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ShipPHP Faster: A Simple, Safe Way to Deploy PHP Without FTP Hell

If you have ever deployed a PHP website using FTP or cPanel file manager, you already know the pain:

• Uploading files one by one
• Accidentally overwriting production files
• Forgetting which files changed
• No rollback if something breaks
• No history of what was deployed

I built ShipPHP Faster to fix exactly this.

ShipPHP Faster is an all in one deployment toolkit for PHP websites. It lets you push and pull only changed files, manage multiple projects with global profiles, and create automatic version tracked backups, all without SSH, Git, or server setup. Works perfectly on shared hosting, VPS, and traditional servers.

Just one PHP file on the server, and a simple CLI locally.

How it works:-

ShipPHP Faster works by first installing the CLI via Composer, initializing your project, and uploading a single server file to the client’s website. You can then use shipphp pull to download the complete website from the client’s server to your local machine, making it easy to start working on an existing site.

How backups works:-

ShipPHP also allows you to create backups directly on the server via the CLI and download them back to your local machine when needed. Each backup is stored with a unique version and timestamp, making it easy to compare, sync, restore, or roll back to any previous state safely all using the same simple pull and push workflow, without SSH or manual file handling.

Why I Built This

Recently, I had a situation where I uploaded files manually to a client’s server.

The site crashed.

I had no quick rollback.
No backup.
No record of what changed.

That moment made it clear:
FTP is not a deployment system.

So I built ShipPHP Faster.

What ShipPHP Faster Does:-

• Deploy only changed files
• Pull changes from the server
• Track deployment state
• Create versioned backups
• Restore any previous version
• Manage multiple websites
• Work on shared hosting
• Avoid SSH and Git on servers

All with simple commands like:
shipphp status
shipphp push
shipphp pull
shipphp backup create

Installation (Global CLI)
composer global require shipphp/faster

Now you can use shipphp from anywhere.

Requirements:
• PHP 7.4+
• Composer

Token Based Security:
• 64 character tokens
• Timing safe comparison
• Token rotation
• Secure profile storage
• Optional IP whitelisting
• Rate limiting
• Request logging

No passwords.
No SSH keys.
No Git credentials on servers.

Works on Shared Hosting
This is the big one.
You don’t need:
• SSH
• Git
• Node
• Docker
• CI/CD
• Server access

Just upload one PHP file.

That’s it.

So now question is, Why Not Just Use Git Deploy?

Git based deploy is great, if you have:

• SSH access
• Git installed on server
• Deployment hooks
• Server permissions

Many shared hosts don’t.

ShipPHP Faster fills that gap.

*When ShipPHP Faster Makes Sense *

Use it if:
• You deploy to shared hosting
• You work with non technical clients
• You don’t want server setup
• You want rollback safety
• You want simple workflows
• You manage multiple websites

What It’s Not. ShipPHP Faster is not:

• A full CI/CD replacement
• A cloud native deployment pipeline
• A Docker orchestration tool

It’s a practical PHP deployment tool for real hosting environments.

Project Links - GitHub
https://github.com/ssanaullahrais/ShipPHP-Faster

Packagist:-
https://packagist.org/packages/shipphp/faster

I would love to know:

  • Does the idea make sense?
  • Is the workflow clear?
  • Is there anything you would improve or change?

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