Documentation Index
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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.
Background workers (queues)
As documented in Queues, Cloud lets you managequeue:work and custom workers from cluster settings, including restart behavior during deploys.
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:
$0base (pay-per-usage) - Growth:
$20/mo + usage - Business:
$200/mo + usage
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.