Laravel Herd is a strong baseline for PHP on macOS: fast start, polished UX, familiar Laravel world. MacFullStack aims at the same local-stack niche with a different emphasis: Bitrix and dual runtime, plus RUB payments.
Where Herd usually wins
- Minimal friction if you live in Laravel and like the Pro model.
- Mature brand and team habits already on Herd.
- If you rarely need Bitrix and refuse Docker on principle — Herd stays a very reasonable pick.
Where MacFullStack is stronger
| Topic | MacFullStack | Herd (typical) |
|---|---|---|
| Bitrix / foreign docroot | Docroot detect + nginx rules instead of .htaccess |
Not a focus |
| Runtime | Native by default, Docker as a parity mode | Mostly native-model |
| Payments | YooKassa, ₽, Pro/Teams | Often USD / other billing |
| Free | 1 PHP project + MySQL/Redis/Mailpit/phpMyAdmin (not “Redis behind Pro”) | Depends on plan |
| Node / Python | Domain proxy to managed local servers (Pro/Teams) | Not the focus |
Who should pick what
- Choose Herd if the team already uses it, projects are clean Laravel/PHP, and Bitrix almost never appears.
- Choose MacFullStack if you need Bitrix agencies, real site import, Native↔Docker without losing services, and RU billing.