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Head-to-head · Cloud Hosting Management Software

RunCloud vs Laravel Forge

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 7 checks side by side
Higher score RunCloud #2 in Cloud Hosting Management Software 9.2/10 7-day trial Free trial✓ 6 of 6 features Visit RunCloud
Laravel Forge #8 in Cloud Hosting Management Software 8.5/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 6 features Visit Laravel Forge

RunCloud leads on 0 checks, Laravel Forge on 0, and 7 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 7 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreRunCloud · 9.2/10
  • Free trialonly RunCloud
  • Most featuresRunCloud · 6 of 6

RunCloud scores higher on our rubric for cloud hosting management software: 9.2 against 8.5 out of 10; our editors rank them #2 and #8.

RunCloud is the better fit for teams needing broad automated cloud management. Laravel Forge is the better fit for developers deploying Laravel and PHP applications.

  • RunCloud fits best

    Teams needing broad automated cloud management

  • Laravel Forge fits best

    Developers deploying Laravel and PHP applications

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Side by side

Feature RunCloud 9.2/10 Visit ↗ Laravel Forge 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.2 8.5
Ranking #2 in Cloud Hosting Management Software #8 in Cloud Hosting Management Software
Best for Teams needing broad automated cloud management Developers deploying Laravel and PHP applications
Pricing model Paid Paid
Starting price $9/mo $120/yr
Free plan Not checked yet —
Free trial 7 days —
Deployment Cloud Cloud
Platforms Web Web
Support Tickets, Community, Docs Email, Community
Integrations 15 integrations 8 integrations
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features RunCloud 6/6 · Laravel Forge 0/6
Server provisioning ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Deployment automation ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Monitoring and alerts ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Automated backups ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Docker support ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Team access ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Specs
Cloud providers Akamai (formerly Linode), Vultr, UpCloud, AWS Lightsail, Hetzner Cloud, Google Cloud Platform, AWS EC2, Azure, DigitalOcean Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Supports multiple cloud providers with automated server provisioning
  • Combines deployments, backups, monitoring, SSL, Docker, and DNS tools
  • Adds staging, team controls, atomic deployments, and API access on higher tiers
  • Zero-downtime deployments with retained releases for rollback
  • Push-to-deploy support for GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket
  • Provisioning, SSL, monitoring, queues, jobs, and databases in one platform
Cons
  • Cloud infrastructure charges are separate from the subscription
  • The trial requires payment-card details
  • Some advanced capabilities require higher-priced plans
  • No free plan for evaluating the service
  • Hobby includes only 1 external server
  • Narrower focus than broader cloud management platforms
Our verdict

RunCloud is a cloud server management platform for developers, agencies, site owners, and businesses operating web applications. It connects to Ubuntu servers from supported cloud providers or manually connected infrastructure, then…

Read the review →

Laravel Forge is a web-based server management and application deployment platform built by the Laravel team. It is designed for developers deploying Laravel and PHP applications, while also supporting vanilla PHP, WordPress, Statamic,…

Read the review →
  1. RunCloudCloud Hosting Management Software 9.27-day trial
  2. Laravel ForgeCloud Hosting Management Software 8.5Paid

Strengths and trade-offs

  • RunCloud — where it wins

    • Supports multiple cloud providers with automated server provisioning
    • Combines deployments, backups, monitoring, SSL, Docker, and DNS tools
    • Adds staging, team controls, atomic deployments, and API access on higher tiers

    Where it doesn't

    • Cloud infrastructure charges are separate from the subscription
    • The trial requires payment-card details
    • Some advanced capabilities require higher-priced plans

  • Laravel Forge — where it wins

    • Zero-downtime deployments with retained releases for rollback
    • Push-to-deploy support for GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket
    • Provisioning, SSL, monitoring, queues, jobs, and databases in one platform

    Where it doesn't

    • No free plan for evaluating the service
    • Hobby includes only 1 external server
    • Narrower focus than broader cloud management platforms

More comparisons

All cloud hosting management software comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update