First we know what servers are?
Whenever you are looking for information, download something or upload your information to the Internet, you also need to store it somewhere, only then it can reach the user. So the place where such information or documents are stored is called a server station and, according to your search, this information is displayed or provided to you. There are two categories of servers: Web servers and app servers.
Your information provided on any website is always saved on a server. And it is shown based on user search. That is, servers also work to store information.
Types of web servers
Many types depend on how the server works. The server that provides information on any topic is considered in that category. Simply put, if you upload an image on the Internet, this is saved on the image-video server. If you send an email, this is stored on the mail server. From this you can understand that whenever you do any work on the Internet like uploading photos, uploading videos, sending mails, chats, video calls; It is stored on its server and is shown to other users by the same server.
What is the XAMPP server?
XAMPP is a free open source web server. On this web server you can run Php, Mysql, Apache. And you can make your website accessible to all through this server. XAMPP stands for – Cross-Platform (X), Apache (A), MySQL (M), PHP (P) and Perl (P). If you create a website through PHP, you can easily create it using the XAMPP server.
What does SERVER DOWN mean?
Although servers run 24/7, there are some of these websites that face huge traffic every day. In such a situation, the server of that website is unable to provide the same information to all users. If you have completed the form on a website, you must have seen the last date that the form has not been sent or that a problem has occurred when sending the form. Due to the last date, many people are on the same website, due to which the server of that website is overloaded and that website is unable to provide you with information.
Some servers also have a low ability to store data. And also their data storage machine is not so advanced and significant. For this reason, the server cannot manage the input of so many people resulting in server inactivity.
I hope you understand well: what is the XAMPP server and server; What is the reason why the server doesn't work? Now we can know some of the best alternatives to XAMPP servers for Windows, Linux and macOS.
Best alternatives to XAMPP servers for Windows, Linux and macOS are:
1. WAMP, MAMP and LAMPADA Server

WAMP = Windows, Apache, MySql, PHP
The WAMP server is a free open source application. WAMP Server is designed for Microsoft Windows operating system. A combination of multiple applications within the WAMP Server is called Python, Apache, Phpmyadmin, Php, MySql, Perl.
WAMP Server creates Web server environments for Windows operating system. It has Apache as web server, MySql as database server, Php / Perl / Python as PHP scripting language and PhpMyAdmin as MySql database management application.
PHP developers use most WAMP servers. If a website created in PHP or WordPress has to run on Windows operating system, you can use Wamp Server.
Just like using the WAMP server in Windows, the LAMP server is used in Linux and the MAMP server in Mac.
LAMPADA = Linux, Apache, MySql, PHP
A LAMP server is a free open source application. LAMP Server is designed for the Linux operating system. There is a combination of Linux, Apache, MySql, Php that is installed only on the Linux operating system. The Wamp Server and Lamp Server working method is the same. There are only installations on different operating systems.
MAMP = Mac, Apache, MySql, PHP
MAMP Server is also a free open source application. MAMP Server is designed for Mac operating system. Within Mamp Server, there is a combination of Mac, Apache, MySql, Php that is installed only on Mac operating system.
2. Easy

Whether you're just starting PHP development or you're an experienced developer, the EasyPHP web server is the best tool. This allows you to host your activities quickly and without any unnecessary configuration. This is a great tool to see how your projects work in the real world. EasyPHP is very easy to use. Install it, start your services and make a web server perform and host your files.
EasyPHP is a secure package to install and configure whose mission is to install Apache, MySQL, Php and PhpMyAdmin on a Windows operating system machine. This way, we can work on our computer with web applications built with PHP code to familiarize ourselves with them.
EasyPHP installation
Well, to work on PHP, it is not enough to go to the PHP website and download it, you must have some settings so that it works and you must also have a properly configured local server to support PHP commands that will make it fit. A well-known server is Apache, also free of charge, and is one of the most used and successful servers in the world and very safe. It was created in 1995 by Rob McCool, but we will not go any further. The beautiful thing about PHP is that we can create dynamic web applications, something that only with the indispensable HTML does not allow us. PHP allows us to work with databases and this offers us a range of possibilities for innovation and creation on our websites. In the traditional installation, you must download each of these elements and install them individually, and if the settings are not executed correctly, PHP will never work properly. EasyPHP concluded this battle of configurations, after downloading the application, which is small, about 8 MB, all configurations will be executed and PHP will be ready to be used.
EasyPHP basic and configuration use
Once the package is installed, we will have to configure some basic aspects such as:
- Update to your preferred language.
- Definition of the basic folder of our web pages.
- Setting up a password for the MySQL administrator.
3. AMPPS

