[ LISTICLE ]
Forge gives you server management; it doesn't give you application monitoring. Here are the APM options that pair well with Forge's daemon model.
QUICK ANSWER
What's the best APM for Laravel on Forge?
NightOwl leads for Forge users wanting BYOD Postgres and flat pricing from $5/month — the agent runs as a clean Forge daemon. Laravel Nightwatch Cloud is the zero-ops official pick with usage-based pricing. Sentry, Inspector, and AppSignal all work via SDK without Forge-specific setup. Self-hosted Sentry works but requires ~20 containers and 16GB+ RAM. Forge doesn't constrain your APM choice.
Updated · 2026-04-13
| # | Tool | Fit with Forge | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NightOwl | Agent runs as a Forge daemon supervised by Supervisor; zero fight with the platform. | $5/mo Hobby, $15/mo Team, $69/mo Agency |
| 2 | Laravel Nightwatch Cloud | Official integration path; requires only an API key. No agent daemon required. | $0 (300K events/mo free) → usage-based |
| 3 | Sentry | PHP SDK installs via composer; no daemon. HTTP-based, no Forge-specific concerns. | $26/mo → usage-based |
| 4 | Inspector.dev | SDK-based. Works on Forge with no extra configuration. | €15/mo Beginner → €39 Developer → €69 Team (EUR pricing) |
| 5 | AppSignal | SDK-based. Add-ons priced separately. | $25/mo → usage-based |
| 6 | Self-hosted Sentry | ~20 Docker containers + 16GB+ RAM. Forge can provision a Docker-capable server but this is substantial ops. | Infra cost only (~$80-400/mo) |
#1
BYOD PostgreSQL dashboard that runs as a Forge daemon — telemetry in your database.
PRICE
$5/mo Hobby, $15/mo Team, $69/mo Agency
FORGE FIT
Agent runs as a Forge daemon supervised by Supervisor; zero fight with the platform.
BEST FOR
Forge users who want BYOD data residency and flat pricing. Pairs cleanly with Forge's existing queue daemon supervision.
#2
Official first-party APM from the Laravel team — zero ops, usage-based.
PRICE
$0 (300K events/mo free) → usage-based
FORGE FIT
Official integration path; requires only an API key. No agent daemon required.
BEST FOR
Forge users who want zero-ops monitoring and don't mind telemetry on vendor servers.
#3
Polyglot cloud APM — errors, performance traces, source-map JS.
PRICE
$26/mo → usage-based
FORGE FIT
PHP SDK installs via composer; no daemon. HTTP-based, no Forge-specific concerns.
BEST FOR
Polyglot stacks where Laravel is one of several languages — one tool across all.
#4
Laravel-aware cloud APM with a Laravel-first SDK.
PRICE
€15/mo Beginner → €39 Developer → €69 Team (EUR pricing)
FORGE FIT
SDK-based. Works on Forge with no extra configuration.
BEST FOR
Forge users who want Laravel-specific APM and prefer vendor-managed over BYOD.
#5
Multi-language APM with Laravel PHP SDK + uptime and host metrics add-ons.
PRICE
$25/mo → usage-based
FORGE FIT
SDK-based. Add-ons priced separately.
BEST FOR
Teams wanting APM + uptime + host metrics bundled under one vendor.
#6
Sentry's OSS stack running on your Forge servers.
PRICE
Infra cost only (~$80-400/mo)
FORGE FIT
~20 Docker containers + 16GB+ RAM. Forge can provision a Docker-capable server but this is substantial ops.
BEST FOR
Teams with a dedicated platform engineer and a data-residency hard requirement.
INSTALL
Works on Laravel 10+ / PHP 8.2+. Keep the official Nightwatch package — NightOwl reads the same instrumentation.
composer require nightowl/agent php artisan nightowl:install Publishes the config, creates monitoring tables in your PostgreSQL, and starts the agent. First payload lands in the dashboard within 30 seconds.
NightOwl if you want BYOD Postgres and flat pricing (from $5/mo). Laravel Nightwatch Cloud if you want zero-ops and don't mind vendor-cloud storage. Sentry or Inspector for polyglot or purely SDK-based setups. All run cleanly on Forge — the platform doesn't constrain APM choice.
No. Forge covers server-level basics (CPU, RAM, disk, SSL, queue worker supervision, scheduler wire-up). Application telemetry — request traces, query patterns, exception grouping, per-route p95 — requires a separate APM layered on top.
Yes, cleanly. Forge supports daemon processes via its dashboard UI — it uses Supervisor under the hood. Add your APM agent as a daemon and Forge's infrastructure handles supervision, restarts, and deploy coordination.
Two options. If using BYOD (like NightOwl), point the agent at a separate PostgreSQL instance — also Forge-managed or a managed service like RDS or Laravel Cloud Database. Keeps telemetry writes off your primary app DB. If using a cloud APM, it sends telemetry off-server entirely — no DB impact.
Forge shows recent logs in its UI (tail of laravel.log). For production you want structured log aggregation — pipe laravel.log to Loki, Papertrail, or Better Stack via a log shipper. See our self-hosted log aggregation guide for patterns.
For small apps fine. For anything with growth trajectory, run a dedicated DB server for telemetry — a leaking query on the app side shouldn't be able to thrash your monitoring storage. Forge's managed DB servers are inexpensive and easy to add.
PRICING
14-day free trial, no credit card. Your PostgreSQL, your data.
HOBBY
1 app · 14 days lookback · all Laravel events
TEAM
Up to 3 connected apps · unlimited environments · all Laravel events
AGENCY
Unlimited apps · unlimited agent instances · same flat rate at any traffic
Same package, your database
Laravel-native vs polyglot APM
$15 flat vs $99 per host
Full APM vs errors-only
Full APM vs exception-only
Production monitor vs local debugger
BYOD flat vs cloud tiered
BYOD flat vs cloud per-event
Full APM vs queue-only alerts
Laravel-focused vs enterprise platform
$15 flat vs per-host + per-product
Laravel-native vs polyglot APM
Full APM vs errors + uptime + cron
Full APM vs error tracking only
Laravel APM vs logs + uptime
Opinionated APM vs event platform
Structured APM vs log aggregator
Self-hosted options ranked
Full landscape in 2026