NativePHP for Mobile is now completely free and open source!
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🎉🎉🎉 NativePHP for Mobile is Now Free 🎉🎉🎉

Not a limited trial. Not a freemium tier. The core framework and essential plugins - everything you need to build and ship a native mobile app with Laravel - now costs absolutely nothing.

Starting with v3, the entire Laravel community (and beyond) can build native iOS and Android apps without paying a cent.

Here’s what’s changing and why it matters.

In this post:

#Plugins!

With v3, almost every piece of native functionality has moved from the monolithic core of previous versions to a modular plugin system.

We'd been thinking about and working on ways to make NativePHP for Mobile more extensible for many months. We wanted to make it so that you can build anything you need with just a little Swift, Kotlin and PHP. With v3 this is now possible.

Each plugin is a standalone Composer package containing its own Swift and Kotlin code, permission manifests, and native dependencies. You install only what you need, and each plugin compiles directly into your app during the build process.

This means you can easily tap into almost any native features and functionality through PHP. It's amazing.

Installing plugins is dead simple. You just composer require the relevant package and register the plugin in a newly-minted NativeServiceProvider. Register only plugins with functionality you intend to use and they'll be the only ones that get compiled into your native binaries. This way your apps stay slim and secure and your app review processes will be smoother.

#Creating plugins

Plugins are incredibly easy to create too! At their core, they are just Composer packages—with a few extras.

By adding a nativephp.json file you can define everything about your plugin: your PHP classes, view files, your bridge functions, your native dependencies (CocoaPods, Swift Packages, Gradle), any necessary permissions, JavaScript files and more.

We've added a ton of affordances to Mobile's core to make everything slick and smooth: build hooks, lifecycle hooks, service provider registration... the list goes on.

We expect many plugins to be available via Packagist, but it's entirely possible—thanks to Composer—to build and install plugins without ever having to release via a Composer package repository. NativePHP supports this approach too! So your app's Laravel codebase can easily contain everything needed to make an amazing native app.

NativePHP does all of the heavy lifting to pull all of this together, making for a (dare we say) enjoyable DX.

I love plugins ❤️, I think y'all have nailed it

Logan Craft

Ok, done for the day, 4 hours. Got a lot of the map and interaction going tons of events and listeners available, a separate minimal bottom sheet plugin that renders HTML on the content, but the action and sheet are native. Happy. This is fun. Addictive, but fun. I have soooo many projects in mind now lol

Marty Gauthier

Your Claude plugin is gold. I want to make one plugin every day, amazing stuff guys

Eser Deniz

Okay okay... the Claude tools are sick... frankly it's kind of insane, it's super impressive. Incredible that I can integrate with PHP with this lil effort is nothing less than incredible

Willem Leuverink

Check out the Plugin docs for the full details →

#Upgrade Path

If you already have nativephp/mobile installed, upgrading to v3 is as straightforward as we can make it:

  1. Remove the NativePHP repository (https://nativephp.composer.sh) from your composer.json
  2. composer remove nativephp/mobile to uninstall the older version
  3. composer require nativephp/mobile to install v3 from Packagist
  4. Install the relevant plugins for the functionality you're using in your app

You shouldn't need to update any of your app's code except to register the new plugins. We even have a handy command to register plugins once they're installed:

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php artisan native:plugin:register vendor/plugin
 
#OR
 
./native plugin:register vendor/plugin

#Free Core

This new architecture has allowed us to strip back the core package to a really minimal shell, which means your apps only need to include the features you actually want to use.

This makes your apps smaller and more efficient by default, and helps avoid pesky issues during app store reviews around unused features.

That's why we're calling this release NativePHP Air.

And we realized something: This minimal core feels completely natural as an open source and freely available tool. So we've converted v3 to an MIT license.

(Please note that versions prior to v3 are still governed by their original Business Source License, which has not changed.)

There's still a lot that can be improved in this core and by making it Open Source we're opening the door to community input.

We welcome your PRs to improve and enhance the core NativePHP for Mobile shell applications for iOS and Android. All contributions will fall under this same MIT license.

To help support making all of this free, some of the functionality that was included in Mobile v1 & v2 is moving to Premium plugins that are available for sale through our Marketplace:

All premium plugins are a one-time payment for a single seat license. Once you have access, it won't go away, it's yours forever. And they can be used on unlimited projects.

But don't worry! We've made the most popular plugins completely free and Open Source (MIT-licensed) too:

So we welcome PRs to these packages too!

We've got lots of new plugins in the works.

We're super excited to be able to offer Mobile for free. We know thousands of you have been waiting patiently for it and we're on fire with expectation for all the apps you're going to build with PHP 🔥

#The Plugin Marketplace

The Plugin Marketplace brings all NativePHP plugins together under one roof. You can discover both free and premium plugins, and easily purchase premium ones.

In the coming weeks, we'll be opening the Marketplace to third-party plugin developers, giving you the opportunity to list your own NativePHP plugins on nativephp.com.

And not just free plugins! You'll soon be able to sell your plugins through the marketplace too, giving you a huge revenue-generating opportunity. Just as we've made it dead simple to build plugins, we're making it dead simple to sell plugins.

The possibilities are endless! You could create a camera filter plugin, a payment gateway integration, a social login package, whatever the community needs, and earn revenue every time someone purchases it.

We'll be rolling out support for premium third-party plugins steadily. Be sure to sign up to the newsletter to hear more about this soon.

