# phpbrew/phpbrew

Brew & manage PHP versions in pure PHP at HOME

Repository: https://github.com/phpbrew/phpbrew
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/phpbrew
Homepage: https://phpbrew.github.io/phpbrew
Language: Makefile
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: phpbrew, php-versions
Last push: 2026-01-28T12:16:45+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 52/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 64, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5454, "days_push": 217, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5525, forks 364 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:21.926043+00:00)

## What it is
PHPBrew is a command-line tool written in PHP that builds and installs multiple PHP versions in your home directory without root access. It simplifies configure options into variants, manages PHP extensions, and integrates with bash/zsh/fish shells for easy version switching.

## Use cases
- install multiple PHP versions side by side
- switch PHP versions in the shell
- build PHP with specific extensions like PDO or mysql
- install PHP without root permission
- compile PHP with debug variants for development
- manage PHP extensions per environment

## When to choose
- you need multiple PHP versions on one machine
- you cannot use root/sudo to install PHP system-wide
- you want fine-grained control over PHP build variants and extensions
- you develop PHP projects requiring different runtime versions

## When to avoid
- you just need a single PHP version (use your OS package manager)
- you prefer prebuilt binaries via Homebrew or Docker
- you need PHP version management on Windows
- you want a managed hosting-style PHP setup

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: developer-tools, cli, configuration-management
- domain: developer-tools, programming-languages
- platform: cli
- tags: php-version-manager, version-switcher, php-versions, compilation, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- phpbrew/phpbrew (main) score 52

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:21.926043+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:55:46.429059+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/phpbrew/phpbrew (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:21.926043+00:00, sha 1040183bc5c5)
  - homepage: https://phpbrew.github.io/phpbrew (fetched 2026-08-29T08:51:09.039660+00:00, sha cb86bc4fbeed)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.