AMPPS is a free program for Windows, macOS and Linux that installs a powerful and complete web server (WAMP / MAMP / LAMP) on any computer, including Apache, MySQL, MongoDB, PHP, Perl and Python.
This way you can build, manage and use any kind of web with these requirements without having to hire an external server.
Ampps looks delicious, it is simple to use and also allows you to manage domains (local), databases and even (unlike XAMPP for example) install more than 390 websites and services of any type (WordPress, Prestashop, utility, games , etc.) with just one click.
Examples of some of them are:
- Blog (WordPress, OpenBlog, Ghost, Pixie)
- Wiki (MediaWiki, DokuWiki)
- Image galleries (Coppermine, phpAlbum)
- Calendars (Calendario Web, Book)
- Games (commercial Blacknova)
- Forum (phpBB, SMF)
- E-commerce (Prestashop, Magento)
- Database tools (phpMyAdmin, MySQL)
- Music (Podcast generator, Ampache)
- Video (Clipbucket, DB video)
- File management (ownCloud, Pydio)
It is very suitable to start developing practice pages with different CMS (content management systems) or other types of web services.
Of course, it also has an FTP server, phpMyAdmin to manage MySQL databases, etc.
It has interesting options such as backing up a certain website before experimenting with it or updating it.
Conclusion
AMPPS comes with a domain administrator and an automatic installation tool for hundreds of web applications. In addition, there are many free features that we have not yet explored. In comparison, I think AMPPS could be a better alternative to WAMP, MAMP and XAMPP.
4. MAMPLE

The complete form of MAMP is “Mac OS X, Apache, MySQL and PHP”. MAMP is a variation of the LAMP software package installed in Mac OS X. It is used to run a live Web server from a Mac, but it is most commonly used for Web development and local test purposes.
MAMP includes MySQL and PHP. Both of these components use conventional technologies (open source | open source) to create dynamic websites. MySQL is a reasonably popular DBMS and PHP is a web scripting language. Web pages containing PHP code that can easily access data, also upload from a MySQL database and dynamic content in one shot. By installing PHP and MySQL locally, a developer can quickly create and test a dynamic website on your Mac without publishing it on the Internet.
Apache, MySQL and PHP are all open source components that are installed individually. However, installing a default “AMP” package like MAMP or MAMP Pro is much easier to install. Both MAMP and MAMP Pro include a GUI graphical user interface that can be used to manage the local Web server.
Pregi:
- Easy to use
- manage any type of programming language
- Database Server
- Events
5. Abyss Web Server

Abyss Web Server is a simple yet powerful multiplatform personal web server. Despite being a base server, it supports HTTP/1.1, creating dynamic content (via CGI script). You can also create custom error pages and manage user access (HTTP authentication).
One of the strengths of Abyss Web Server is its simple interface and you can install it on any computer and with almost all operating systems (does not consume large system resources).
When running the server, the console will guide you so that you can configure it, so that you can define the hosting parameters without knowing about networks and servers.
Other highlights of the utility are its security as Abyss Web Server has anti-piracy control (this system detects decryption attempts, blocking the attacker’s IP address so that the Internet connection no longer has access to the server). It also has the “anti leeching” system that protects your images and files (it prevents other pages from linking this type of material directly).
If you are a programmer, you are interested in their compatibility with the main web server technologies. The tool is compatible with SSI directives (to create HTML pages), SSL/TLS (HTTPS, is compatible with Unicode (you can create any type of URL, preferring SEO), you can run your ASP. NET and Ruby on Rails, dual server configuration (HTTP and HTTPS) and you can also host your PHP, Perl and ASP scripts and many other functions.
6. Apache HTTP Server

