# Local Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Local the right Website Builder solution for you? Explore 10 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/210837/Local/reviews --- Local 4.7 (10) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Local Ease of use 4.8 Customer Service 3.7 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-10 of 10 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use VR Verified Reviewer Blogger Market Research Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Set up Local WordPress sites in few minutes" December 31, 2022 5.0 Pros 1) Enables you to set up Local WordPress sites in just a few clicks, couldn't be more easier than this2) Makes it easy to integrate with xdebug and vscode Cons 1) LocalWP sites are very slow and time-consuming while debugging at times2) Need more support systems and tutorials for getting started Review Source JM Jesse M. Founder Design Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Simple, effective server for local development" November 22, 2022 5.0 Overall, my experience has been exceptional with Local by WP. This has replaced my previous LAMP stack as well as MAMP pro, which has an annual expense that goes along with it. It's the best free, local dev GUI for Mac to date. Pros Local by WP is an incredibly easy to setup local server application. It handles all the heavy lifting under the hood, so all you have to do is provide the basic details on the sites you want to host within in. Blueprints, a feature that essentially allows you to create a template for a site environment, are super helpful. This allows you to quickly setup a new instance for a new site with your pre-configured settings, install and themes!It also has a low resource overhead - eg it's not going to tax your computers cpu, ram, etc. It takes about 1 min to setup a new site environment and that includes the auto install of a fresh version of WP!Managing your DB is fast and easy as well through a shortcut in the app that launches a new browser window with Adminer.Updates are frequent and quick to install.IF you're using WP Engine or Flywheel for your hosting it takes just ONE CLICK to move your dev site to the server!!There are a number of add-ons to extend the functionality - like Image Optimizers (that compress and optimize your images prior to moving them to your server for live hosting), debuggers, backup functions, etc.Live Link - which provides a publicly accessible URL for clients/others to view the local dev site on your computer saves A LOT of time. No more migrating a partially completed site to a dev/live server for client approvals!MailHog is also an included option allowing local mail handling, etc.Offers apache and nginx PHP from 5.6.39 to 8.1.9 Cons To use live links you have to login to your Local WP account, or create an account if you don't have one.MINOR complaint - sidebar icons could use text titles below them to allow new users to more quickly get accustomed to the UI. Alternatives considered [MAMP](https://www.capterra.com/p/195886/MAMP-PRO/) Reason for choosing Local The feature set is nearly the same, or better, and the app is both lighter weight (faster to load and easier on computer resources) than the competitors but is also free. Switched from [XAMPP](https://www.capterra.com/p/246810/XAMPP/)[MAMP](https://www.capterra.com/p/195886/MAMP-PRO/) Faster config, install and deployment of site environments Review Source AS Amidou S. Web developer Media Production Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Local WP review" February 15, 2024 3.0 It's been a good experience. I've been able to create a good number of local sites and improve my web development skills offline Pros The ability to create and manage multiple websites on the local server Cons Sometimes you're unable to create new sites or it just crashes on creation Review Source Nigel Masimba R. WordPress Developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "You Can Quickly And Easily Spin Up A Local WordPress Site" March 12, 2021 4.0 Local has been my daily runner for over a year, and I have enjoyed using it for most of the time. It allows me to spin up (and delete) local websites quickly and easily. As long as I don't need to make server customizations Local does an outstanding job. Once you leave the intermediate level server customizations and venture into more advanced customizations Local reaches its limits. Pros Automated system for generating custom virtual host domains You can create blank site templates to get a quick start on developing new sites. You can create live links to share your development online It comes with a dark mode setting Quick links to wp-admin dashboard and site home pages They have an active help forum community Built-in database admin tool They have an API for anyone to build extensions Cons The live link feature is more of a teaser than a practical tool. It limits connections to about 40 per minute. When you go over the limit, you get an error message telling you to upgrade to a paid plan without a link or instructions on how to upgrade. It may conflict with other servers running on the same computer The documentation on how to add custom server configuration settings is patchy Alternatives considered [MAMP](https://www.capterra.com/p/195886/MAMP-PRO/) Reason for choosing Local The alternatives either don't work with my operating system (Linux Ubuntu) or don't have a graphic user interface. Review Source PG Patrick G. CEO Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Best option for developing WordPress locally (in my opinion)" March 7, 2022 5.0 So far everything has been satisfactory, I chose Local after doing my research on what best software to use for local WordPress development and really can't complain. I have found it to be easy to use, reliable, fast and comprehensive of all the features one would usually expect Pros Super easy to use, no need for messy complicated setup or customization. It's really quite intuitive and has good support features if needed. I recommend it for creating a blank WordPress site template, saving it as a blueprint, and starting with a good chunk of work already done on your next website setup. Cons The name! Searching for related material on Google can be tricky sometimes, but you can fix this by just adding terms like "development software" "Flywheel" (parent company) - or by