XAMPP
by XAMPP · Apache, MariaDB, PHP and Perl in one installer
BenchRank score
Screenshots of XAMPP
Homepage
Overview
XAMPP is an Apache distribution that bundles MariaDB, PHP and Perl into a single installer for local PHP development. Installers are published for Windows, Linux and OS X, with builds for several PHP versions — 8.2.12, 8.1.25 and 8.0.30 in the latest Windows release. It is maintained by Apache Friends, a non-profit project set up to promote the Apache web server.
- Best for
- PHP developers who want a local Apache, MariaDB, PHP and Perl stack installed in one step.
- Pricing
- The site states XAMPP is completely free; no paid plans or prices are shown.
- Runs on
- macOSWindowsLinux
Strengths and trade-offs
Strengths
- Free, and described as an open source package
- One installer bundles Apache, MariaDB, PHP and Perl
- Installers published for Windows, Linux and OS X
- Over 10 years old, with forums and a large user community
Trade-offs
- OS X build lags: 8.2.4 against 8.2.12 for Windows and Linux
- New releases land on Windows first; Linux and OS X follow later
- Support shown is forums and social media only; no paid support listed
- Presented as a development environment, not stated as production-ready
How XAMPP markets itself
A structured read of the promise, proof and page design on XAMPP’s captured homepage.
Homepage capture
“XAMPP Apache + MariaDB + PHP + Perl”
- Angle: Simplicity / ease
- Hero: Product video demo
Pricing
Published plans and prices from XAMPP’s own pricing page.
How this score is made up
Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.
MCP support
Whether an agent can drive the product through the Model Context Protocol, and how much setup that takes.
API quality
Public API surface: machine-readable spec, official SDKs, documented auth, errors, rate limits and versioning.
Documentation
Publicly reachable docs — coverage, freshness, code samples and machine readability.
Agent friendliness
How readable the site is to an automated client: llms.txt, structured data, server-rendered content, crawler access.
Changelog
A public, dated record of what shipped and when — the clearest signal that a product is still alive.
Marketing site structure
Whether the site answers a buyer's questions: clear positioning, the pages that matter, and accessibility.
Page speed
How fast the site loads for real visitors: Chrome UX Report 75th-percentile LCP, INP and CLS, with a Lighthouse mobile run standing in where a site has too little traffic for field data.
Operational trust
Status page and incident history, security disclosure, compliance and data-processing documentation.
Measured, but not part of the score
Useful to know, but not a mark for or against the product — so these do not affect the ranking.
Openness
Source availability, self-hosting, data export and open standards. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — paid SaaS is not worse for being paid SaaS.
Maintenance
Release cadence and repository activity. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — it is only measurable for open repositories.
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Where this comes from
The XAMPP pages BenchRank reads when it scores the product — its documentation, release notes, status and security pages, and its repository where there is one.
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Is this your product?
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