Check out the Plugin Marketplace →

#Jump: Instant Device Testing

Testing your apps on real devices can be a slow and unforgiving process. Not to mention the GBs and GBs of software, emulators, and frameworks you need to install and configure just to compile your apps.

And on top of that, it's not even possible to build and test for iPhone unless you have a Mac.

Jump changes all of that.

Jump is an app that you install on your phone—we have versions for Android and iOS—that lets you test your NativePHP apps on a real device without having to compile anything or switch your phone into developer mode.

Just run the native:jump Artisan command, open the Jump app on your phone and scan the QR code, and your Laravel app loads directly on your device, connected to your local dev server.

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php artisan native:jump
 
# OR
 
./native jump

Builds are rapid with NativePHP and you can see changes from your local development environment on your device in near real-time. And soon we hope to have full HMR support in Jump too.

The Jump app is completely free to use and everything you need to run your app via Jump is included in nativephp/mobile v3.

But it gets even better when you've got a Bifrost subscription too! Then you can test builds from any of your connected projects. This opens the door to letting your team, users, customers and clients all being able to test your app within seconds. No complex deployment and distribution.

Jump includes all first-party NativePHP plugins (even the premium ones!), so you can try out and learn how to use all of the functionality of NativePHP without paying a penny.

The only caveat: If you need to test third-party plugins, Jump won't be able to do that.

Install Jump now →

#Mimi: Vibe Coding for Native Apps

Mimi, named after the Norse god of wisdom 'Mimir', is a vibe coding add-on available through Bifrost.

If you have an active Bifrost subscription, start a session with Mimi and have the latest state-of-the-art models write your NativePHP app for you.

  • Create a new NativePHP project right from your browser (it even works on mobile!)
  • Describe what you want to build in natural language—with your voice!
  • Test your app in Jump directly from Mimi
  • Connect your GitHub repository and get all your app's code immediately
  • Convert to a Bifrost project instantly and build for—and ship to—the stores in minutes
  • And so much more!

It’s the fastest path from idea to a working mobile app, powered entirely by Laravel.

Start chatting with Mimi today →

#Why free? Why now?

NativePHP exists to make native development fully accessible to even more developers. Making it free removes another huge barrier to entry.

Paid licenses were always a means to an end and we've been saying from the beginning that we would eventually make it free.

If we could have made it free from Day 1, we would have, but license sales allowed us to do what we wouldn't otherwise have been able to do. We've been able to bootstrap this whole project and move at another pace entirely.

With the funds we were able to raise through license sales we've been able to invest heavily in a number of other options for generating sustainable income for the project, such as Bifrost and now Plugins.

Given the pace that we're going, we're way ahead of our original plans for open-sourcing Mobile.

Frankly, we're not quite at fully sustainable just yet, but the path is clearer than ever and we're hoping that by making Mobile free now we'll increase adoption enough for us to reach that level even sooner.

That means more Bifrost subscriptions, Plugin sales, more Partnerships and sponsorships.

If you're benefitting from our free tools, we'd encourage you to support us in at least one of these ways.

We're also hoping that by making it Open Source, the community will rally for us and support the project with contributions.

NativePHP is a fast-growing and vibrant community with a burgeoning ecosystem. And there's still so much potential!

PHP developers everywhere can build mobile apps that can do anything without having to learn anything new.

We're only just beginning, but with your help we hope to move further, faster and into more corners of this new land than would ever be possible on our own.

#What about license holders?

It's simple! You no longer need a license to use NativePHP for Mobile. If you wish to, you can easily cancel your subscription from your Dashboard - no questions asked.

But before you rush to do that, I'd like to let you in on a little secret and some future plans for what your existing subscription would transform into should you keep it...

We are finalizing a subscription option for our Plugin Marketplace. We're already thinking along the lines of:

  • Gifted premium plugins each year
  • Discounts on all premium plugins
  • Teams support - converting all of your plugins to multi-seat licensing so your whole team can access without having to buy plugins multiple times
  • Premium support for NativePHP and first-party plugins

These are just ideas and subject to change, but we'll be sharing more details in the coming weeks.

In the move to a free core + premium plugins, we want to try and do right by everyone. v3 is an incredible upgrade that has taken a mountain of effort. With

If you're one of our EAP members (i.e. you purchased any NativePHP for Mobile license before June 1st 2025) and it hasn't yet renewed, you can get all of our v3 Plugins as part of our Starter Pack Bundle at an exclusive discount.

If you recently purchased or renewed a Pro or Max subscription, check your Dashboard to get all of these plugins for free.

#Thanks to everyone 🙏

We wouldn't be able to make NativePHP for Mobile free if it hadn't been for all of your support.

From those very first GitHub sponsors, to our Early Access Program members, our Partners, and everyone who bought a license at any level or subscribed to Bifrost—you've all made this possible.

But we especially want to thank the following sponsors for their massive support helping us make NativePHP for Mobile free for everyone:

And our Partners:

Please give them all a huge hand 👏

#Get Started

NativePHP for Mobile v3 is available TODAY. It's super easy to start! Install Jump on your phone and run these commands in your dev environment:

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laravel new my-mobile-app
cd my-mobile-app
composer require nativephp/mobile
php artisan native:jump

#One More Thing...

Our very first video course covering some of the basics of getting up and running with NativePHP for Mobile and Desktop is now available on Laracasts completely free for everyone to watch.

Thanks to Jeffrey and team for their incredible work in making this happen.