In this post, you will find some of the best PHP frameworks you can use for your development tasks. Moreover, we’ll also discuss each of these frameworks’ pros and cons, so you can pick the best one out of them.
Developing a website or an app from scratch acquires you to do a lot of work. Most of the time, you will be required to recreate functions that have been created thousands of times before. In such cases, a software framework is a useful tool that provides you a platform that you can use to build upon so you can save yourself from a lot of hassle.
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is an open-source server-end language and extremely popular among developers. There are almost 80% of websites using PHP. If you are a developer and struggling to find the best PHP framework tool that you can use as a foundation to build up your development, this post is for you.
But the question is, why should you use a PHP framework?
A PHP provides you a foundation and streamlines your development tasks. They are incredibly useful to boost your development process. Moreover, responsive websites and apps that are using PHP frameworks help companies to meet their requirements.
Below I have rounded up some of the best PHP frameworks that are extremely useful, and you can use one of them. So, let’s dive in to check them out!
6 Best PHP frameworks List
1- Laravel – Best PHP frameworks List
Laravel is probably the most popular and best PHP framework available out there that you should use. It is an open-source, free PHP framework and was introduced in 2011.
If you are dealing with complex web apps, this should be your go-to choice since it can handle them securely and easily that too at a blazing speed that the majority of other PHP frameworks. It makes development tasks simpler by simplifying commons tasks, such as sessions, routing, caching, authentication, etc.
Regardless of whether you are developing large or small apps with a complicated backend, you should use Laravel as a foundation to make things easier for you. Moreover, the installation process of Laravel is an easy task due to the introduction of Homestead, which is an all-in-one vagrant box.
Furthermore, it is full of some amazing features that you can use to customize complicated apps you are working on. Some of the Laravel features include easy data transfers, MVC architecture support, routing, security, authentication, template engine view, and much more.
What’s more, it is an incredibly expressive PHP framework with blazing speed and security that fulfill all the requirement of modern web apps. For those who are working on enterprise websites or B2B projects, Laravel is the best tool they can have.
What did I like the most?
– It is a PHP framework that feels proud of its outstanding syntax.
– You can use add-ons to extend its core functionality.
– You can integrate Laravel with third-party libraries, including AWS.
– You will be able to use its in-built features to easily handle user management, routing, authentication, caching, and to name a few more.
– In an attempt to enhance performance, it runs tasks in the background.
2- Symfony – Best PHP frameworks List
If a PHP framework out there that can give a tough competition to Laravel, it is Symfony. It is yet another best and highly popular PHP framework that you should check out if you are a PHP developer.
To see why it is so popular and one of the best PHP frameworks, you have to dig into it. Just like its cool name, it is incredibly flexible. It offers a range of features that allows you to cherry-pick the functions of PHP that you require, or you can also use the framework.
Moreover, if you want to test whether your applications are running in the same way they should while still working on them, it allows you to do that as well since it comes with a testing feature. In my personal experience, I have noticed that the apps that are built using Symfony don’t often offer the best performance.
You should consider that before picking Symphony as your base foundation for your next PHP project, it requires a steep learning curve that is something you don’t confront while using Laravel.
What did I like the most?
– It is an incredibly flexible PHP framework that allows you to set up individual components.
– It includes outstanding and simple documentation that helps newbies to learn how to use it.
– It comes equipped with a built-in testing feature that you can use to test the apps you are currently working on.
3- CodeIgniter – Best PHP frameworks List
If you don’t want to install a heavy-size PHP framework and to look for an incredibly small-size PHP framework with exceptional features and best performance, there is nothing that can beat CodeIgniter. It only has a size of 2MB, which also includes documentation. If you are working on a dynamic PHP website and looking for a tool that can provide you a foundation, make sure to check out CodeIgniter once.
This PHP framework utilizes MVC architecture (Model View Controller), which means it utilizes multiple components to easily handle particular development tasks. This is why the developer loves it since it allows them to develop highly-scalable apps with an incredibly small footprint.
Moreover, if you are just starting playing with PHP, it could be an exceptional pick for you since it is simple and easy to get started with. Furthermore, it has outstanding documentation, which means you don’t have to worry much as you will be able to easily learn its basics.
