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> The instructions assume you have a whole PHP dev environment setup-- very frustrating, after some time googling the various errors I kept hitting I just quit.
Sorry you had trouble. Craft definitely has stricter requirements than WP. v4 [requires](https://craftcms.com/docs/4.x/requirements.html) PHP 8, a handful of PHP extensions, and MySQL 5.7.8+/MariaDB 10.2.7+/PostgreSQL 10.0+.
Most modern local dev environments will have everything it needs ([DDEV](https://ddev.com/), [Lando](https://lando.dev/), our own [Craft Nitro](https://getnitro.sh/), even [MAMP](https://www.mamp.info/en/), etc.), but I realize these come with a learning curve. We do our best to ease you into it without making too many assumptions in our [tutorial](https://craftcms.com/docs/getting-started-tutorial/), so you might want to try giving it another go with that.
If you’re a Mac user, you’re going to need to start moving in this direction even to get WordPress running, as built-in PHP support has been deprecated and Apple plans to stop shipping it in future versions of macOS.
> This has been my issue with most Wordpress alternatives-- they assume you are a professional PHP developer, rather than someone who just wants to try a CMS
No argument there. WP is built for the masses; Craft is a developer tool. It doesn’t assume PHP knowledge (the built-in templating system is powered by [Twig](https://twig.symfony.com/)), but you will need a strong understanding of web standards and basic logical concepts. Or you can get your content out using the built-in GraphQL API, to hook it into a decoupled front-end like Next.js or Gatsby.
> The instructions assume you have a whole PHP dev environment setup-- very frustrating, after some time googling the various errors I kept hitting I just quit.
Sorry you had trouble. Craft definitely has stricter requirements than WP. v4 [requires](https://craftcms.com/docs/4.x/requirements.html) PHP 8, a handful of PHP extensions, and MySQL 5.7.8+/MariaDB 10.2.7+/PostgreSQL 10.0+.
Most modern local dev environments will have everything it needs ([DDEV](https://ddev.com/), [Lando](https://lando.dev/), our own [Craft Nitro](https://getnitro.sh/), even [MAMP](https://www.mamp.info/en/), etc.), but I realize these come with a learning curve. We do our best to ease you into it without making too many assumptions in our [tutorial](https://craftcms.com/docs/getting-started-tutorial/), so you might want to try giving it another go with that.
If you’re a Mac user, you’re going to need to start moving in this direction even to get WordPress running, as built-in PHP support has been deprecated and Apple plans to stop shipping it in future versions of macOS.
> This has been my issue with most Wordpress alternatives-- they assume you are a professional PHP developer, rather than someone who just wants to try a CMS
No argument there. WP is built for the masses; Craft is a developer tool. It doesn’t assume PHP knowledge (the built-in templating system is powered by [Twig](https://twig.symfony.com/)), but you will need a strong understanding of web standards and basic logical concepts. Or you can get your content out using the built-in GraphQL API, to hook it into a decoupled front-end like Next.js or Gatsby.