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12 picks · data-backed ranking

Best open source apps written in PHP

The best self-hosted apps written in PHP are Coolify, Appwrite and Firefly III. Coolify leads with 62,628 GitHub stars. Candidates: the 200 apps whose main GitHub language is PHP.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed nightly

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    Coolify

    coollabsio/coolify

    Self-hostable Heroku, Netlify and Vercel alternative that deploys apps, databases and services to your servers.

    Self-hosting PlatformsPHPDocker

    Coolify has 62,628 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image, is written in PHP and had 4,939 commits in the last year; it replaces Heroku and Vercel.

  2. Rank 2:

    Appwrite

    appwrite/appwrite

    End to end backend server for web, native, and mobile developers 🚀.

    Low-code & BackendPHPDocker

    Appwrite has 57,577 GitHub stars, uses the BSD-3-Clause license, ships a Docker image, is written in PHP and had 10,376 commits in the last year; it replaces Firebase and Supabase.

  3. Rank 3:

    Firefly III

    firefly-iii/firefly-iii

    Firefly III is a modern financial manager. It helps you to keep track of your money and make budget forecasts. It supports credit cards, has an advanced rule engine and can import data from many…

    Finance & BudgetingPHPDocker

    Firefly III has 24,832 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, is written in PHP and had 2,574 commits in the last year; it replaces YNAB and Mint.

Full ranking

All 12 picks, ranked

Ranked by GitHub stars and recent activity. Open any pick for live stats and licence details.

  1. 1

    Coolify

    Self-hostable Heroku, Netlify and Vercel alternative that deploys apps, databases and services to your servers.

    Coolify has 62,628 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image, is written in PHP and had 4,939 commits in the last year; it replaces Heroku and Vercel.

  2. 2

    Appwrite

    End to end backend server for web, native, and mobile developers 🚀.

    Appwrite has 57,577 GitHub stars, uses the BSD-3-Clause license, ships a Docker image, is written in PHP and had 10,376 commits in the last year; it replaces Firebase and Supabase.

  3. 3

    Firefly III

    Firefly III is a modern financial manager. It helps you to keep track of your money and make budget forecasts. It supports credit cards, has an advanced rule engine and can import data from many…

    Firefly III has 24,832 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, is written in PHP and had 2,574 commits in the last year; it replaces YNAB and Mint.

  4. 4

    Nextcloud

    Access and share your files, calendars, contacts, mail and more from any device, on your terms.

    Nextcloud has 37,003 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, is written in PHP and had 7,289 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Drive and Dropbox.

  5. 5

    Krayin

    CRM solution for SMEs and Enterprises for complete customer lifecycle management.

    Krayin has 23,970 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image, is written in PHP and had 483 commits in the last year; it replaces Salesforce and HubSpot.

  6. 6

    Bagisto

    Leading Laravel open source e-commerce framework with multi-inventory sources, taxation, localization, dropshipping and more exciting features.

    Bagisto has 28,212 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, is written in PHP and had 1,283 commits in the last year; it replaces Shopify.

  7. 7

    BookStack

    Simple, self-hosted, easy-to-use platform for organising and storing information.

    BookStack has 19,075 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image, is written in PHP and had 435 commits in the last year; it replaces Confluence.

  8. 8

    FreshRSS

    Self-hostable RSS feed aggregator.

    FreshRSS has 16,237 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, is written in PHP and had 658 commits in the last year; it replaces Feedly.

  9. 9

    Matomo

    Web analytics that protects your data and your customers' privacy (alternative to Google Analytics).

    Matomo has 21,925 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, is written in PHP and had 954 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics.

  10. 10

    WordPress

    World's most-used blogging and CMS engine.

    WordPress has 21,450 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license, is written in PHP and had 2,047 commits in the last year; it replaces WordPress.com and Medium.

  11. 11

    Leantime

    Lean project management system for small teams and startups helping to manage projects from ideation through delivery.

    Leantime has 11,730 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, is written in PHP and had 678 commits in the last year; it replaces Jira and Asana.

  12. 12

    koel

    Personal music streaming server that works.

    koel has 17,272 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, is written in PHP and had 554 commits in the last year; it replaces Spotify and Last.fm.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What are the best self-hosted apps written in PHP?

The best self-hosted apps written in PHP are Coolify, Appwrite and Firefly III. Coolify leads with 62,628 GitHub stars. Candidates: the 200 apps whose main GitHub language is PHP.

Is Coolify free?

Yes. Coolify is open-source software released under the Apache-2.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Can I self-host these apps with Docker?

Yes, 7 of the 12 picks. Coolify, Appwrite and Firefly III publish Docker images, so you can run them on a VPS or home server with Docker Compose. The others install from their own packages or source; follow each project's install guide.

Are all of these apps open source?

All 12 apps on this list are open source. You can self-host and modify each one under its license.

Which of these apps is the most actively developed?

Appwrite, with 10,376 commits in the last 12 months and a latest release, 2.3.0, from September 2026. Activity is a good sign that bugs and security issues get fixed.

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