Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development in 2023

Which framework should you choose? What is the Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development? There are plenty of options out there. What makes one better than another

If you want to build a web application, then choosing a good framework is essential. The development time and cost can vary significantly depending on the framework you choose.

Choosing the Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development can be confusing because there are so many choices. In this article, we’ll look at some of the top frameworks for PHP developers, and explain why they are worth considering.

One of the most frequently used server-side scripting languages on the internet is PHP, or Hypertext PreProcessor. PHP is used to build dynamic web pages on 79.2% of all websites. PHP is also used for reading and writing web files as well as session tracking.

However, if you attempt to create a PHP script from scratch, you can become overwhelmed halfway through. The process becomes much more time-consuming when you occasionally need to rebuild the same functions multiple times.

PHP frameworks help to streamline these procedures while improving workflow. Keep in mind that a bad or inappropriate framework can cause one or more projects to fail. Be careful, then, and choose only the best option.

Here comes the use of PHP frameworks!

Before you descend and make your choice from the stack, you must underline three items.

Ensure

• It is a robust, widely used, and stable framework.
• It conforms to your wants and objectives for your company.
• For at least the next three years, it is predicted that demand for the framework will remain high.

Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development

Sr No.	Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development	Developed By	Launched In	Popularly used by	Official Website
1	Laravel	Taylor Otwell	June 2011	The New York Times	https://laravel.com/
2	CodeIgniter	EllisLab	February 2006	G-Shock, Woobox, etc	https://codeigniter.com/
3	Symfony	Fabien Potencier	October 2005	Sainsbury’s Magazine, Sony VAIO UK site, Intelius, etc.	https://symfony.com/
4	Zend Framework	Zend Technologies	March 2006	BBC, BNL Paribas, Cisco Webex, etc.	http://framework.zend.com/
5	CakePHP	Cake Software Foundation, Inc.	April 2005	Printivo, World-Architects, etc.	https://cakephp.org/
6	Yii	Qiang Xue and its team	October 2006	WordCounter, Purple, YMCA, etc.	https://www.yiiframework.com/
7	Phalcon	Andres Gutierrez and others	November 2012	Learny Online, Marchi Auto, etc.	https://phalconphp.com/en/
8	Aura	Jake Johns and 166 others.	2012	Prada, Cartier, LVMH, etc.	http://auraphp.com/
9	FuelPHP	Dan Horrigan and its team	July 2011	Wan wizard, Front Desk, etc	http://fuelphp.com/
10	Slim	Josh Lockhart, Andrew Smith, Rob Allen, Pierre Bérubé and their team	August 2019	CG Forge, Canine Principles, etc.	http://www.slimframework.com/

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Top PHP Frameworks for Web Development

Here, we’ll go over the top 5 Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development. You can leave a comment in the space provided below, and we’ll get back to you with more information soon about the others.

Laravel

Laravel, the #1 Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development on our list, is regarded as the greatest PHP framework for web designers.

Laravel’s elegance is defined by its simple, beautiful syntax and incredible capability. Leading websites like Disney, Bankrate, The New York Times, WB, and others rely heavily on Laravel. With this PHP framework, you can build expressive and elegant websites without worrying about the little things.

Laravel’s elegance is defined by its simple, beautiful syntax and incredible capability. Leading websites like Disney, Bankrate, The New York Times, WB, and others rely heavily on Laravel. With this PHP framework, you can build expressive and elegant websites without worrying about the little things.

Technical Specification

• Current version: 8, released on September 8th, 2020.
• PHP >= 5.5.9 (or use Laravel Homestead)
• Composer should be installed
• Database support for MySQL 5.6+, PostgreSQL 9.4+, SQLite 3.8.8+, SQL Server 2017+.

Pros of Laravel:

• Easy to get started: a user-friendly virtual development environment & Laravel Valet
• Built-in templating engine or Blade
• Packalyst with 15,000 packages
• Excellent availability of security features and methods
• Flexible options for creating a REST API
• Eloquent object-relational mapping
• Artisan Console command-line tool
• Availability of an advanced administration panel
• Easy integration with no SQL solutions
• One of the fastest PHP frameworks
• A large community of developers

Cons of Laravel:

• The comparatively higher input threshold
• Some imperfections in the debugger
• Need for separate admin panels in case of multiple stakeholder access

CodeIgniter

The CodeIgniter #2 Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development was originally developed at Codeweavers Inc., a company based out of Vancouver, Canada. It was first released in November 2006 and was named after its creator, who chose the name “CodeIgniter” because he thought it sounded cool. Originally written in PHP, it supports several programming languages including Perl, Python, Ruby, Java, and.NET.

