Laravel

Laravel is a PHP framework for building web applications. It makes decisions for the developer on routing, authentication, database access, validation, file storage, queues and testing, so projects follow a consistent structure that other developers can pick up. Laravel is open source and has an ecosystem of official packages.

Laravel's database layer handles models, relationships and migrations, so changes to the data structure are tracked in code. Queues run slow work such as sending emails, generating PDFs or syncing data in the background, which keeps pages fast for users.

What Laravel provides

• Authentication and authorization for users and roles
• A database ORM with migrations
• Form and request validation
• Background queues and scheduled tasks
• File storage, mail and notifications
• Built-in testing tools
• Starter kits for React, Vue and Svelte front ends

What Laravel is good for

Laravel suits business software with real data and workflows: CRMs, client portals, booking and appointment systems, membership platforms, quoting tools and internal dashboards. These applications need logins, roles, records that relate to each other and background jobs, which Laravel handles out of the box.

Paired with Filament, Laravel can produce admin panels and staff tools quickly, since Filament builds forms, tables and dashboards from PHP code. Laravel also works as an API backend for a Next.js site or a mobile app.

When Laravel fits

Laravel fits custom applications where off-the-shelf software does not match how a business works. For simple marketing sites, a CMS such as WordPress or Payload is usually a better fit than a full application framework.