What is Laravel Cloud
Laravel Cloud is Laravel’s official fully managed PaaS.It integrates deployment, scaling, databases, cache, and WebSocket infrastructure for Laravel applications. The Cloud changelog records Launched Laravel Cloud! on
February 24, 2025, so it is a relatively new GA service.
How it differs from Forge
Laravel Cloud and Laravel Forge both target Laravel developers, but they solve different layers of operations.| Perspective | Laravel Cloud | Laravel Forge |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Fully managed PaaS | Server management tool |
| Primary workflow | Choose environment/resources and deploy | Provision and manage VPS / EC2 and operate servers |
| Infrastructure responsibility | Minimal (managed by Cloud) | OS and middleware operations are your responsibility |
| Root access | Not provided | Provided |
Choose Forge when you need detailed server-level control.
Where Laravel Cloud is strong
Laravel Cloud makes common Laravel production features easy to enable from the dashboard.Task scheduler
With Scheduled Tasks, enabling Scheduler on an app or worker cluster runsschedule:run every minute.
Managed Queues
In Queues, Managed Queues are now the recommended default. Laravel Cloud handles queue provisioning, worker startup, and scaling automatically. When no jobs are pending, workers can scale down to zero so you are billed only while jobs are processed.| Option | Best for | Scaling model | Cost model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Managed Queues | Most production, preview, and development environments | Automatic based on queue backlog. Can scale to zero when idle | Worker runtime seconds + queue operations |
| Worker cluster | Larger background workloads where you want to manage queue:work directly | CPU / memory-based | Standard Worker cluster pricing |
| App cluster background processes | Small development use cases and low-frequency jobs | CPU / memory-based | Included in App cluster compute |
If you need to self-manage drivers like
database or redis, use a Worker cluster. If sharing compute with your app is enough, use App cluster background processes.
Create a Managed Queue
In your environment’s infrastructure canvas dashboard, click New Managed Queue.
Configure queue and worker settings
Set queue name, instance size, polling interval, and max workers.
Scale to Zero (Flex compute)
Compute explains that Flex is the low-cost, flexible compute class. The new Scale to Zero feature evolved from legacy hibernation. On Flex compute, cold starts on HTTP requests are now under 500ms, instead of the older 5–20 second behavior. Enable it by turning on Scale to Zero in your App cluster settings, then saving and redeploying. When Scale to Zero is enabled, the environment can also auto-start while sleeping for Scheduled Tasks and queue processing.Running
schedule:run on the App cluster while delegating jobs to Managed Queues is now the most practical default architecture recommended in Laravel Cloud’s official documentation.
A self-managed
queue:work process on the App cluster can still be terminated when the cluster sleeps. If reliable queue continuity matters, prefer Managed Queues as documented.Laravel Octane
In Compute, enabling Use Octane as runtime runs your app with Octane + FrankenPHP without manual server setup.Inertia SSR
In Compute, enabling Use Inertia SSR makes SSR setup straightforward.When using starter kits,
npm run build:ssr is recommended.
WebSockets (Reverb)
With Laravel Cloud WebSockets, you can create a Reverb-based WebSocket cluster.After attaching it to an environment,
REVERB_* and VITE_REVERB_* variables are injected automatically.
Laravel Nightwatch integration
Environments provides one-click integration, and the Cloud changelog records One-Click Nightwatch Integration onJuly 1, 2025.If you need manual setup, see nightwatch-on-cloud.
Pricing and free trial
Laravel Cloud pricing is generally plan fee + usage.Always verify current details in Pricing.
- Starter:
$5/mo, includes$5monthly usage credits, and first month free for new signups - Growth:
$20/mo + usage, includes$5monthly usage credits - Business:
$200/mo + usage, includes$5monthly usage credits
Combining Scale to Zero with Managed Queues makes costs more predictable for personal projects and internal tools with long idle periods.
Important limitations
No root-level server operations
Because Cloud is a PaaS, it prioritizes operational simplicity over OS-level control.If your workload requires kernel tuning, custom daemons, or other root-based operations, Forge or another server-centric option is usually a better fit.
Control Nightwatch event volume early
If you use Nightwatch on smaller plans, event volume can grow quickly. Start with sampling and filtering settings.Good fit vs. poor fit
Good fit
- You want to launch Laravel apps quickly.
- You want to operate Scheduler / Queue / Octane / Inertia SSR / Reverb together.
- You want to reduce infrastructure operations overhead and focus on application delivery.
Poor fit
- You need heavy OS-level tuning with root access.
- You have strict custom infrastructure constraints (special middleware, network restrictions, or similar).
Summary
Laravel Cloud is a strong option when your team wants to run advanced Laravel workloads with less infrastructure burden.It is especially effective when your project combines Scheduler, Queue workers, Octane, Inertia SSR, Reverb, and Nightwatch. If root-level control is a hard requirement, Forge remains the better option.
The safest path is to validate your actual workload with the free trial and decide based on operational requirements.