Should I always develop "locally"

It's good, I think everybody develop on localhost.

why though? what's the advantage?

Because it is faster. You can debug it and so on, you don't want to do it on production server.

So Valet over Homestead? (I use mac) Which do you prefer and why?

(and thanks for some input! )

Try both of them and you will see what will suit to you. I use windows so I use wampserver.

I just know that Valut is easier to use.

Also for mac there is https://www.mamp.info or https://www.apachefriends.org/index.html

Using valet or homestead does not mean you are in production, you are still developing locally.

Valet is great for mac as far as I know. I personally have not used it because I'm on Ubuntu. I use docker for local development, makes it easier to work on multiple projects that require different versions of dependencies such as PHP, MySQL, Redis, etc.

If you have time, I suggest looking into docker & docker-compose.

Thanks for the input but I'm still stumped as per my original question.

So is the benefit "to replace" a production server? (which I have)

(Other than speed? @michaloravec )

@blakeyman

https://aspengrovestudios.com/how-to-set-up-a-localhost-using-desktopserver-by-serverpress-part-one/

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4689942/best-practices-on-developing-a-website-localhost-vs-real-website

And you can find more information on Internet.

@michaloravec thank you!

So I've also found MampPro which fits that bill too!