There are many reasons why you should use CodeIgniter, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any downside. For instance, if you are working on apps that require high-level security standards, it is not a good option to choose CodeIgniter since its releases are irregular.
If you are working on the development of lightweight apps that run seamlessly on modest servers, make sure to give a shot to CodeIgniter.
What did I like the most?
– It is a lightweight PHP framework that gives you maximum performance.
– Thanks to its MVC architecture, you will be able to develop scalable apps.
– It is a simple PHP framework and includes simple and outstanding documentation that easily gets started.
4- Zend PHP framework – Best PHP frameworks List
Those who are looking to find a comprehensive object-oriented MVC PHP framework should check out Zend. It is also referred to as a glue framework by developers, which indicates its component-based functionality. Having Zend on your system, you will be load only the required components as individual libraries.
In simple words, it means it allows you to concentrate only on those functions and components you need and ignore everything else. Since it is an object-oriented and MVC PHP framework, you will also be able to reuse a lot of your codes that you have already written to boost your development speed.
Furthermore, it is also a simple PHP framework that integrates the platform with external libraries to stretch its functionality even more.
Regardless of how amazing it is and how useful it can be for you, it also has a fair amount of downsides. For instance, it is a complicated one to pick up. In my personal testing, if you are considering migrating from Laravel or any other PHP framework to Zend, it might be challenging for you.
But if you have some development experience and like working on an object-oriented PHP framework, Zend is a good option to go for.
What did I like the most?
– It is an object-oriented and MVC-based architecture PHP framework to which the majority of PHP developers love to work with.
– You can easily integrate it with external libraries.
– Due to its design, you will be able to reuse your pre-created code to boost your developing speed.
– You will be able to concentrate only on the components you required.
5- CakePHP – Best PHP frameworks List
Developers who love to have a cool and elegant PHP framework, look no further than CakePHP. This PHP framework is a great option to go with if you want to develop feature-rich and visually stunning websites.
Moreover, it is also a great pick for those who are still in their learning phase, and it is because of its create, read, update, and delete framework, which is also referred to as CRUD. This PHP framework is around since 2000, and from then till now, it equipped itself with some great components and better performance.
There are newer versions of CakePHP that you can easily find in the market with better performance, and you will see a lot of new components. What makes it one of the best PHP frameworks is its strategy to approach convention in coding.
In other words, it means once you familiarize yourself with its set of components, you can concentrate on development and speed up your developing speed to get more work done in a short time. In addition to that, it also offers a thorough set of components that you can expect from a PHP framework like this one. It means it is a good pick if you are required to apply hard-to-find features.
However, since PHP can be a bit restrictive, and if you want to unleash your creativity by writing code, I don’t recommend you to use CakePHP. However, it is still one of the best PHP frameworks for the majority of PHP developers.
What did I like the most?
– It includes a range of useful components.
– Thanks to its PHP’s convention, it is a great PHP framework to get more work done in a short time.
6- Phalcon – Best PHP frameworks List
Phalcon is yet another PHP framework that you can use for your PHP development tasks. However, you will find it a bit odd since its source code is developed in C, which means it is safe to say that it is a C extension for PHP.
I know it sounds a bit odd, but practically, it is one of the best and fastest PHP framework that I have experience working with. As its names say, it shines when you talk about its performance and constantly produces the results that are almost on the top.
Moreover, it is also utilizing MVC architecture and one of the lightest PHP framework on sources. What makes Phalcon different from other PHP frameworks mentioned on this list is you will not find many files upon its installation. Instead, you will insert modules and libraries that you need so that you can easily use them when required.
The thing that lets Phalcon down is its documentation that is not up to par as compared to Laravel or CodeIgniter.
What did I like the most?
– You will be able to use the modules and libraries that you need.
– Its source code is based on C.
– It offers excellent functionality with the lowest resource overhead.
Wrapping Up
There you have it – 6 best PHP frameworks that you can use to make things and your PHP coding life easier. All of these PHP frameworks have their own unique features that you can compare before picking one of them for your next PHP development project.
FAQs
Q: What is the best PHP framework other than Laravel?
Ans: If you don’t want to use Laravel for any reason, I highly recommend checking CodeIgniter out that is one of the most popular and best PHP frameworks available out there.