--- title: 'Flywheel - Local WordPress Development Made Easy' url: 'https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/2017/flywheel-local-wordpress-development' markdown: 'https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/2017/flywheel-local-wordpress-development.md' date: '2017-03-05' description: 'An introduction to Flywheel Local, a powerful tool for local WordPress development that simplifies the process of setting up a local development environment with features like one-click WordPress installs, WP-CLI access, SSL support, and more.' taxonomy: category: - Software - WordPress tag: - MySQL - PHP - Tools - Server - Business - Hosting --- # Flywheel - Local WordPress Development Made Easy Published on March 5, 2017 by Tracy Ridge in [Software](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/category/category:Software) [WordPress](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/category/category:WordPress) Developing local WordPress websites has become easier over the years but installing the software to develop locally on your own computer can be cumbersome. Deciding whether to use free software like [Ampps](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/2015/ampps-mac-update-3-3-manually-without-re-installing), Mamp, Xampp, pay for commercial software or even setup vagrant and [VVV](https://github.com/Varying-Vagrant-Vagrants/VVV). They can all be learning curves that require additional steps to debug and get your perfect server setup. Enter Local from Flywheel that aims to take the frustration out of installing a local development environment by replacing it with a fast and functional app. ![Local by Flywheel](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/user/data/wp-content/uploads/local-by-flywheel.jpeg) ## Flywheel – A brief History Flywheel was established in 2012. Their main aim was to improve the lives of web designers and developers who work with WordPress and to take the frustration out of shared hosting. They offer only WordPress Managed hosting which emphasises on speed, security and stability. Last year Flywheel acquired Pressmatic, which at the time was commercial software for the Mac. Not only did they buy it they also released it to the public for free. [Flywheel Local](https://local.getflywheel.com/) was born! Not only does Flywheel local serve a purpose for those of us who develop WordPress locally in the future it will offer one-click deployment to Flywheel, remote site import, off-site local backups and much more. Currently, there are versions for Mac, Windows and popular Linux distributions including Fedora and Ubuntu. The pro version offers custom demo URLs and remote backups but there are no differences between the number of sites you can have. The latest features include – - One click speedy WordPress installs - Access to WordPress Command Line Interface (WP-CLI) - SSL support - Hot swap between Apache and Nginx - Change PHP versions. - Create shareable URLS to demo your work to clients, collaborators or friends. - Create blueprints so you can re-use the same settings over. - Features adminer a light database manager to tweak database settings, useful if you are creating a WordPress plugin or theme and you need to delete your settings often. - Mailcatcher is a simple SMTP server within a web interface that intercepts all communications from your WordPress install. - Add-ons to enhance the technology further with support for XDebug for debugging WordPress files. ## The Technology Behind Local Local is created using a wide variety of open source products. [Electron](https://electron.atom.io/)[Docker](https://www.docker.com/)[Node](https://nodejs.org/en/)[WP-CLI](https://wp-cli.org/)[Apache](https://httpd.apache.org/)[Nginx](https://nginx.org/)[VirtualBox](https://www.virtualbox.org/)[WordPress](https://wordpress.org/)[MySQL](https://dev.mysql.com/) ## Conclusion Flywheel is the ultimate tool to have in your WordPress Development Workflow. If you primarily work with WordPress then Flywheel is the software for you. If you already have Flywheel hosting then it’s even more beneficial for the long term. ### Share [X](https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=Flywheel%20-%20Local%20WordPress%20Development%20Made%20Easy&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldoweb.co.uk%2F2017%2Fflywheel-local-wordpress-development&via=worldoweb "Share on X") [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldoweb.co.uk%2F2017%2Fflywheel-local-wordpress-development "Share on Facebook") [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldoweb.co.uk%2F2017%2Fflywheel-local-wordpress-development&title=Flywheel%20-%20Local%20WordPress%20Development%20Made%20Easy "Share on Reddit") [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldoweb.co.uk%2F2017%2Fflywheel-local-wordpress-development "Share on LinkedIn") [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Flywheel%20-%20Local%20WordPress%20Development%20Made%20Easy%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldoweb.co.uk%2F2017%2Fflywheel-local-wordpress-development "Share on Bluesky") [Email](mailto:?subject=Flywheel%20-%20Local%20WordPress%20Development%20Made%20Easy&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldoweb.co.uk%2F2017%2Fflywheel-local-wordpress-development "Share via email") #### Tags [ MySQL](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/tag/tag:MySQL) [ PHP](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/tag/tag:PHP) [ Tools](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/tag/tag:Tools) [ Server](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/tag/tag:Server) [ Business](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/tag/tag:Business) [ Hosting](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/tag/tag:Hosting) ##### Next [ ← FotoJet Review - The Time Saving Graphic Design Tool ](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/2017/fotojet-review-time-saving-graphic-design) OR ##### Previous [ Infographic - Top 3 Content Management Systems Compared → ](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/2017/infographic-top-3-content-management-systems-compared) --- ## Navigation - Previous: [FotoJet Review - The Time Saving Graphic Design Tool](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/2017/fotojet-review-time-saving-graphic-design.md) - Next: [Infographic - Top 3 Content Management Systems Compared](https://www.worldoweb.co.uk/2017/infographic-top-3-content-management-systems-compared.md)