Technical Specification

• Current version: 4.0.3
• PHP >= 7.2
• Database support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite3

Pros of Codeigniter:

• Good Performance
• Lightweight PHP framework
• Easy to learn
• Simple solutions over complexity
• Strong security
• Clear documentation
• Nearly zero configuration
• supports multiple methods of caching

Cons of Codeigniter:

• The new releases are somewhat irregular, so it may not be the best option for an application that needs regular updates to maintain security.
• Has a distinct coding style than what is accepted by code creation models
• The dependency Injection pattern is missing

Symfony

The Symfony #3 Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development was originally created in 2004 by Fabien Potencier and is now maintained by the community. Symfony is a full-stack web application framework written in PHP. It provides a set of tools designed to ease the creation of complex applications, including a request/response HTTP server (with session management), routing system, template engine, form generation, validation, database abstraction, and many others.

Technical Specification

• Current version: 5.1.4
• PHP >= 7.2.5
• Composer installed

Pros of Symfony:

• Best for highly scalable websites
• Its modular component is very flexible and
• Supports most of the databases
• Debugging is straightforward with the in-built toolbar
• Easy to learn, fast, and secure Twig template engine
• Packagist list with over 4000 packages
• Commercial backing from Seniso Labs
• Good professional support is available
• Has long-term support releases
• Huge community support

Cons of Symfony:

• A bit harder to start with
• The security system is complicated
• Its feature-rich nature makes it a bit slower compared to other PHP frameworks

Zend Framework or Laminas Project

The Zend PHP Framework was developed by Zend Technologies. It is widely considered one of the best open-source web application frameworks. It is a framework that is designed to help developers build robust applications using object-oriented programming techniques.

The latest version of the Zend Framework is version 2.0. It comes with many improvements over earlier versions of the framework. These include performance enhancements, improved security features, and improved MVC architecture.

Technical Specification

• PHP >= 5.6 (Zend) or >=7.3 (Laminas)
• Composer installed
• Database support for MariaDB, MySQL, Oracle, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and Informix Dynamic Server.

Pros of Laminas Project:

• Its code can be ported across to other frameworks without difficulty
• You can use the essential components alone
• Used to build Restful APIs
• A good forum and the slack group help in collaboration and support
• Flexible caching system
• Support from a large number of database management systems

Cons of Laminas Project:

• Comparatively slow
• Complicated from the learning point of view

CakePHP Framework

CakePHP is a PHP framework built for rapid application development. It provides models and views for data-driven websites, RESTful APIs, and MVC applications. CakePHP is a popular open source project that was created by David McFarland and released under MIT License in 2005.

The fixed sets of coding standards provide CakePHP with a more standardised development environment for better teamwork.

In general, CakePHP is easy to use because of its minimal configuration. CakePHP enables you to create visually appealing and feature-rich online apps.

Technical Specification:

• Current version: 4.1.1
• PHP 7.2 (minimum), 7.4 recommended
• HTTP server with mod_rewrite preferred
• Database support for MySQL 5.6+, MariaDB 5.6+, PostgreSQL 9.4+, SQLite 3.8, SQL Server 2012+.

Pros of CakePHP:

• CakePHP’s coding conventions
• A broad set of components
• Multiple support portals
• Simple & easy to install
• Good security features
• modern framework, fast builds, proper class inheritance, & validation.

Cons of using CakePHP:

Developers who don’t prefer to align with more rules & restrictions should better avoid CakePHP, as it has a fixed set of coding guidelines.

FAQs

Conclusion

Laravel tops the list of the Best PHP Frameworks for Web Development, according to data. But once more, every user is unique, and every product has various requirements. Choose the PHP framework that best fits your needs by studying each one from that standpoint.