No. 9 of 30 ·Runtime Version Managers

PHPBrew

Mac · Linux · Self-hosted

Freedom report

Two barsScore 6.4

Free tierA free tier is on its own pricing page
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely2 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

PHPBrew is ranked #9 of 30 in runtime version managers on Freedom251. It runs on Linux, macOS, Self-hosted. There is a free plan.

PHPBrew plans and pricing

All plans

PHPBrew Free No paid plans stated · Requires development packages to build PHP · Unsupported older PHP versions may fail to build phpbrew.github.io · 3 Oct 2026

Compared on runtime version managers

Free plan: Yes
Runtime types: language
Automatic switching: Yes
Project version pinning: Yes
Version source: source
Supported platforms: macOS, Linux

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The record

Purpose: PHPBrew builds and installs multiple PHP versions in the user's home directory.
Build options: It simplifies PHP configure options into variants and supports choices such as PDO, MySQL, SQLite, and debug builds.
Version switching: It can temporarily use a PHP version or switch the default version, and integrates with bash and zsh.
Extensions: It installs extensions from PHP source or PECL and can create configuration to enable them.
Web server support: It can compile Apache PHP modules and provides PHP-FPM management commands when PHP is built with the +fpm variant.
Integrations: Its library lookup prefix supports Homebrew, MacPorts, Debian, Ubuntu, or a custom path.
Installation requirements: Building PHP requires development packages to be installed first.
Compatibility limit: The project says builds of PHP versions no longer officially supported are not guaranteed, and related issues for versions older than 5.4 will not be fixed.
Support: The project directs users to its troubleshooting page and documentation wiki.
License: The project identifies its license as MIT.
Intended users: PHPBrew is for users who want to build and manage PHP versions in their home directory, including without root permission.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Runtime Version Managers in 2026#9 of 30

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Sources

phpbrew.github.io/phpbrew/· checked 3 Oct 2026
github.com/phpbrew/phpbrew· checked 3 Oct 2026
github.com/phpbrew/phpbrew/wiki/Requirement· checked 3 Oct 2026