> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kawax.biz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Laravel Cloud — a full look at the Laravel-native PaaS

> Laravel Cloud, launched in 2025. Learn how it differs from Forge, what it's good and bad at, and the benefits of using it in practice.

## What is Laravel Cloud?

[Laravel Cloud](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/intro) is Laravel's official **fully managed PaaS**.
Everything from app deployment, scaling, databases, and caching to WebSocket infrastructure is integrated for Laravel.

The Cloud [Changelog](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/changelog) records **Launched Laravel Cloud!** on `February 24, 2025`. It's a relatively new service that reached general availability in 2025.

***

## How it differs from Forge

Laravel Cloud and Laravel Forge are both for Laravel developers, but operate at different layers.

| Aspect                    | Laravel Cloud                                  | Laravel Forge                                  |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Position                  | Fully managed PaaS                             | Server management tool                         |
| Primary operation         | Choose environments and resources, then deploy | Provision and operate VPS / EC2, etc.          |
| Infrastructure management | Minimal (managed by Cloud)                     | OS/middleware operation is your responsibility |
| Root access               | None (no direct OS-level operations)           | Yes (flexible control over servers)            |

If you want to "ship a Laravel app quickly without worrying about infrastructure," Cloud is the right pick.
If you want fine-grained server control, Forge is the better fit.

***

## What Laravel Cloud excels at

Laravel Cloud's strength is making it easy to enable the features you use in real-world Laravel operations from a dashboard-driven experience.

### Task Scheduler

With [Scheduled Tasks](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/scheduled-tasks), simply enable **Scheduler** on an App cluster or Worker cluster to have `schedule:run` execute every minute.

### Managed Queues

For [Queues](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/queues), **Managed Queues** are recommended. Laravel Cloud handles queue provisioning, worker startup, and scaling automatically. When there are no jobs, the worker count drops to zero, so you're only billed while processing.

| Option                               | Suitable use                                                                  | Scaling                                                           | Billing model                            |
| ------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| **Managed Queues**                   | Production, preview, and development in general. The first choice             | Auto-scales based on queue backlog; scales down to zero when idle | Worker uptime seconds + queue operations |
| **Worker cluster**                   | You want to manage `queue:work` yourself, or run heavier background workloads | CPU/memory-based                                                  | Standard Worker cluster pricing          |
| **App cluster background processes** | Small-scale development or low-frequency jobs                                 | CPU/memory-based                                                  | Included in App cluster                  |

Managed Queues let you separate web traffic and job processing while also giving you a failed-jobs dashboard.
On the other hand, if you want to manage a different driver (like `database` or `redis`) yourself, use a Worker cluster. If the same compute as the app is sufficient, use the App cluster's background processes.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a Managed Queue">
    Click **New Managed Queue** on the environment's infrastructure canvas dashboard.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the queue name and worker settings">
    Configure queue name, instance size, polling interval, maximum workers, and so on.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save and deploy">
    Save the settings and redeploy—Laravel Cloud provisions the queue and worker pool automatically.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Because Managed Queues workers scale to zero when there are no jobs, they pair well with Scale to Zero (described below). Even if the App cluster is asleep, only queue processing can wake up automatically when needed.
</Tip>

### Scale to Zero (Flex compute)

**Flex**, described under [Compute](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/compute#scale-to-zero), is a low-cost, flexible compute class. The new **Scale to Zero** evolves this Flex compute from the older Hibernation model. On the new **Flex compute**, HTTP-request wake-ups have been reduced to **under 500ms**—no more waiting 5–20 seconds as before.

To enable it, toggle **Scale to Zero** on in the App cluster settings, save, and redeploy.

Furthermore, in environments with Scale to Zero enabled, the environment automatically wakes to run Scheduled Tasks and process queues even while asleep.
Running `schedule:run` on the App cluster while delegating job processing to Managed Queues is currently the most manageable combination, and matches what the official docs suggest.

<Info>
  Your own `queue:work` on the App cluster may be interrupted across sleep timeouts. If you need reliable queue processing, follow the official docs and prioritize Managed Queues.
</Info>

### Laravel Octane

Enabling **Use Octane as runtime** in [Compute](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/compute#laravel-octane) has Cloud run the app with the Octane + FrankenPHP setup. There's no need to piece together server configuration by hand.

### Inertia SSR

You can enable **Use Inertia SSR** from [Compute](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/compute#inertia-ssr). When using a starter kit, `npm run build:ssr` is recommended.

### WebSocket server (Reverb)

With [Laravel Cloud WebSockets](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/resources/websockets), you can create Reverb-based WebSocket clusters. Attaching one to an environment automatically injects `REVERB_*` and `VITE_REVERB_*` variables.

### Laravel Nightwatch integration

[Environments](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/environments#nightwatch-integration) offers a one-click integration, and the Cloud [Changelog](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/changelog) records **One-Click Nightwatch Integration** on `July 1, 2025`.
If you need to configure it manually, see [nightwatch-on-cloud](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/knowledge-base/nightwatch-on-cloud) for instructions.

***

## Pricing and free plan

Laravel Cloud pricing is essentially **plan fee + usage-based billing**.
Always check [Pricing](https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/pricing) for the details.

* **Starter**: `$5`/month. Includes `$5` of usage credit each month. New signups get the first month free
* **Growth**: `$20/mo + usage`, with `$5` of usage credit each month
* **Business**: `$200/mo + usage`, with `$5` of usage credit each month

Starting a small project on **Starter** is now easier than before.
Combining Scale to Zero with Managed Queues makes costs more predictable, even for indie projects or internal tools with long idle periods.

***

## Things to keep in mind in practice

### You can't rely on root-privileged operations

Because Cloud is a PaaS, it prioritizes operational simplicity over OS-level freedom.
If you need work that assumes root privileges—kernel tuning, running custom daemons—consider options like Forge.

### Control Nightwatch event volume up front

When using Nightwatch on a free tier or small setup, event volume can grow quickly, so it's safer to configure sampling from the start.

```ini theme={null}
NIGHTWATCH_REQUEST_SAMPLE_RATE=0.1
NIGHTWATCH_IGNORE_QUERIES=true
```

***

## Good fits and poor fits

### Good fits

* You want to ship a Laravel app to production as fast as possible
* You want to run Scheduler / Queue / Octane / Inertia SSR / Reverb together
* You want to focus on app development and reduce server operations cost

### Poor fits

* You want strong OS-level tuning with root privileges
* You have strong existing custom infrastructure needs (proprietary middleware, unusual network constraints)

***

## Summary

Laravel Cloud is a strong fit for teams that want to "run Laravel's advanced features with less infrastructure overhead."
Projects combining Scheduler / Queue / Octane / Inertia SSR / Reverb / Nightwatch in particular can start up and iterate much faster.

If you need root-privileged operations, however, Forge is a better fit.
The safest path is to run your actual workload on the free trial first and check whether it matches your operational requirements.


## Related topics

- [Laravel Cloud Hibernation (auto-sleep)](/en/blog/laravel-cloud-hibernation.md)
- [laravel/symfony-on-cloud — run Symfony apps on Laravel Cloud](/en/blog/symfony-on-cloud-introduction.md)
- [Deployment](/en/deployment.md)
- [VOICEVOX for Laravel](/en/packages/laravel-voicevox/index.md)
- [Installation and Configuration - VOICEVOX for Laravel](/en/packages/laravel-voicevox/installation.md)