What is an Apache web server?
Apache is an open source and free web server software that has about 46% of websites worldwide. The official name is Apache HTTP Server and is managed and developed by Apache Software Foundation. This allows website owners to provide content on the Web, from which the name “web server”.
How does Apache Web Server work?
Although we know Apache with the name of a web server, it is not a physical server but a software that runs on the server. Its true function is to connect between the Server Browser and Site Visitors (Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, etc.), i.e. the Link of the Server and Site Visitors. Apache is a multiplatform software that works on both Unix and Windows servers.
If a visitor wishes to view a page of your website, we assume that the home page of your website or the page “Who we are”, his browser sends a request to your server and then Apache examines that request and the files required to users as (Text, Images, etc.) they send to their browsers. The server and client communicate with each other through the HTTP protocol and both machines have a smooth and secure communication thanks to Apache.
These things are supported in Apache
- Has virtual hosting capacity
- GZIP compression is given to speed up web pages.
- The error message can be customized
- Proxy services
- SSL and TLS
- Password Authentication and Digital Certificates
Apache functionality
- IPv6
- Perl, Lua and PHP
- HTACCESS
- XML
- Multiple requests processing methods
- Rewriting URL
- Session monitoring
- HTTP / 2
- WebDAV
- Load balance
- FTP
7. WPN-XM

WPN-XM is a free and open source web server solution stack for professional development of PHP on Windows platform.
What does WPИ-XM mean?
- W – Windows (operative system)
- P – PHP (Scripting and Programming Language)
- N – NGINX (web server)
- X – XDebug (debugger)
- MM – MariaDB/MongoDB (database SQL/NoSQL)
Features of WPN-XM
- Developed on Github.
- 4 Types of installation wizard: Web installation program, Lite, Standard, Complete
- 2 MB Web Installation Program
- 17 Installation Guided Procedures Offline (in package) – Lite, LiteRC, Standard, Full
- 5 Web wizard installation (download the latest versions from the Web)
- Server Control Panel (Tray Application) for Daemon Control
- web interface
- A software log with over 50 components and an update tool
It also incorporates XDebug debugger and XHprof profiler, making it very suitable for high performance programming tasks.
8. Laragon

Laragon is a relatively new option to create what we call a development environment, a whole set of programs needed to develop applications. It is used to work with PHP, but also with other server-side languages, such as Node, Python or Ruby.
Laragon has an isolated environment with an operating system and offers everything you need to create modern web applications. It is portable and very flexible. You can move the Laragon folder (on other disks, on other laptops, sync with Cloud) and Laragon's magic will be with you.
Working on Laragon is easy and a pleasure, since it managed completely Apache + Nginx. Installing it is very simple. With Lite + Nginx, its size is 29 MB.
After downloading and installing Laragon, you can see similarities to environments like Xampp or EasyPHP.
- Start everything: launches all extensions installed on Laragon.
- Web: addresses a page with information about the instance of Laragon running.
- Database: manages database connections and allows you to access it through HeidiSQL.
- Terminal: Opens the command line of the server (use Cmder, we will talk more about it).
- Root: Browse the local files of your projects.
Laragon vs Xampp
If you are starting with PHP, we suggest you simply try Laragon, because it will offer you everything you need to start and much more. But if you've been using PHP for a long time and are satisfied with your current work environment, it will definitely be useful to know what Laragon offers about other more traditional systems.
The most traditional alternative is XAMPP, which allows in a single step to get the whole stack of programs needed to work with PHP: Apache + PHP + MySQL (in this case MariaDB). Laragon offers exactly the same, but with several very special additions, which although we could get with Xampp, would cost us a little more time and knowledge.
The most important options of Laragon compared to other alternatives are:
- Possibility to create Virtualhost automatically.
- It allows you to change the PHP version you are using, including the Apache or MySQL/MariaDB version.
- Automatically install a terminal program called “cmdr”
- Works with Ngnix, as well as Apache
- It has a utility for creating projects, which makes it very easy to install new virtual hosts, where we can even install apps like WordPress, Laravel, etc. At the same time.
For all developers wishing to increase productivity and workflows, it is more than advisable, since Laragon offers advantages that make everything more convenient and quick while creating work environments, its configuration is fast and, moreover, is free.
9. Uniform Server

