Local development servers are very popular among web developers. With these tools, you can install and set up WordPress site locally on your PC, MAC or Linux machine very easily. Setting up a WordPress Development Environment is very easy, there are so many free tools available to Setup WordPress Development Environment.

Local WordPress installation makes your WordPress development workflow much faster and better. If you are not using local WordPress setup, you are wasting your time. In this article, I am going to share a list of some best tools and tutorials to create a setup for local WordPress development.

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Here is a list of few tools to set up WordPress locally.

Mac and Windows (Cross Platform)

1. DesktopServer: DesktopServer is like a XAMPP/MAMP but with some Pro addition dedicated to WordPress (honestly it’s awesome). Duplicator is really cool for Backup purpose and reinstalls something offline from online. You get back then from offline to online with desktop server deploy options. You definitively need to check this amazing tool.

Linux, Mac, Windows (Cross Platform)

2. XAMPP is a Free software to set up local development server. To install WordPress locally, you will have to create database using PHPMyAdmin.

3. Bitnami WordPress Stack provides a simple executable installer. You can set up a local WordPress site quickly and very easily, No technical skills required.

Windows Only

4. WAMP: You will have to create database using PHPMyAdmin to install WordPress. With WAMP you can easily set up multiple WordPress installations each with its own database. It makes it easy to develop sites locally and export database using PHPMyAdmin.

5. InstantWP automatically sets up a portable development environment and populates the WordPress install with dummy content. It’s very useful for theme or plugin development.

6. Trellis: Trellis uses Vagrant to automatically create a self-contained virtual machine.

7. Microsoft WebMatrix: WebMatrix is a free, lightweight, cloud-connected web development tool. You can also install WordPress on Windows using WebMatrix.

MAC only

8. MAMP : Free to $59: MAMP Server free version is enough to set up local WordPress sites. Advance users can buy pro version which offers more advance features.

Other useful tools

9. Uniform Server : WAMP stack, portable, up to date components Apache + MySQL + PHP & more. The Uniform Server is a lightweight server solution for running a web server under the WindowsOS. Less than 10MiB, it includes the latest versions of Apache2, Perl5, PHP5, MySQL5, phpMyAdmin and more.

10. Vmware Fusion : for development machines. VMware Fusion 8 is the easiest, fastest and most reliable way to run Windows applications on a Mac without rebooting. It is recommended for new and existing Mac users who want to continue running the Windows application they can’t live without. A free trial is available.

11. Vagrant : Create and configure lightweight, reproducible, and portable development environments.

9 FTP, Back Up and Migration Tools for WordPress Developers

1. WinSCP secure file transfer, folders sync, remote editing, backup
2. Cobian Backup local files backup
3. HeidiSQL MySQL client
4. Transmit (MAC) for FTP (again, I usually just use SVN) Parallels w/ Windows XP for crossbrowser
   testing
5. FileZilla Free FTP Client for Windows
6. Navicat for MySQL Commercial MySQL client
7. CyberDuck is an FTP client available for Mac and Windows
8. VirtualHostX Manages Apache Virtual Hosts Locally. VirtualHostX is the easiest way to host and share multiple websites on your Mac. Free trial is available.
9. Forklift FTP with local/remote sync capability. It is a dual pane file manager and FTP/SFTP client for OS X.

Tutorials: How to Install WordPress Locally on Windows, Ubuntu, and MAC

1. How to install WordPress on Windows 8 Using WAMP Server
2. How to install WordPress on Windows 8 Using Bitnami Stack
3. How To Easily Install WordPress On Ubuntu 15.10
4. How To Install WordPress In Ubuntu 14.10
5. How to Install WordPress Locally on Mac using MAMP

Final Words

That’s all for this list of tools to set up a killer WordPress Development Environment. Don’t forget to join our Theme Development Newsletter, You will also receive our free theme development tools, which reveals best free tools to create powerful WordPress themes.

Note: This article was originally published at createwptheme.com, We have republished it here with permission.