What is PHM

Definition

PHM (PHP Manager) is a binary package manager for PHP on macOS. It provides precompiled PHP packages that install in seconds — no Homebrew, no MacPorts, no local compilation required.

PHM follows the Debian/Ubuntu model: PHP and its extensions are built once on CI, distributed as signed binary packages, and installed instantly on any Mac.

The Problem PHM Solves

On Linux (Ubuntu/Debian), installing PHP is trivial:

apt install php8.5-cli php8.5-fpm php8.5-redis

On macOS, there is no equivalent. Installing PHP itself is only half the problem — extensions are worse. If you need Redis, ImageMagick, or MongoDB you’re stuck with PECL, which means:

installing Xcode Command Line Tools, autoconf, and build dependencies
running pecl install redis and hoping the compilation succeeds
manually configuring php.ini to load the extension
repeating this for every extension, every PHP version, every machine
dealing with macOS code signing issues that can silently crash PHP

The situation with PHP itself isn’t much better:

Homebrew — compiles PHP from source on every machine, takes 10+ minutes, breaks on updates, doesn’t support multiple versions cleanly, no extension packages
MacPorts — similar compilation overhead, smaller community
phpbrew — requires build tools (autoconf, bison, re2c), fragile, no binary packages
Docker — overhead for local development, filesystem performance issues on macOS
Manual compilation — requires Xcode, build dependencies, deep knowledge of configure flags

PHM eliminates all of this. One command, instant install, zero compilation:

phm install php8.5-cli php8.5-fpm php8.5-redis

How PHM Works

Precompiled packages are built daily on GitHub Actions (macOS runners for both Apple Silicon and Intel)
Packages are hosted as GitHub Release assets — no separate server infrastructure
PHM CLI downloads and extracts packages to /opt/php/, managing symlinks and configuration
Each PHP version lives in its own directory (/opt/php/8.5/, /opt/php/8.4/), with no conflicts
Extensions are separate packages, precompiled against the matching PHP version

Key Features

Instant installation — precompiled binaries, no compilation on your machine
Multiple PHP versions — 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 side by side
40+ extensions — Redis, Xdebug, ImageMagick, MongoDB, and more
Built-in tools — Composer, Symfony CLI, PHPStan, PHP CS Fixer via phm install
PHP-FPM management — start, stop, restart, enable autostart
Per-project PHP versions — via Symfony CLI + .php-version file
macOS native — designed specifically for macOS, no cross-platform compromises
Open source — MIT licensed, fully transparent build pipeline

Who PHM is For

PHP developers on macOS who want fast, reliable PHP installation
Teams who need consistent PHP environments across developer machines
Developers working on multiple projects with different PHP version requirements
Anyone tired of Homebrew PHP breaking on updates or taking too long to compile

Who PHM is Not For

Linux users — Linux already has excellent PHP repositories (Ondrej Sury PPA, Remi RPM)
Windows users — PHM is macOS only
Production servers — PHM is for development machines, not server deployments

Quick Start

# Install PHM
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/phm-dev/phm/main/scripts/install-phm.sh | bash

# Add to PATH
export PATH="/opt/php/bin:$PATH"

# Install PHP
phm install php8.5-cli php8.5-fpm php8.5-redis

# Install developer tools
phm install composer symfony