Laravel Cloud vs Forge vs a Self-Hosted VPS
Three paths exist for getting a Laravel application into production: let Laravel Cloud handle everything, use Forge to manage your own servers, or configure a VPS from scratch. Each represents a different point on the control-vs-convenience spectrum, and picking the wrong one costs you either money, engineering time, or both.
This article cuts straight to the trade-offs. It assumes you already understand basic Laravel deployment concepts — if you want the broader picture, the Laravel Deployment and Hosting: Cloud, Forge, VPS, Docker, and Octane guide covers the full stack.
Prerequisites: Laravel 12 (PHP 8.2+) or Laravel 13 (PHP 8.3+), Composer 2.x, a GitHub/GitLab repository. For Forge: an account at forge.laravel.com. For Laravel Cloud: an account at cloud.laravel.com.
The Core Difference
