The next generation of Laravel Forge promises to revolutionize server management, ensuring developers a faster, simpler, and more efficient experience. With its relaunch and the introduction of Laravel VPS scheduled for October 1, 2025, users will be able to tackle their tasks without the usual complications typically associated with this work.
What the new generation of Laravel Forge brings
Laravel Forge has been a key tool for server management since its launch in 2014, allowing its users to have complete control and a user-friendly interface. However, the team behind Forge has recognized that there is always room for improvement and has made a series of significant updates that will be evident with the new release.
In an effort to optimize the service ahead of its launch, 300 clients have had early access to the upcoming version of Forge. According to testimonials from these users, the new features are impressive. For example, Wendell Adriel highlighted the ease of deployment with the new Laravel VPS feature, noting that the Zero Downtime characteristic is amazing. Daniel, another user, pointed out that the improvement in the CMD + K search function is a significant change, saving many clicks when navigating between different servers and projects. Peter Suhm also shared his excitement, mentioning that creating a new VPS is practically instantaneous.
Easier and smarter deployments
One of the main challenges developers face is the process of getting their code into production without causing disruptions. With the new zero-downtime deployments feature, updates can be made during peak traffic without worries. This improvement aims to eliminate the need to schedule deployments during low-activity times and the nerves that arise with each release.
Beyond avoiding downtime, the new deployment features are deeper. Stacked and queued deployments have been implemented to resolve the confusion that has affected teams for years. Now, developers will be able to see exactly which commits have been sent to production and in what order. If a deployment fails midway through the process, subsequent deployments will not incorrectly register commits that have not been activated. This eliminates deployment drift and provides full visibility over the release pipeline.
To facilitate collaborative work, on-forge.com domains remove the friction from DNS configuration. This allows developers to deploy applications and get shareable URLs instantly, ending the typical "it works on my machine" conversations or complex staging environment setups just to showcase a feature to a client.
Infrastructure that adapts to your stack
Laravel VPS promises to reduce server provisioning time from minutes to seconds. With a single click, users will obtain a fully configured and optimized server for modern applications.
In addition to its speed, Laravel VPS is one of the most affordable options among the cloud providers available on Forge, making it easy to experiment with new projects or scale existing ones. Billing will also be simplified with a single invoice, rather than managing separate charges from multiple providers.
An integrated terminal with SSH collaboration is also included, allowing developers to troubleshoot production issues in real time, all working together in the same terminal session, making pair debugging and collaborative problem-solving a more natural process.
Support for frameworks will also be expanded; Nuxt and Next.js applications will receive first-class treatment with optimized installation and deployment for both server and static site modes. Forge adapts to the user's tech stack, whether they are building a traditional PHP application or a modern JavaScript frontend.
Monitoring for confident dispatch
Health checks now send pings to applications from three global regions after each deployment. This ensures that developers immediately know if their application is accessible from London, New York, and Singapore, allowing them to identify connectivity and routing issues before users do.
Heartbeats allow monitoring of scheduled jobs with the expectation of receiving a ping when they are completed. If a critical job, such as a backup task or data processing, fails silently, the team will be notified immediately instead of discovering it days later. This approach transforms monitoring background jobs from a reactive issue into a proactive safeguard.
Real-time metrics graphs will display CPU, memory, and bandwidth usage as it happens, allowing developers to identify resource limitations before users start to complain and scale as necessary.
Polished developer experience
A new command palette modernizes server management. Developers will be able to search for any action, navigate between servers, or deploy applications without needing to use the mouse, reducing the cognitive load of managing multiple servers and sites, making common actions instantly accessible.
Scheduled jobs can now be named, solving a frustrating issue for teams. Instead of interpreting cryptic commands to understand their purpose, developers will be able to give them meaningful names that are understandable to the entire team.
Scalable team management
Role-based access control provides detailed control over who can do what. Now developers can deploy applications without having the ability to delete servers, and junior team members can view logs and metrics without accessing sensitive environment variables. Business plans will include custom roles for even more precise control.
Organizations will become billable entities, transforming the way agencies and consultancies use Forge. Users will be able to create separate Forge organizations for different clients, each with its own billing, team access, and server management, eliminating the complexity of managing multiple projects under a single account.
A foundation for what’s to come
The platform runs on a renewed user interface, built with TypeScript, Inertia.js, and Vue. The new streamlined interface, which now includes a dark mode, makes every interaction faster and more intuitive.
The new API follows JSON:API specifications and includes comprehensive documentation. This will allow developers to build custom integrations or automate deployment workflows reliably.
SSL and domain management will be fully automated; certificate renewals will happen without intervention, and domain configuration will be reduced to a few clicks. The goal is to make these operational tasks fade into the background, freeing up more time for developers to focus on what truly matters.
Forge is solving real problems
Every improvement in Forge is designed to address a specific point of friction that slows down development teams. Zero-downtime deployments eliminate the anxiety associated with releases. Laravel VPS simplifies setup and billing complexity. Health checks and heartbeats help to catch issues before they become incidents.
The next generation of Forge will transform server management into an invisible enabler that removes DevOps roadblocks. Developers' attention can remain on building applications while the platform handles the complexity of keeping them running reliably.
Server management may not be the most exciting part of development, but it doesn’t have to be the most frustrating either. The new version of Forge aims to make it a task that is completely forgotten.
We invite you to continue exploring more content on the blog to stay informed about these updates and much more.
