Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Nightrain

Convert your PHP Web Application to Windows, Mac & Linux

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Nightrain launched in 2014; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Web2Desk▲503

   Turn your favorite websites into a desktop app in one click

   2018 · web2desk.io · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Fluid▲215

   Turn Your Favorite Web Apps into Real Mac Apps

   2014 · its alternatives →

3. 3
   PHPStorm IDE▲15

   The Most Intelligent PHP IDE

   2015 · jetbrains.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   NightOwl▲321

   Easily toggle your Macs Dark Mode with this menubar app.

   2019 · nightowlapp.co · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Pinegrow + Atom▲181

   The perfect IDE for the web

   2016 · pinegrow.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   ServBay▲399

   Hello HN, I’m one of the creators of ServBay. I built this because I got tired of the cognitive load required just to start coding. On my Mac, it was a fragile mix of Homebrew services and asdf conflicts. On Windows, managing PATH variables and fighting with Docker Desktop's resource usage was equally frustrating. I missed the simplicity of the MAMP/XAMPP era, but I needed to support modern stacks (Go, Rust, Node, etc.). What it is: ServBay is a native local development environment for both macOS and Windows. It is not a wrapper around Docker or VMs. It bundles everything you need into…

   2024 · servbay.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   WineBottler▲99

   Run Windows programs on your Mac

   2016 · winebottler.kronenberg.org · its alternatives →

8. 8
   PHPRunner▲103

   Professional web apps with little or no coding

   2022 · xlinesoft.com · its alternatives →

9. 9
   PHPBot▲136

   The ultimate PHP Snippet bot

   2017 · phpbot.org · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Teh Playground▲87

    Rapid online PHP prototyping

    2016 · beta.tehplayground.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Peach for Mac▲220

    Unofficial desktop client for 🍑

    2016 · ummjackson.github.io · its alternatives →

12. 12
    A terminal emulator in pure PHP▲196

    A terminal renderer written in pure PHP. Contribute to soloterm/screen development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    Shifty▲165

    More control over macOS Night Shift

    2017 · shifty.natethompson.io · its alternatives →

14. 14
    cmd.to▲97

    A command line interface for the web

    2015 · cmd.to · its alternatives →

15. 15
    Deploy PHP!▲86

    Learn how to create automated deployments for your PHP apps

    2015 · courses.serversforhackers.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Track Duck▲76

    Visual feedback for clients

    2014 · askanydifference.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    The PHP Socket Programming Handbook▲58

    Learn how to make servers in PHP.

    2016 · its alternatives →

18. 18
    WebPonize▲73

    macOS application that converts images to WebP.

    2015 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    LightCMS▲98

    Build Beautiful Websites

    2015 · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Page Layers▲89

    Converts website to PSDs

    2014 · pagelayers.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    Bolt CM▲68

    Sophisticated, lightweight and simple CMS written in PHP

    2016 · its alternatives →

22. 22
    WebStorm▲13

    Powerful IDE for modern JavaScript development

    2017 · jetbrains.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    App Server▲63

    The next generation PHP infrastructure.

    2014 · techdivision.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Envoyer▲76

    Zero Downtime PHP Deployment

    2015 · envoyer.io · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →