAMP actually differ

The table below has the row-by-row detail. These are the three shapes it cannot draw: the job you already use one of them for, the job only one of them does, and what survives the move.

Both run your sites

PortBay and MAMP overlap on the everyday job: a local site on a real domain, over HTTPS, with the services it needs. If that is all you need, either will do it.

Only one dispatches agents

Move a card to To Do and PortBay launches Claude Code, Codex or Cursor against a project that is already running. MAMP has no board to dispatch from.

Switching keeps your projects

Point PortBay at the folders you already have. They stay where they are, .test domains are re-issued on the first run, and databases are imported rather than rebuilt.

The detail

Feature by feature

MAMP rows come from MAMP’s own site and docs, on the date below. PortBay rows come from the app’s source. We mark partial support honestly — including where the other side wins.

Feature
PortBay
MAMP
Pricing & licensing
Free tier
6 projects, all features
1 root, no SSL, no mail
Free MAMP gives you Apache or Nginx, MySQL and a choice of PHP, Python, Perl or Ruby, served from one document root. Virtual hosts, per-site PHP versions, SSL and mail are MAMP PRO.
Paid tier
$10/mo Pro
$99 once + $69/yr updates
MAMP PRO 7 is a lifetime licence at $99 one-time with the first year of updates included; after that, updates auto-renew at $69/year and can be cancelled at any time — the licence itself never expires. Prices exclude VAT.
Open source
Yes — AGPL-3.0
Closed source
Licence model
Personal, all your Macs
Lifetime; devices not stated
MAMP's store states the lifetime terms — buy once, first year of updates included, cancellable annual renewal, licence never expires — but does not publish a device count, so we don't assert one.
Languages & runtimes
PHP versions
Multiple, per-project
Multi-PHP is PRO only
MAMP PRO's "Multi PHP" assigns each site its own version across PHP 7.x and 8.x, including preview and beta builds, without a server restart. It is a PRO feature.
Node.js
Built-in, all versions
Not supported
Python, Perl, Ruby
Use via your shell
Bundled
Static sites
First-class
Via virtual host
Services in one app
Databases
MySQL & Postgres, per-project
MySQL only (shared)
MAMP ships MySQL only; PortBay provisions MySQL or Postgres per project.
Mail capture
Mailpit, built in
PRO only — MailHog
Public tunnels
Cloudflare, built in
PRO only — Dynamic DNS
Logs & inspector
Built in
Manual file viewer
HTTPS & domains
Real local domains
Automatic .test
Manual virtual hosts
PortBay gives every project a .test hostname automatically. MAMP requires manual virtual hosts.
Trusted local HTTPS
mkcert, browser-trusted
Root CA, manual Keychain trust
Custom domain suffix
Yes
Per virtual host
On-device AI
Managed local AI server
Ollama, built in
No
PortBay installs and supervises a local Ollama server and shares one on-device endpoint with its features and your own tools.
On-device Speech-to-Text
Whisper / Parakeet, local
No
Hold Fn and talk; an on-device model (Whisper or Parakeet) transcribes and a local AI cleans it up — in any app on your Mac.
Migration & control
Import from competitors
Herd, ServBay, MAMP, Valet
None documented
MAMP PRO Extras installs fresh WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, MediaWiki, phpBB and webEdition sites; mamp.info documents no importer that reads sites out of another local-dev tool.
CLI
Yes — `portbay`
No official CLI
Operating systems
macOS (ARM + Intel), Linux
macOS 7.4 · Windows 5.0.6
At the time of checking, MAMP for macOS was 7.4.0 (2 February 2026, macOS 11+, ARM and Intel) while MAMP for Windows was 5.0.6 (25 April 2024, Windows 10+).
Windows support
—
Yes
PortBay ships macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux builds, but nothing for Windows. MAMP does have a Windows build — older than its Mac one, but it exists and is downloadable today.
Docker required
Never
Never

MAMP facts on this page were last checked against mamp.info/en/store on . Pricing and limits change — check their site before you decide.

Migration

Coming from MAMP or MAMP PRO

PortBay reads MAMP's hosts list and document roots on first launch and offers to import every site at once. Your virtual hosts become real .test domains with trusted mkcert HTTPS — no /etc/hosts editing, no MAMP root CA to trust per browser. Per-project MySQL databases replace MAMP's single shared instance, with credentials injected into the project's environment.

MAMP
1

Install PortBay and open it once. It detects MAMP and lists every host.

2

Pick the projects to bring across. PHP versions and document roots carry over.

3

Hit play. Your site is live at https://yourapp.test with browser-trusted HTTPS.

PortBay
Common questions

PortBay vs MAMP, in plain terms

Don’t see your question answered here? The docs go deeper — every feature, flag and failure mode.

Read the docs

Yes. PortBay is free and open source for up to 6 local projects with SSL, real .test domains, per-project databases, Mailpit and Cloudflare tunnels included — features that require MAMP PRO, which is a $99 one-time lifetime licence with the first year of updates included and $69/year after that. The optional PortBay Pro plan is $10/month for unlimited projects.

Yes. PortBay detects MAMP on first launch, reads your hosts list and document roots, and imports them with one click. Your sites move to real .test domains with trusted HTTPS and per-project databases.

Yes — PortBay provisions a MySQL or PostgreSQL database per project, with credentials injected into your application's environment automatically. MAMP ships MySQL only; Postgres support in MAMP requires installing the server yourself outside the app.

No. PortBay uses mkcert to install its own development root CA and issues per-project certificates that all modern browsers trust automatically. MAMP's MAMP_PRO_ROOT_CA can stay in your Keychain or be removed — it does not interfere.

Not yet. PortBay ships a signed, notarized macOS build for Apple Silicon and Intel (macOS 11+) and a Linux x86_64 build (AppImage, deb and rpm). There is no Windows build yet. MAMP does have a Windows version, but it trails the Mac release substantially: at the time of writing MAMP for macOS is 7.4.0, released 2 February 2026, while MAMP for Windows is 5.0.6, released 25 April 2024.

PortBay mascot — a friendly blue tugboat

Give your projects and your agents a real local home.

Download for macOS

Free & open source · macOS 11+ on Apple Silicon · Pro from $10/mo