Run PHP in your browser

Tab Desktop ships PHP 8.3 compiled to WebAssembly, with Composer, a working web server and SQLite. You can install a framework, run migrations and open the site — all in the tab. Everything runs inside your browser tab on WebAssembly. There is no server executing your code, no container to wait for, and nothing to install.

Open Tab Desktop →Free · nothing to install

How it works

PHP 8.3 via PHP-WASM, with Composer and a virtual HTTP server over the same filesystem.

composer create-project laravel/laravel my-app && cd my-app && php artisan migrate

What you can do

  • Composer install, autoload generation and package scripts
  • Laravel: Artisan commands, Eloquent, migrations and queues
  • WordPress with an SQLite drop-in, including plugins and page builders
  • SQLite as the database, with no separate service to run
  • A real request/response cycle — the pages you build actually load

What it does not do

  • Extensions that are not compiled into the WebAssembly build are unavailable
  • MySQL and PostgreSQL servers are not bundled; SQLite is the built-in database
  • Anything requiring a persistent background daemon behaves differently to a long-lived server

Start with a preset

One click scaffolds the project in its own isolated desktop and starts the dev server.

Questions

Can it run WordPress?

Yes. WordPress runs with an SQLite drop-in instead of MySQL, and plugins including page builders work. It is a genuine install, not a screenshot or a static export.

Which PHP version is it?

PHP 8.3, compiled to WebAssembly.

Do I need Docker or a local LAMP stack?

No. There is nothing to install and no container to build — the runtime loads in the tab.

Also runs in the tab