PortBayvsServBay
ServBayServBay packs the widest language matrix in this category — PHP, Node, Python, Go, Java, Ruby, Rust and .NET, all switchable from one app. PortBay covers the stacks most macOS developers actually ship every day, but does so as open source, with a higher free-tier ceiling and per-project databases that ServBay shares across sites.
Which one is right for you
You want the full stack, open source.
You want open source you can audit and fork, a free tier that runs more than 5 sites, per-project database isolation, and a tool whose pitch is one-click launches rather than a single GUI that holds your entire environment.
It already fits your workflow.
You need Java, Go, Rust, Ruby or .NET as first-class runtimes in the same app, you want ACME certificates from Let's Encrypt, ZeroSSL or Google Trust Services and wildcard SSL locally, and you're comfortable with closed source on a subscription. You're on Windows — ServBay ships a native Windows app and PortBay does not.
Where PortBay and ServBay 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.
PortBay and ServBay 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.
Claude Code
Codex
CursorMove a card to To Do and PortBay launches Claude Code, Codex or Cursor against a project that is already running. ServBay has no board to dispatch from.
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.
Feature by feature
ServBay rows come from ServBay’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.
ServBay facts on this page were last checked against servbay.com/pricing on . Pricing and limits change — check their site before you decide.
Coming from ServBay
PortBay reads ServBay's site list, document roots and language runtimes on first launch and imports them with one click. Custom TLDs you configured in ServBay carry over, and PortBay re-issues mkcert HTTPS so browsers continue to trust your local certificates. Per-project databases replace ServBay's shared multi-version instances, so each project gets its own MySQL or Postgres without competing for ports.
Install PortBay and open it once. It detects ServBay and lists every site.
Pick the projects to import. Custom TLDs and PHP versions carry over.
Start a project — ServBay can keep running side by side until you're ready to remove it.
PortBay vs ServBay, in plain terms
Don’t see your question answered here? The docs go deeper — every feature, flag and failure mode.
Read the docsPortBay Pro is $10/month; ServBay Pro is $9.90/month or $59/year, with a $29/year education rate and a $39.90/month (or $399/year) Team plan for 10 users. Beyond price, PortBay is open source (AGPL-3.0) and its free tier covers 6 projects with no DNS-record limit. ServBay is closed source, with the free tier capped at 5 websites and 5 DNS records and no backup or restore. Mail capture and public tunnels are in PortBay's free tier and gated to Pro in ServBay; ACME and wildcard certificates are Pro in ServBay and absent from PortBay entirely.
PortBay treats PHP, Node, static sites and mobile (Flutter, Expo) as first-class and expects you to install Java, Go, Rust or other runtimes via your own shell tooling. ServBay bundles a wider polyglot matrix natively. If you ship in Java or .NET, ServBay's coverage is broader today.
Yes. PortBay detects ServBay on first launch and offers to import your site list, document roots and PHP versions. Custom TLDs you configured in ServBay carry over, and PortBay re-issues fresh mkcert HTTPS certificates so your local sites stay trusted.
PortBay provisions a dedicated MySQL or PostgreSQL database per project — clean separation, no port conflicts, automatic teardown when you remove the project. ServBay runs shared multi-version instances of each engine; you connect to the version you need and create databases inside it.
No. PortBay's free tier covers 6 projects and is fully functional forever — lapsing Pro just re-applies the project cap. ServBay's free tier is also functional but capped at 5 sites and excludes mail, tunnels and ACME auto-renew.
Give your projects and your agents a real local home.
Download for macOSFree & open source · macOS 11+ on Apple Silicon · Pro from $10/mo