DDEV vs. DrupalForge - Which One is Right For You?

DDEV vs. DrupalForge: A Comparison of Local and Cloud-Based Drupal Development Environments

If you’re a Drupal developer evaluating tools for your local or remote development environment, chances are you’ve come across DDEV, the widely respected local development tool that streamlines Docker-based environments. You might also be exploring newer cloud-based solutions like DrupalForge, a next-generation development and hosting marketplace specifically built for Drupal and powered by DevPanel.

In this blog post, we’ll compare DDEV vs. DrupalForge across ten critical points to help you decide which environment best suits your Drupal development workflow. Whether you're a freelancer, agency, or enterprise team, understanding these options is crucial to building better, faster, and more collaborative websites.

TL;DR: DDEV offers unmatched local control and flexibility. DrupalForge, on the other hand, eliminates local setup and offers collaboration-friendly, cloud-based development that's fast, secure, and scalable.

1. Setup & Installation

DDEV requires Docker and CLI knowledge. To set it up, you need to install Docker Desktop (or Colima), DDEV itself, and any system prerequisites. Once installed, ddev config and ddev start commands quickly spin up your Drupal site. For tech-savvy users, setup is relatively easy, but less experienced developers may need some ramp-up time.

DrupalForge, in contrast, is a browser-based platform. No local setup is required. Just sign in and launch a preconfigured Drupal development environment. It’s perfect for beginners or teams looking to onboard fast. It takes minutes to start coding in the cloud without touching Docker or terminal.

Winner: DrupalForge — one-click setup in the cloud with zero local dependencies.

2. Learning Curve & Ease of Use

DDEV is loved by developers who are comfortable in the terminal. It’s well-documented and consistent, but it requires familiarity with Docker, CLI commands, and basic web stack configurations.

DrupalForge provides a full-featured browser-based IDE with Drush, Composer, and phpMyAdmin pre-installed. It’s intuitive, visual, and beginner-friendly. Perfect for agencies, non-profits, and teams with mixed skill levels.

Winner: DrupalForge — intuitive GUI and pre-configured tools make development accessible to everyone.

3. Accessibility & Portability

DDEV is tied to your local machine. You need to copy your site or sync via Git to switch devices. It works great offline but lacks remote access unless you use tunnels or sharing tools.

DrupalForge is accessible from any device with a browser. Work from your laptop, tablet, or another desktop. Share URLs with stakeholders for real-time previews. This cloud-native design enables remote work, team access, and true development portability.

Winner: DrupalForge — develop from anywhere, on any device.

4. Performance & Scalability

DDEV offers excellent speed on powerful machines. Its Mutagen integration improves file sync speeds on macOS and Windows. But you're limited by your local resources — multiple projects or heavy workloads can bog things down.

DrupalForge runs your environment on powerful cloud servers. It handles large workloads, concurrent environments, and heavy traffic easily. You’re never constrained by your laptop’s memory or CPU.

Winner: DrupalForge — high performance that scales with your project needs.

5. Tools & Features

DDEV shines with flexibility. It supports custom Docker containers, multiple CMSs, and services like Solr, Redis, and Xdebug. It’s perfect for power users needing advanced stack configurations.

DrupalForge focuses solely on Drupal. It includes everything you need out of the box — from Drush and Composer to an online code editor and database management tools. It’s streamlined, simple, and powerful for Drupal-centric workflows.

Winner: Draw— Although DDEV has more tools built-in, DrupalForge’s open architecture integrates with all third-party tools.

6. Team Collaboration

DDEV is inherently local. Each developer runs a separate environment. Code collaboration happens through Git, but real-time previews and shared environments require ngrok which may or may not be permitted on your network.

DrupalForge allows multiple developers to work on the same cloud-based environment. Share preview URLs instantly. Invite teammates with one click. No local setup required — just invite and collaborate.

Winner: DrupalForge — built for team workflows, real-time collaboration, and live demos.

7. Environment Consistency

DDEV ensures consistent environments using Docker. But minor discrepancies may arise across operating systems, versions, or local config changes. DDEV does allow you to distribute the same Docker config to others on the team, but it cannot inherently prevent drift.

DrupalForge delivers complete consistency. Every dev site is cloned from the same image and maintained centrally. This eliminates environment drift and "it works on my machine" problems. On DrupalForge, multiple developers can share the same dev environment as well, which eliminates all consistency issues.

Winner: DrupalForge — centralized, identical environments for every developer.

8. Deployment Workflow

DDEV stops at development. For staging or production, you’ll need external deployment pipelines or custom scripts. It does come with pre-written scripts to popular Drupal hosting platforms but requires new integration scripts for each new platform. It integrates well with CI/CD tools but requires setup. With DDEV, there’s always a difference between the Dev environment and the Production environment.

DrupalForge enables one-click deployment to the cloud. The big advantage here is that you can just turn any Dev site into a production site. You can also connect your own cloud infrastructure and deploy to it. You can use DrupalForge’s built-in lightweight CI/CD or connect with any external CI/CD tools. Custom deployment pipelines can also be managed as code (eg: using Ansible) reducing the dev-to-live friction.

