DevKinsta – the Perfect Tool for WordPress Local Development

A WordPress local development tool is a must-have weapon in the arsenal of any savvy WordPress user. Regardless of whether you are a solopreneur or part of a WordPress agency, such a tool saves you time and money.

DevKinsta is the new kid on the block in the WordPress local development area. It’s the creation of the talented developers at Kinsta. This is a well-established brand in the WordPress hosting space, so its developers won’t risk their reputation by providing a poor tool.

Read on to learn more about the new WordPress local development tool. Chances are that you will fall in love with it!

What Is DevKinsta?

DevKinsta - WordPress Local Development

DevKinsta is a modern tool that allows creating and managing WordPress websites on your computer. Working directly on your site is a big no-no because you risk putting it offline. A WordPress local development tool allows you to edit code, test themes and plugins, and perform updates. You aren’t time limited, so your work on your site will be hassle-free. A local development environment is suitable for students, freelancers, agencies and anyone who wants to become a WordPress master.

DevKinsta’s Features

DevKinsta packages a few noteworthy features that make it a top-class WordPress local development tool.

Free and Compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux

DevKinsta is free of charge and Kinsta says it will be free forever. So, by using Kinsta, you won’t be wasting money on recurring fees. In addition, it works on the major operating systems – Windows, macOS and Linux. Considering all this, you don’t have any excuse not to test this tool.

Simple but Effective

Developers are comfortable working with local development tools, but less trained users may feel intimidated by the interfaces or the large sets of features. This is not the case with DevKinsta. It impresses at first sight with its clean and simple interface. Thanks to these features, it’s hard to believe that anyone could get stuck using DevKinsta. Not only is DevKinsta’s simplicity impressive, but also its effectiveness. You get a completely functional local website in just two minutes. Do you want to create another site? That takes another two minutes. Do you want to create another website and another? Well… you can do it whenever you want because DevKinsta supports an unlimited number of sites! WordPress multisites are supported too.

Database Management

DevKinsta lets users perform edits on the site’s database in a user-friendly manner. It uses Adminer – an open-source software for managing databases, a cleaner and more lightweight alternative to PHPMyAdmin. Editing the database tables and items is a matter of just a few clicks. You can import and export database backups, create and drop tables, and execute SQL commands.

PHP 7.x and 8.x Support

You can test the latest PHP version in a safe environment thanks to DevKinsta. In addition, you can select the PHP version of the site to create, and switching between versions is a breeze. Developers and webmasters running sites tied to a particular PHP version will appreciate this option.

Have a look at the site information if you have forgotten which PHP version your site uses. You’ll find detailed data about your site, including the PHP version. From this section, you can toggle the SSL certificate on or off for your site. Taking into account that a SSL certificate is a must these days, this feature is quite useful.

Built-In Email Testing

A standout feature is the built-in email inbox for each site generated. DevKinsta uses Mailhog as an email client and users have access to all outgoing emails of their sites. Accessing the emails is simple as ABC – just click on the email icon from the DevKinsta interface.

Active Community

DevKinsta Community

The DevKinsta forum is the place where the users share their impressions and problems. The forum members are pretty helpful and they actively contribute to improving DevKinsta. You are welcome to contribute by reporting a bug, requesting a feature, or helping people in need.

How to Install and Use DevKinsta

All the above features should have convinced you about DevKinsta’s potential. If you want to use DevKinsta, just follow the steps below.

Go to the DevKinsta homepage and download the version that is compatible with your operating system. While initially it was only available for Windows and macOS, thanks to the users’ demands, Kinsta devs worked hard to develop a Linux version. This Twitter thread shows that DevKinsta is here to stay and the team behind it genuinely cares about its users’ needs.

Docker is under the hood of DevKinsta and it comes with many advantages – high performance, automatization and enhanced security. However, it comes with restrictive system requirements. Check the Docker system requirements because you have to meet them to make DevKinsta work on your computer. For example, you have to enable virtualization, and it’s not the most pleasant task for less geeky users. DevKinsta error codes are a precious help to understand what you have to fix.

Supposing that you have installed it on your computer, once you open up DevKinsta, you have three options for creating a WordPress site:

  • New WordPress site. This is the simplest way to create your local site.
  • Import from Kinsta. This option allows importing a site hosted on the Kinsta platform.
  • Custom site. You can select the site configuration.

Create New Site with DevKinsta

No matter which option you choose, creating the site requires just a few clicks. Next, you are free to do whatever you want with your site – open in a browser tab, go to the admin dashboard, or manage the database.

It’s worth mentioning that you have the possibility of enabling SSL and HTTPS, and that DevKinsta supports debugging.

Final Thoughts

DevKinsta is a great tool for WordPress local development and the signs are that the team behind it will come up with more pleasant surprises. It’s fantastic that DevKinsta doesn’t have any limitations for non-Kinsta users. Less trained WordPress users shouldn’t worry because DevKinsta is pretty straightforward to use. Briefly, DevKinsta is a free tool that is compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux that fully deserves your attention.

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2 Comments

  1. Thank you so much for mentioning this great tool. I want to use it for my next blog.

  2. What a wonderful post it is. I am very happy and I appreciate your effort. You are doing a great job. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

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