Dev tools for freelancers

Freelance and agency developers on Mac and Windows use Rig when client work means switching stacks all day — WordPress for one client, Laravel for another, a Node prototype between calls. Rig boots each project group, shares a LAN QR or password-protected Live Link for a five-minute client review without deploying staging, and keeps merged logs when something crashes mid-demo. Lanes isolate branch, env, and port per client so Acme on :3000 does not collide with Northwind on :4321. Optional Rig Cloud syncs catalog metadata across a studio desktop and laptop; source never uploads. Rig complements Local, Herd, and Valet — it is the control plane when you juggle many local sites, not a replacement for their PHP or WordPress runtimes. Free forever on your computer on the Hobby plan. See also local WordPress, Laravel + Valet, and use cases for agency walkthroughs.

Can I share a local site with a client on their phone?

Yes. Same Wi-Fi uses LAN + QR. Remote clients get a Live Link on userig.app with optional password and expiry — no VPN or deploy required.

Does Rig replace Local or Valet for WordPress and Laravel?

No. Rig orchestrates processes around those tools. WordPress and PHP sites can run beside Node and Vite in one board with unified logs and MCP.

https://userig.app/for-freelancers

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For freelancers

Client preview without staging.

Showing a client work in progress usually means deploying it somewhere first. With Rig, point at the branch you're on, then send a link or hold up a QR code. The client sees it running on your computer, right now: no deploy, no staging box, no “did the fix go out yet?”

Download for Mac or WindowsRig for agencies

Free forever on your computer. Pay only for Mesh (Pro, $15 a month).

rig / storefront / sharelive
storefrontlocalhost:3000 · branch checkout-fixYour computerRunning
Live Linkacme.rig.link
passwordexpires 48h2 viewers

Their phone or laptop: no app, no VPN. It's just a URL.

Client opened it on their phone · 2 viewing now

  • No staging server to maintain
  • No deploy step between “done” and “seen”
  • Link expires on its own, nothing to revoke later
Running three clients at once

One board, every client in their own lane.

Freelance work means WordPress for one client, Laravel for another and a Node prototype between calls. Each client project keeps its own port, its own Live Link, its own expiry. Nothing bleeds into the next tab you open.

Lanes keep clients apart

Branch, env and port are kept per client, so Acme on :3000 never collides with Northwind on :4321.

01
rig / clientslive
Client / project · Live LinkViewers
Acme — storefrontacme.rig.link:30002 now
Northwind — marketing sitenorthwind.rig.link:43210 now
Fenwick — admin portallink expired——

Each client keeps its own port, Live Link and expiry

Local WordPress →Laravel + Valet →Use cases →

No new habits

Fits the flow you already have.

A new tool should not mean a new way of working. Keep your terminal and your editor; Rig adds the share.

Same terminal you already have open

One command, run once. The link keeps working until it expires. Rig doesn't need to stay in the foreground.

02
terminal · storefrontlive
$ npm run dev
➜ Local: http://localhost:3000
$ rig share storefront --client acme
➜ acme.rig.link · password set · expires 48h

And a Rig panel in your editor

See the project's state and who is looking at the Live Link without leaving Cursor.

03
Cursor — storefront/src/Checkout.tsxlive
storefront
running
Live Link
active
Client
acme · 2 viewers

Rig panel · acme · 2 viewers

Your brand, not ours

The link says your studio, not Rig.

Clients should see your business, not a tool they have never heard of. Turn on a custom domain and swap the logo. A client who opens the link sees your agency; Rig disappears from the page.

Default
acme.rig.link
Powered by Rig
Whitelabel
preview.northstarstudio.com
northstarstudio.com
When they say ship it

Push the same build to hosting.

No separate deploy step. The build they just approved on the Live Link is the one that goes live: pick a host and Rig pushes what's already running.

Approved, then live

Vercel, Railway or Netlify. What the client signed off is exactly what ships.

