Lerd vs Lando
Lando builds a container stack for each project from a .lando.yml file and a recipe for the platform, behind a shared proxy. Lerd runs one shared nginx, PHP-FPM per PHP version and one instance of each service for every project, with no file required in the repo. Both are open source.
At a glance
| Lerd | Lando | |
|---|---|---|
| OS support | Linux (systemd), macOS, Windows through WSL2 | Linux, macOS, Windows |
| Licence | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Container runtime | Rootless Podman, no daemon | Docker |
| Architecture | Shared nginx and PHP-FPM across all projects | Per-project containers behind a shared proxy |
| Isolation | Projects share the PHP-FPM container of their PHP version and one server per database engine, each with its own database | Each project has its own services |
| Production parity | nginx with PHP-FPM on Alpine images; database versions chosen per service; a site can bring its own Containerfile.lerd | Recipes mirror hosting platforms such as Pantheon, Platform.sh and Lagoon |
| Reproducibility | .lerd.yaml in the repo records PHP, Node, services, workers and custom containers; optional | .lando.yml in the repo, required |
| PHP versions | 7.4 to 8.5, plus the 8.6 prerelease | Per project, set in the recipe or .lando.yml |
| Domains | <name>.test, automatic | *.lndo.site, automatic |
| HTTPS | lerd secure, trusted local CA | Built in, per project |
| Non-PHP projects | Containerfile.lerd for Node, Python, Go and others | Services for Node, Python, Ruby, Go, .NET |
| Interfaces | CLI, web dashboard, terminal dashboard, tray, PhpStorm plugin, MCP server | CLI |
| Git worktrees | Each worktree at its own branch domain, sharing or copying the database | Not built in |
| Cost | Free | Free |
When Lando fits better
- You deploy to Pantheon, Platform.sh or Lagoon and want their recipes and
lando pull/lando push. - Each project needs its own isolated services defined in the repo.
- Your team is on Windows without WSL2, or already standardised on Docker.
When Lerd fits better
- You keep many projects running at once and want them on one shared stack.
- You serve repositories you cannot add a Landofile to.
- You want rootless Podman with no daemon, a web and terminal dashboard, and an MCP server for AI assistants.
Moving a Lando project to Lerd
Export the database with lando db-export myapp.sql, stop the app with lando stop, then run lerd link, lerd env and lerd db:import myapp.sql in the project folder. .lando.yml can stay where it is. See the quick start for the full first run.