Uniform Server is an all-in-one solution that includes Apache, PHP, Perl, MySQL, phpMyAdmin and more. Especially, it is a portable server that saves time. It works on Windows operating systems. It occupies less than 10 MB in size, requires no external installation and also leaves no voice in the registry.
Uniform server modules
The design of Uniform Server ZeroXIII is modular. You should only install those modules or add-ons you need. Each server needs a controller, which will be responsible for automatic detection of installed add-ons.
How to install modules on Uniform Server
You can download different versions of PHP, MySQL and phpMyAdmin. You can also download other database management systems such as MariaDB and alternatives to phpMyAdmin as administrator.
To install a module you need to download it and save it in the UniServerZ folder. Modules are provided in a .exe file that decompresses the module. Double-click it and select the folder where Uniform Server is located, which is usually called UniServerZ by default.
Features of Uniform Server
- Apache2
- Back up your databases with MySQLAutoBackup, Sypex Dumper or PhpMyBackupPro
- phpMyAdmin, administrator
- MySQL5 or MySQL 8
- Peril
- MariaDB5 or Maria DB 10
- Run as a service with UniService
- Portable FTP FileZilla Server
- PHP 56, PHP 70, PHP 71, PHP 72, PHP 73
10. Zend Framework

In early 2006, the software company Zend Technologies (which now belongs to Rogue Wave Software) published a pre-alpha version of the PHP Zend framework with free BSD license. Zend Technologies focused on the continuous improvement of the open-source language and launched, among others, the PHP Zend Engine interpreter.
To date, Zend Framework has been downloaded more than 15 million times. With the third version published in July 2016, the successor of Zend Framework 2.0 and incompatible with previous versions, you can create applications and web services based on PHP 5.6 or higher.
What is Zend Framework?
Thanks to its extensive foundations, Zend Framework, the object-oriented working environment, is the ideal development platform for web applications. The collection of professional PHP packages integrated in this framework is a great useful tool that impressed the most experienced developers.
The basic functions are integrated quickly and without the need for great programming efforts, which allows you to focus on the implementation of the functionality of your application. The framework uses Composer as a package manager, the PHPUnit and Travis CI unit testing environment, a continuous integration tool that allows you to create GitHub projects and publish them automatically.
For the continuous development and optimization of this open source work environment, Zend Technologies received the help of an active PHP community. In addition, companies like Google, Microsoft and Adobe, associated with Zend, offer different interfaces for their web services.
What does this web application framework offer?
The standard installation of Zend Frameworks contains more than 60 packages and, with the help of Composer and a simple code line, is easily executable. If you prefer, you can download individual Zend work environment packages from GitHub and use them according to your needs. In addition, you can customize the following functions of your web project with different components and classes:
- Authentication / User Administration
- Location
- Research index
- Electronic mail system
- Architecture
- cache storage
- Access to the database (CRUD)
- Captcha
The great advantage of Zend Framework is that all its components have been programmed not to depend on others.






