Why Dwell?

Local development with a clear scope.

Dwell brings recurring local web project tasks together. A small, maintained Managed catalog and Custom as an open path keep its scope clear: less repeated setup, understandable configuration and team handoff.

Get started Documentation

Without a shared foundation

Individually configured setups can mean extra work.

Set up services, domains and certificates separately.
Maintain project-specific steps and settings.
Make the setup understandable to others on the team.
Check environment differences yourself.

With Dwell

A shared workflow for local infrastructure.

Choose curated stacks and compatible versions.
Maintain runtime and local routing conventions together.
Share configuration and lockfiles, check local readiness.
A clearer foundation for identifying differences.

What you gain

Repeat less. Spend more time on your project.

A clear starting point

One workflow to create, build and start. Node.js, npm and Docker need to be set up first.

Shared configuration

The setup lives with the project. Operating-system and dependency differences still matter.

Controlled versions

Dwell curates profiles and checks compatibility. Preserve application lockfiles; fresh scaffolds are not guaranteed to remain byte-identical.

Local domains

Configured .localhost hosts and paths give projects clear access points. dwell access shows the actual link, including a possible fallback port.

Custom as an escape hatch

Custom PHP and Custom Frontend provide the generic local environment. You own the framework, packages and application-specific configuration.

Diagnostics and planning

dwell doctor checks the environment; dwell plan up previews startup operations and detectable blockers.

A clear scope for projects that fit.

Dwell does not reinvent local web development. DDEV, Lando and other established tools have their place. Dwell is an additional option with a deliberately smaller product contract, without aiming to reproduce or fully replace those solutions.

The focus is typical local web projects with clear defaults and curated integrations. Fewer Managed variants keep the standard path and maintenance contract small and explicit. If your project falls outside that path, Custom provides an open route within the documented runtime. If that does not fit either, choosing another tool is a valid decision.

Different tools. Different strengths.

Dwell

A curated standard path

A small Managed catalog combines controlled versions, compatibility and maintained integrations with a connected local CLI workflow.

Backend and frontend within supported combinations.
A deliberately bounded configuration space: when the standard path fits, you need to model less infrastructure yourself.
Custom for other applications within the documented runtime.

DDEV

Extensible project environments

DDEV offers a broad range of project and CMS types, with ways to extend local environments with individual infrastructure.

Project types for different applications and CMS platforms.
Add-ons for additional services and configuration.
Custom Docker Compose services for individual requirements.

Lando

Configurable development models

Lando combines Recipes as starting points with Landofile configuration for services, commands and workflows.

Recipes combine routing, services and tooling.
Services can be configured and adapted through Docker overrides.
Tooling and events define custom commands and lifecycle workflows.

More or less flexibility is not an advantage in itself. What matters is which approach covers your project’s requirements. If you need substantially more individual infrastructure than Dwell provides for, another tool is an appropriate choice.