shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Xdebug?

Debugger and profiler tool for PHP - xdebug.org

Worth it. Buy it if you write PHP — it's the free, de facto standard debugger that users say saves real time. Skip it entirely for non-PHP work, and never leave it enabled on production servers.

Confidence

High. Based on ~50 public sources: official docs, Reddit and Stack Overflow discussions, and security advisories.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Xdebug

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Commercial supportNot published

Best for

  • PHP teams on Laravel, WordPress, Drupal
  • Legacy PHP codebase debugging
  • Profiling slow PHP apps
  • PhpStorm and VS Code users

Not for

  • Non-PHP projects — it's a PHP extension, full stop
  • Production servers — slowdown plus RCE risk
  • Casual coders happy with var_dump
  • Teams needing vendor SLA support

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Performance overhead is severe enough that it must be disabled outside local development

high

Remote debugging exposed on public servers is a known RCE vector; configure carefully

medium

Free to use, but help beyond community channels requires a commercial support agreement

medium

Major version upgrades (2→3) changed defaults and broke existing workflows

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free and open source
  • Widely treated as the standard PHP debugger
  • Users report major time savings debugging
  • Debugger, profiler, and tracer in one extension
  • First-class integration with VS Code and PhpStorm

Cons

  • Measurably slows PHP when enabled
  • Setup is notoriously fiddly; many failure modes
  • Configuration described as a nightmare by users
  • Xdebug 3 upgrade caused big performance regressions for some
  • No guaranteed support without a commercial agreement

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/26/2026 - 12 sources - Known CVEs and RCE exploits exist, almost all tied to remote debugging enabled on internet-facing servers.

official x4review x4security x4
  • CVE-2015-10141, Unauthenticated OS command execution / code injection when remote debugging is enabled.
  • RCE via xdebug.remote_connect_back, Exposed remote debugging allows unauthenticated remote code execution.
  • OS command execution in xdebug < 2.5.5, Public Metasploit module exists for older versions.
  • CVE-2026-7568, Vulnerability in php-pecl-xdebug packaged for Rocky Linux 8; patched via package update.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free, open source, no paid tiers
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Infamous config friction and setup pain
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Debugging, profiling, tracing in one extension
  • Support quality: 2/5. No guaranteed help without commercial agreement
  • Security posture: 2/5. RCE risk when remote debugging is exposed
  • $0 Price Open source, donation-funded
  • De facto standard Category standing Cited as the standard PHP debugger in Drupal docs
  • 4+ Security advisories Mostly exposed remote-debugging configs
  • 12+ Documented common issues Per DEVSENSE troubleshooting guide

Pricing

Xdebug

Free

  • Step debugging
  • Profiling and tracing
  • Community support

Commercial support

Not published

  • Direct maintainer support
  • For organizations needing guarantees

Security

Known CVEs and RCE exploits exist, almost all tied to remote debugging enabled on internet-facing servers.

  • CVE-2015-10141Unauthenticated OS command execution / code injection when remote debugging is enabled.⁸
  • RCE via xdebug.remote_connect_backExposed remote debugging allows unauthenticated remote code execution.⁹
  • OS command execution in xdebug < 2.5.5Public Metasploit module exists for older versions.10
  • CVE-2026-7568Vulnerability in php-pecl-xdebug packaged for Rocky Linux 8; patched via package update.11

What users say

PHP developers credit Xdebug with major time savings but repeatedly complain about setup difficulty and performance overhead.

“Xdebug saves lots of my time.”
Reddit, r/laravel
“Xdebug makes PHP way too slow”
Stack Overflow
“When I enable the xdebug it goes up”
Reddit, r/PHP

Companies that use it

  • WordPress VIP
  • Kinsta
  • Cloudways
  • Codilar (Magento agency)
  • Upsun
Full analysis

Based on ~50 public sources: official docs, Reddit and Stack Overflow discussions, and security advisories.

Free, standard PHP debugger: essential for PHP devs, useless elsewhere, risky left on production.

Methodology

Based on ~50 public sources: official docs, Reddit and Stack Overflow discussions, and security advisories.

Sources

  1. Xdebug — Debugger and Profiler Tool for PHPxdebug.org
    official
  2. Xdebug on GitHubgithub.com
    official
  3. Xdebug Support pagexdebug.org
    official
  4. Xdebug debugger — Drupal docsdrupal.org
    official
  5. Do you use xdebug? — Reddit r/laravelreddit.com
    review
  6. Xdebug makes PHP way too slow — Stack Overflowstackoverflow.com
    review
  7. 12 Most Common Xdebug Issues — DEVSENSEblog.devsense.com
    review
  8. CVE-2015-10141 — NVDnvd.nist.gov
    security
  9. Xdebug RCE via remote_connect_back — Acunetixacunetix.com
    security
  10. xdebug < 2.5.5 OS command execution — Exploit-DBexploit-db.com
    security
  11. CVE-2026-7568 — Snyksecurity.snyk.io
    security
  12. Mastering Modern Debugging Tools in Laravel & PHP — Mediummasteryoflaravel.medium.com
    review

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