Winner: DrupalForge — smooth deployment workflows and built-in production paths.

9. Cost Efficiency

DDEV is open-source and free. However, you’ll need powerful machines and possibly Docker Pro licenses for teams. Hidden costs include maintenance, onboarding time, and resource overhead.

DrupalForge is also free — forever. You don’t need high-end hardware, and you get multiple dev sites without charge. Teams can reduce infrastructure spending and simplify operations. Although DF is Free for developers, there is a cost for running the service which is paid for by supporters and donations to the non-profit organization running DF.

Winner: Draw — both platforms appear to be Free to use but have hidden costs.

10. Security & Compliance

DDEV depends on the developer's machine. There’s no centralized access control or compliance features unless enforced manually.

DrupalForge, built on DevPanel, supports HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA compliance. Environments are secured, sandboxed, and monitored. Centralized patching and encryption ensure enterprise-grade protection.

Winner: DrupalForge — cloud-grade security with compliance baked in.

Final Scorecard: DDEV vs DrupalForge

Conclusion: DDEV Is Great — But DrupalForge Might Be Better for You

DDEV remains one of the best local development tools for Drupal developers. Its flexibility, Docker-powered consistency, and community-driven approach are second to none.

But if you're tired of configuring environments, onboarding slowdowns, and lack of collaboration tools, DrupalForge offers a better way forward. With its free, cloud-based development platform, DrupalForge makes it easier to build, test, and launch Drupal websites — with no local setup, no vendor lock-in, and no infrastructure costs.

Try it out: Take 30 seconds to try DrupalForge and decide for yourself. 

Start your next Drupal project on DrupalForge.org — the new #1 development and hosting marketplace for the Drupal community.

📌 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

❓ What is DDEV?

DDEV is an open-source local development environment for PHP-based websites, including Drupal, WordPress, TYPO3, and more. It uses Docker containers to create consistent, configurable development stacks on your local machine.

❓ What is DrupalForge?

DrupalForge is a free, cloud-based development platform built specifically for Drupal. It provides instant, browser-based development environments, collaboration tools, and deployment features — all without requiring local installation or setup.

❓ Is DDEV better than Lando or Docker?

DDEV is often preferred over plain Docker or Lando due to its simplicity, consistent configuration, and strong community support. Compared to Docker alone, DDEV hides complexity with easy CLI commands. It also offers faster performance on macOS and Windows through Mutagen.

❓ Can I use DDEV and DrupalForge together?

Yes! You can start your project on DrupalForge and later download the codebase and database to continue working locally with DDEV. This hybrid approach lets you develop in the cloud and offline as needed, giving you flexibility in your workflow.

❓ Which tool is best for beginners: DDEV or DrupalForge?

DrupalForge is more beginner-friendly since it doesn’t require any software installation or Docker knowledge. It offers a graphical interface, in-browser IDE, and one-click setup, making it ideal for students, agencies, and non-technical users.

❓ Does DDEV work offline?

Yes. Once set up, DDEV runs entirely on your local machine and does not require an internet connection. This is useful for working on flights, remote areas, or any offline scenario.

❓ Does DrupalForge work offline?

No. DrupalForge requires an internet connection. However, if you start with DrupalForge and then you want to move to offline development, you can download your dev environment and continue working on the site with local dev tools like DDEV or Lando.

❓ Is DrupalForge really free?

Yes. DrupalForge is free service that operates under OPS Association, a Colorado 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. You can spin up unlimited development sites at no cost to you. You can optionally purchase production hosting to go live with your site. The hosting revenue goes to support the nonprofit organization, and a portion of the profits go to the Drupal Association.

❓ Can I deploy to production from DrupalForge?

Yes. There are two ways you can deploy your dev sites to production from DrupalForge. You can simply purchase hosting for your dev site on DrupalForge and then go live with it, or you can connect your own VPS (server) and let DrupalForge deploy your development site to that server. There's zero lock-in and when you want to deploy your dev site to some other hosting company, DrupalForge does the heavy lifting for you. You can keep your Dev and Production sites on DrupalForge itself, or you can keep the Dev site on DrupalForge for Free and push your production site to AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean, Linode, BlueHost, GoDaddy, etc. 

❓ Does DDEV support other CMS platforms?

Absolutely. While this post focuses on Drupal, DDEV supports WordPress, Laravel, Magento, TYPO3, and custom PHP stacks. It’s a general-purpose local dev tool, not Drupal-specific.

❓ Does DrupalForge support other CMS platforms?

Yes. DrupalForge uses DevPanel, which is an application orchestration platform that runs on Kubernetes (K8s), AWS, Azure, and Digital Ocean. It can support any containerized application, not just Drupal. Currently, DrupalForge also offers turnkey Decoupled (aka Headless) Drupal templates as well as all the standard Drupal apps.

❓ How does DrupalForge handle security and compliance?

DrupalForge inherits DevPanel’s enterprise-grade security, including single sign-on, encryption, and sandbox isolation. Depending on how it's configured, it can support FedRamp, HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA compliance. It’s ideal for teams working with sensitive data or needing audit-ready infrastructure.

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