searching the official help website and community Alternatives considered [XAMPP](https://www.capterra.com/p/246810/XAMPP/)[MAMP](https://www.capterra.com/p/195886/MAMP-PRO/)[Vagrant](https://www.capterra.com/p/246652/Vagrant/) Reason for choosing Local The reviews I read seemed to point to Local, once I personally installed it and tested it I figured it fully satisfied our needs Review Source ST Scott T. Developer Internet Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Local is a great tool for doing WordPress development" November 21, 2022 5.0 Local allows me to spin up a new development environment in minutes. It has been great for doing proof of concepts, plugin development, and custom WordPress themes. It is great for testing and debugging all code prior to deploying to staging or production environments. Pros Local makes it super easy to spin up a new local development environment. With a click of a button, I can add a new site. You can start from scratch or with a pre-made blue print. I have used Mamp, Vagrant, and Docker, but none of those are as easy to use as Local. Cons The only con I have found to date is that I was not able to enable the SOAP client for one of my projects. When I reached out to the Local community, I did not find anyone that could help me. However, SOAP is kind of a rare requirement these days and of the hundred or so sites I have worked on, only one required SOAP. That being said, it is a very small con. Review Source DR Derek R. Web Developer Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "I LOVE Local for Local Development!" February 17, 2021 5.0 Saving time (and therefore money) by developing WordPress themes locally. Not having to worry about an internet connection to write code is huge (simply write your code, save the file, then refresh the browser to view changes). I can write/edit code then view the result without having to wait for S/FTP connections. It's also super easy to spin up a new site to test little things rather than cowboy coding and testing them on live sites, which is good practice. Pros After using XAMPP for years, finding Local by Flywheel was a game-changer for me. Being able to spin-up a new WordPress install in seconds, then develop locally using Dreamweaver has saved me hours upon hours of development time (do you even know how much time gets eaten up by having to save/upload files to view changes? A lot!). Further, finding MacOS-based solutions for local WordPress development is even harder. Local is easy to install, easy to use and, if you've got some experience with migrations, easy to move onto an online location for staging/production use. They do offer a "Connect" service with both Flywheel and WPEngine to sync Local sites with online sites, which I'm sure is awesome... and will be even more awesome when they integrate with Pressable. Cons They need integration with Pressable! I keep hounding them about this :). The only other dislike I have is I've never had much luck with the "Live Link" functionality. Maybe it's because I'm only a free user at the moment (again, get that Pressable integration and you'll have my money yesterday!), but I always get error messages about "too many requests" when using the Live Link aspect. As a result, I can't use it with clients and I have to put the development site online before I can share it. Review Source SB Scott B. Owner Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Local is the go-to for local WordPress development" February 13, 2021 5.0 LocalWP is a part of my daily workflow when I'm customizing WordPress sites. There are new integrations with WP Engine that I haven't been able to get working reliably, but for those who are looking for a local WP development environment, this is the software to use. Pros There is no competition when determining the easiest and most user-friendly local WordPress development app. I've tried other apps like DesktopServer, but found them to be clunky and outdated. LocalWP is regularly updated as new web software comes out (ie new versions of WordPress, or new versions of PHP). Setup is a breeze, and addons like Xdebug make it a must-have tool for WordPress plugin and theme developers. Cons Since the software is freemium (free, with paid services available), the customer service can be hard to reach. If you run into any troubles, the forums sometimes get replies from the community or the developers of the software, but otherwise you're relatively on your own to resolve the issues. But most issues are those that aren't for just 'out of the box' setups. Review Source MS Madhusudan S. Software Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "The numerous features and simple user interface of Local make it simple to adapt my development env." February 18, 2023 5.0 My productivity and experience with development have considerably increased because to Local. Any WordPress developer seeking for a potent local development tool that may streamline their process and increase productivity should definitely check out Local by WPEngine. Pros Because of the user interface's simplicity and intuitiveness, I can simply adapt my development environment to meet my unique needs. I value the versatility that Local provides since it enables me to select from a variety of development environments, including bespoke environments, which improves the efficiency of my workflow. Cons I occasionally have to wait for someone to join the support chat. But it's not always bad, be ready to wait a while. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Webmaster and Product Researcher Publishing Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Best Software to Develop Test WordPress Sites" February 5, 2021 5.0 I rely on Local to develop websites and to test plugins on my computer. I know there’s other ways to develop websites on a computer, but those ways are not as easy and convenient as Local. Pros It’s simple and fast to produce a new WordPress install. I can add a new WordPress install with a simple click of a button. I also like that I can preview a development website live online by using Local’s live link feature. Cons Local can be sluggish at times. Updating plugins, themes, and pages, and posts can take longer on Local than it can on a production site. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Website Builder](https://www.capterra.com/website-builder-software/)