Best Local Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from development environment managers ranked against Local on the same published basis.
- 1Local vs ActiveState Platform
- 2Local vs devenv
- 3Local vs FVM
- 4Local vs Flox
- 5Local vs Nix
- 6Local vs nvm
- 7Local vs vfox
- 8Local vs DDEV
- 9Local vs elan
- 10Local vs FlyEnv
- 11Local vs fnm
- 12Local vs DevPod
- 13Local vs goenv
- 14Local vs GVM
- 15Local vs nodenv
- 16Local vs pyenv
- 17Local vs Rook
- 18Local vs Vagrant
- 19Local vs asdf
- 20Local vs RVM
Local alternatives compared
| # | App | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ActiveState Platform | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | API, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 2 | devenv | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 3 | FVM | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | API, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 4 | Flox | 7.2 | Free plan | $20/mo | Browser, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 5 | Nix | 7.1 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 6 | nvm | 7.1 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 7 | vfox | 7.1 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 8 | DDEV | 7.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 9 | elan | 7.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 10 | FlyEnv | 7.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 11 | fnm | 7.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 12 | DevPod | 6.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 13 | goenv | 6.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac |
| 14 | GVM | 6.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac |
| 15 | nodenv | 6.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac |
| 16 | pyenv | 6.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted |
| 17 | Rook | 6.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 18 | Vagrant | 6.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 19 | asdf | 6.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac |
| 20 | RVM | 6.8 | No | — | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
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Questions about Local alternatives
What is the best alternative to Local?
ActiveState Platform, number 1 in development environment managers with a score of 7.3 out of 10. The others here: devenv, FVM, Flox and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to Local?
ActiveState Platform is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 19 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes: documentation depth, a free tier and the platforms it runs on.