Why Indigo v1.0 Is About to Revolutionise the Way You Build Local Dev Environments

Introducing Indigo v1.0 for Mac

Today marks the official release of Indigo v1.0, the native macOS app that allows web developers to create and run powerful and flexible local development environments.

With Indigo, you can easily build and manage multiple stacks each containing all the services you need for a specific project, reflecting exactly what's on the production server for the project—choose from Apache, Nginx, Redis, and any of eight versions of PHP and two versions of MySQL. These stacks can be started and stopped independently of each other, and each stack's services are fully customisable with a powerful configuration override mechanism, offering you unparalleled flexibility.

All the essential features, like automatic SSL certificates and smooth domain resolution, are built in—making Indigo the local dev environment you’ll love for day-to-day use.

Why choose Indigo?

Here's what sets Indigo apart:

• Bare-metal performance: Everything runs directly on your Mac—no emulation or file syncing required. This means faster startup times, lower memory usage, and smoother operation.
• Simultaneous versions: Run multiple versions of PHP or MySQL (or any other services) at once—even multiples of the same version with different configurations—all tailored to each project’s needs.
• Unlimited stacks: Easily create and manage as many stacks as you need. Want a stack for each project? Go ahead—and run them all simultaneously if you like.
• Isolated setup: Indigo installs everything within a single folder on your Mac, ensuring complete separation from other applications and system components.
• Shareable configuration: Each stack’s configuration is stored in one file, making it easy to version control and share across teams.
• Fun interface: By reflecting the infrastructure your sites run on in production, Indigo’s interface makes complex setups more tangible and easier to grasp.

Indigo is designed specifically for web developers who need a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-manage local development environment. It’s ideal for:

• Freelancers looking for a streamlined, reliable setup without the hassle of Docker’s complexity or performance issues, or the limitations imposed by other native solutions.
• Agencies that handle a variety of client projects, needing the flexibility to run multiple service versions or configurations at once, and to easily spin up old projects.
• Developers working on legacy codebases—Indigo lets you run older versions of PHP and MySQL, right alongside your newer stacks, ensuring you can work with any setup.

What’s Next for Indigo?

We’re just getting started with Indigo v1.0 and have big plans ahead. With the launch behind us, we’re now focused on expanding features—adding services like MariaDB, a powerful CLI, and a script runner to enhance your development workflows. Stay tuned—there’s plenty more to come as we continue to shape Indigo into the ultimate local environment app for developers.

Conclusion

If you’re tired of local environments that are complex to configure, slow to run, or restrictive and inflexible, Indigo offers a native, high-performance alternative tailored for modern web development workflows.

Give Indigo a try today and see how it can improve your workflow. We’d love your feedback! Whether you’re enjoying Indigo’s ease of use or have ideas for new features, your input will help us make it even better. Share what you love (or don’t!) about your current dev setup and how Indigo compares. We’re listening and eager to improve!