04
rig / storefront / shiplive
acme.rig.linkapproved
Vercel · Railway · Netlify
storefront.acme.comvia Railway · 41s ago

Deployed: the build the client approved

Away from your desk

The project isn't tied to the computer in front of you.

Client's office, laptop only, and the project is actually on the Mac at home, asleep. Wake it in nine seconds, or Teleport the running project over to whatever machine you're on.

Wake or Teleport

Both ends need Rig, and waking a machine needs a second machine running Rig awake on that network.

05
rig / meshlive
Home — studio Macstorefront running · woken on demand
↔ wake · teleport
Client's office — this laptopRig — Mesh

Same project, running here now

How Mesh works →

Already knows what's running

Cursor sees the truth, not a guess.

When something breaks mid-demo, there is no time to dig. Rig's local MCP hub hands your editor live processes, ports and logs, so it can answer “why is checkout down” instead of guessing.

get_logsget_healthwho_owns_portstart_projectrestart_project

A real session

Logs read, the stopped database found and restarted, and an answer you can pass to the client.

06
cursor · a real sessionlive
you › why is checkout 500ing for the client?
cursor › get_logs storefront — ECONNREFUSED :5432
cursor › get_health postgres — container stopped
cursor › start_project postgres ✓ · the DB was down, restarted. Ask them to retry.

Cursor & Claude MCP →

If a laptop walks out the door

A stolen laptop costs an afternoon, not a client.

Continuity keeps an encrypted backup of your Rig setup: projects, prefs, links. New computer, same board, back working the same day.

  • Encrypted end to end
  • Never your source code
  • Restore on any new computer

Cloud & Continuity →

Under the hood

A LAN link and a public link aren't the same thing.

On the same Wi-Fi, the QR code is served straight from your computer and nothing leaves the network. Off it, Live Link routes through Rig's relay so the client can open it from anywhere. Either way, you set the expiry.

Share dialog

Pick LAN or public, an expiry and an optional password per link.

07
rig / storefront / share dialoglive
LAN — same network
direct, no relay
Public — Live Link
HTTPS via Rig relay
Expiry
24h · 48h · 7 days
Password
optional, set per link

Same Wi-Fi: served straight from your computer

What it costs

Free on your computer.

Hobby plan

Everything local, free on your computer.

  • Process control, databases, SSL and DNS
  • MCP for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and more
  • Mesh taster: 1 linked machine, 5 GB relay
Pricing

Your code stays put

The optional cloud account syncs your project list between a studio desktop and a laptop. It never uploads your repo.

Rig Cloud

Beside Local, Herd and Valet

Rig does not replace their PHP or WordPress runtimes. It is the control plane when you juggle many local sites.

Compare
Questions

Fair questions

Can I share a local site with a client on their phone?

Yes. Same Wi-Fi uses LAN + QR. Remote clients get a Live Link on userig.app with optional password and expiry — no VPN or deploy required.

Does Rig replace Local or Valet for WordPress and Laravel?

No. Rig orchestrates processes around those tools. WordPress and PHP sites can run beside Node and Vite in one board with unified logs and MCP.

Other workflows

Rig for the way you work

Mac process manager

Every local process, its port and its log in one window, with crashes restarted for you.

See the workflow

Laravel + Valet

Keep Valet's .test domains. Rig watches the queue workers, Horizon and logs underneath.

See the workflow

Local WordPress

A fresh WordPress site in one click, with WP-CLI, the database and HTTPS built in.

See the workflow

Cursor & Claude MCP

Your AI assistant reads real ports, logs and health instead of guessing from your code.

See the workflow

For solo developers

Every side project on one board, back up after a reboot without touching a terminal.

See the workflow

Full stack local dev

Web, API, database and workers started in the right order with one button.

See the workflow

Send a link, not a deploy.

One desktop app. Point it at a project and you have a Live Link in seconds, with no account setup for your client and nothing to host. macOS 13+ or Windows 11 · no credit card.

Download for Mac or Windows — it's freeSee pricing