Laravel Vapor

Overview

Laravel Vapor is a serverless deployment service for Laravel applications running on AWS Lambda. It fits teams already committed to Laravel and AWS that want deployment, infrastructure management and monitoring in one place. Its broad service management is compelling, but the active AWS account requirement and separate AWS charges make it less attractive to teams seeking a standalone hosting bill.

Key features

Vapor scales web and queue infrastructure for Laravel and supports zero-downtime deployments and rollbacks. That combination suits teams handling changing workloads and frequent releases; it is less relevant if a project does not run Laravel or does not need this deployment workflow. Environment-variable and secret management keeps configuration alongside deployment operations.

The platform manages databases, Redis caches, SQS queues, networks and CloudFront CDN, and supports custom domains and DNS management with certificate issuance and renewal. For teams using several of those services, bringing their management together can simplify infrastructure work. Vapor still depends on an active AWS account, and AWS cloud costs sit outside its subscription.

Application, database and cache metrics provide visibility into core services, with alerts when performance is poor. Vapor documentation also describes Slack notifications and Sentry integration. Team permissions can prevent members from deleting databases or caches, which is useful when collaborators need access without unrestricted control.

Applications must be compatible with PHP 7.3+ and Laravel 6.0+. Vapor supports PHP 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5, along with queue workers, managed databases and staging environments. Backup retention is 3 days, a constraint teams should weigh if they need longer retention.

Pricing

The Sandbox plan allows 1 project and 10 deployments. It is suitable for evaluating Vapor or managing a small project with limited release volume, but the project and deployment caps quickly constrain teams with multiple applications or regular deployments. Sandbox projects cannot use API Gateway versions, load balancers, firewalls or custom domains.

Unlimited Monthly costs 39.00 USD per month, billed $39 /month, for unlimited projects and deployments. Unlimited Annual costs 399.00 USD per year, billed $399 /year, with the same project and deployment allowances. Both exclude AWS cloud costs, so the subscription is not the full infrastructure budget. The monthly plan suits teams who prefer a shorter commitment; the annual plan is for those prepared to commit for a year at its stated annual price.

Platforms

Vapor is a web and API platform. Its Laravel and AWS focus, rather than broad framework coverage, is the key compatibility consideration.

Who it's for

Vapor is best for Laravel teams deploying on AWS that want scaling, releases, managed services and monitoring coordinated through one platform. It is a weaker fit for applications outside PHP 7.3+ and Laravel 6.0+, teams that cannot use AWS, or projects that need excluded Sandbox capabilities before moving to a paid plan.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Laravel-tuned autoscaling covers both web and queue infrastructure, while zero-downtime deployments and rollbacks support controlled releases.
• Pros: Management of databases, caches, queues, networking, CDN, domains and certificates brings a wide set of operational tasks into one service.
• Pros: Metrics, performance alerts and granular collaborator permissions help teams monitor deployments and limit risky actions.
• Cons: An active AWS account is required, and AWS cloud charges are additional to Vapor's subscription.
• Cons: Sandbox is capped at 1 project and 10 deployments and excludes several infrastructure and domain capabilities.
• Cons: Backup retention is 3 days, which may not suit teams that require longer retention.

Alternatives

For a broader set of framework options, browse Web Frameworks. Teams choosing a free framework rather than a paid deployment platform can consider Buffalo, Django, Express, FastAPI, Fastify, Flask or Gin; each has a free plan.

SmartClient is another freemium option, with an open-source LGPL edition for its core framework and a commercial Pro edition with additional enterprise capabilities.

Verdict

Choose Laravel Vapor if your team runs compatible Laravel applications on AWS and wants deployment, scaling, service management and monitoring together. Its strongest advantage is that integrated Laravel-focused scope; look elsewhere if AWS dependence, separate cloud charges, the Sandbox restrictions or 3-day backup retention do not fit your requirements.