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Best Local Alternatives in 2026

Updated

20 platforms from development environment managers ranked against Local on the same published basis.

  1. 1
    ActiveState Platform Free plan apiLinuxMacWebWin Free7.9
    Local vs ActiveState Platform
  2. 2
    FlyEnv Free plan LinuxMacWin Free7.6
    Local vs FlyEnv
  3. 3
    devenv Free plan LinuxMacWebWin Free7.3
    Local vs devenv
  4. 4
    Devbox Free trial extensionLinuxMacWebWin $5/mo7.2
    Local vs Devbox
  5. 5
    Flox Free plan extensionLinuxMacself-hostedWeb $20/mo7.2
    Local vs Flox
  6. 6
    vfox Free plan LinuxMacWin Free7.2
    Local vs vfox
  7. 7
    FVM Free plan apiLinuxMacWin Free7.1
    Local vs FVM
  8. 8
    GVM Free plan LinuxMac Free7.1
    Local vs GVM
  9. 9
    DevPod Free plan LinuxMacWin Free7.0
    Local vs DevPod
  10. 10
    Nix Free plan LinuxMacself-hostedWin Free7.0
    Local vs Nix
  11. 11
    Vagrant Free plan LinuxMacWin Free7.0
    Local vs Vagrant
  12. 12
    elan Free plan LinuxMacWin Free6.9
    Local vs elan
  13. 13
    fnm Free plan LinuxMacWin Free6.9
    Local vs fnm
  14. 14
    GNU Guix Free plan Linuxself-hosted Free6.9
    Local vs GNU Guix
  15. 15
    nvm Free plan LinuxMacself-hostedWin Free6.9
    Local vs nvm
  16. 16
    DDEV Free plan LinuxMacWin Free6.8
    Local vs DDEV
  17. 17
    goenv Free plan LinuxMac Free6.8
    Local vs goenv
  18. 18
    RVM LinuxMacself-hostedWebWin 6.8
    Local vs RVM
  19. 19
    asdf Free plan LinuxMac Free6.7
    Local vs asdf
  20. 20
    SDKMAN! apiLinuxMacWin 6.7
    Local vs SDKMAN!

Local alternatives compared

#PlatformScoreFree planFromRuns on
1ActiveState Platform7.9Free planFreeAPI, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows
2FlyEnv7.6Free planFreeLinux, Mac, Windows
3devenv7.3Free planFreeLinux, Mac, Web, Windows
4Devbox7.2No$5/moBrowser, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows
5Flox7.2Free plan$20/moBrowser, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
6vfox7.2Free planFreeLinux, Mac, Windows
7FVM7.1Free planFreeAPI, Linux, Mac, Windows
8GVM7.1Free planFreeLinux, Mac
9DevPod7.0Free planFreeLinux, Mac, Windows
10Nix7.0Free planFreeLinux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
11Vagrant7.0Free planFreeLinux, Mac, Windows
12elan6.9Free planFreeLinux, Mac, Windows
13fnm6.9Free planFreeLinux, Mac, Windows
14GNU Guix6.9Free planFreeLinux, self-hosted
15nvm6.9Free planFreeLinux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
16DDEV6.8Free planFreeLinux, Mac, Windows
17goenv6.8Free planFreeLinux, Mac
18RVM6.8No—Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
19asdf6.7Free planFreeLinux, Mac
20SDKMAN!6.7No—API, Linux, Mac, Windows
Make your platform an alternative to Local

The sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled and never changes the order above.

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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 7.9 out of 10. The others here: FlyEnv, devenv, Devbox and 16 more.

What is the best free alternative to Local?

ActiveState Platform is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 17 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.

How are these alternatives ranked?

Ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going: documentation depth, a free tier or trial, and the platforms it runs on. Paid placements never change a rank.