Installing Drupal with FrankenPHP for Lightweight Local Development

Staff Reporter

Theodore from Tres Bien Tech demonstrates how to use FrankenPHP to install and run a local Drupal site. FrankenPHP includes its own PHP runtime, eliminating the need for a system-level PHP install. The guide shows how to install Composer and Drupal, configure Drush with SQLite, and run the site using a Caddyfile from the Drupal issue queue. The setup runs on localhost and avoids common warnings from 'drush runserver'.

Theodore argues that FrankenPHP could modernize Drupal hosting by supporting real-time push events natively. This would reduce reliance on Node.js and potentially lower infrastructure costs. While the walkthrough is practical, the performance claims are speculative and not backed by benchmarks. The post is useful for local prototyping but lacks depth on production-readiness or scalability.

Reference: Drupal and PHP fun with FrankenPHP by Theodore (18 July 2025)

Local Development

Drupal

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