Tools I’m Using in 2025: My Real World Dev Stack

I don’t overhaul my development stack often. If something works well, I stick with it. But as workflows evolve and tools improve, I occasionally make room for new additions, especially when they offer real, measurable improvements.

Here’s a breakdown of the tools I’m actually using in 2025, what they help me do, and why they’ve stuck around.

PHPStorm

For PHP and Laravel development, PHPStorm continues to be my editor of choice. It’s deeply aware of Laravel’s structure, route names, facades, service providers, Blade templates, and makes navigating even the largest projects smooth.

Its built-in tooling for testing, linting, Docker, and database access means I rarely need to leave the editor. With a few key plugins like Laravel Idea and .env support, it becomes a full command center for backend work.

Yes, it’s heavy. But it’s efficient once properly configured.

Laravel Herd

In 2025, I moved away from Laravel Valet and started using Laravel Herd. It’s essentially Valet’s spiritual successor, but with better performance, an actual UI, and fewer manual tweaks to get things running.

It comes pre-bundled with PHP versions, Redis, MySQL, Postgres, Mailpit, and more. Setting up new projects or switching environments takes seconds, not minutes. If you’re developing Laravel apps on a Mac, Herd is the new baseline.

Cursor

I’ve been experimenting with Cursor, an AI-enhanced code editor built on top of VS Code. Since I’ve used VS Code in the past, it didn’t take much to get up and running.

Where Cursor stands out is in how it integrates context-aware AI tooling into your workflow. It’s useful for quick refactors, figuring out unfamiliar codebases, or generating boilerplate. I don’t use it as my daily driver yet, but for exploratory tasks, it’s quickly becoming a helpful sidekick.

Goland and IntelliJ IDEA

For Go and Java development, I’m staying within the JetBrains ecosystem. Goland is excellent for Go-specific work, it handles interfaces, static typing, and performance profiling well.

IntelliJ IDEA is still the best tool I’ve used for working with Java, especially in Spring-based microservices. It understands the structure of large JVM projects deeply and provides the right assistance at the right time, especially during refactoring or dependency tracing.

Having the same keyboard shortcuts, interface, and tooling across these JetBrains products helps keep things consistent.

Sequel Ace and DBngin

I use Sequel Ace for quickly browsing or editing MySQL databases. It’s lightweight and reliable, and doesn’t get in the way.

DBngin makes it easy to spin up local database servers with specific versions of MySQL or Postgres. It’s great for testing against different environments, and I use it often when I’m working across multiple local services that need their own isolated data stores.

Affinity Designer 2

While not a development tool, Affinity Designer 2 plays a quiet but important role in my stack. It’s what I use when I need to create identity assets, UI mockups, or technical illustrations. I prefer it to Adobe products because it’s fast, capable, and doesn’t require a subscription.

It’s especially useful for producing lightweight deliverables like favicons, Open Graph images, and internal diagrams.

Wrapping Up

This stack didn’t change drastically in 2025. The biggest shifts were moving from Valet to Herd and starting to explore Cursor more seriously. Everything else continues to do its job well, which is what I value most.

If you’re using any of these or are curious about how they fit together, feel free to reach out or drop a comment. Always happy to compare notes.