What Is Laravel?

Laravel is a free, open-source PHP framework for building custom websites and web applications. It gives developers a tested structure and ready-made parts for the jobs almost every project has, such as page addresses, user logins, database access, form checks, emails and scheduled tasks, so the time and budget go on the features that are specific to your business.

The framework is published under the MIT licence, so there is no licence fee to use it on a commercial project. You pay for the development work and the hosting, as with any website.

What a framework does, in plain terms

A framework is a set of conventions and building blocks that developers start from. It is the difference between building a house from scratch and starting with a proven frame, standard fittings and an agreed layout for the wiring.

Take a grooming salon with four branches that wants online booking. Customers choose a branch, a groomer and a time, pay a deposit and get a reminder the day before. Staff see their calendars, and the owner sees bookings and takings across all branches.

Much of that is common to many systems: accounts and passwords, a database of bookings, payment callbacks, reminder emails, an admin area with permissions. Laravel and its official packages already have tested parts for these. What the developers write themselves is what makes this business different: deposit rules, cancellation terms, which groomer handles large breeds, how long each service takes.

What comes with Laravel

Laravel is a set of parts that are designed to work together:

• Routing decides which code answers which address. The short example below answers /branches/oxford by finding that branch in the database and showing it through a page template.
• Blade is the templating language that turns data into HTML pages.
• Eloquent handles the database: each table is represented by a model, so developers work with bookings and customers in code.
• Artisan is the command line tool for routine jobs such as creating files and updating the database structure.
• Queues and the scheduler run slow or regular work in the background, for example sending 500 reminder emails without making a customer wait for the page to load.
• Authentication, validation, caching and testing tools cover logins, form checks, speed and automated checks before each release.

Route::get('/branches/{branch:slug}', function (Branch $branch) {
    return view('branches.show', ['branch' => $branch]);
});

Laravel itself is installed and extended with Composer, the standard dependency manager for PHP. The framework works with five databases out of the box: MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite and SQL Server.

Full website or back end for an app

Laravel can be used in two main ways, as its installation guide explains.

As a full stack framework, it handles requests and also produces the pages visitors see, with Blade templates or with a JavaScript front end connected through Inertia. This is the most common setup for business websites, client portals and online shops with custom rules.

As an API back end, it stores the data, runs the business rules and handles logins, while a separate front end or a mobile app talks to it through a REST API. The same Laravel system can serve a website and an app built by a mobile app developer, so prices, stock and accounts stay in one place. More on that split in our entry on backend development.

When Laravel suits a business, and when a CMS will do

Laravel is usually worth it when the website is really a piece of software:

• quotes, prices or availability are calculated by your own rules;
• customers, partners or staff log in to see orders, documents or progress;
• the site exchanges data with a warehouse, accounting or CRM system;
• several websites have to run from one admin area.

For a service business that mainly publishes pages and articles, a content management system such as WordPress is quicker and cheaper to launch, and a standard online shop is often better served by Shopify. Laravel does not come with a ready admin panel for editors, so on a content-led site that panel has to be built or added, which is cost a CMS already covers.

Laravel versions and how long they are supported

Laravel releases a new major version once a year, around the first quarter. Each version gets bug fixes for 18 months and security fixes for two years. On the published support table:

• Laravel 13, released on 17 March 2026, requires PHP 8.3 to 8.5 and receives security fixes until 17 March 2028.
• Laravel 12 stopped receiving bug fixes on 13 August 2026 and receives security fixes until 24 February 2027.
• Laravel 11 and older versions no longer receive security fixes. Laravel 11’s ended on 12 March 2026.

If your site runs on an older version, it still works, but security problems found in the framework are no longer fixed for it. An upgrade usually means updating the PHP version on the hosting too, so it is worth planning before the security window closes.

How we work with Laravel

We build custom websites and web applications on Laravel, and where a project calls for it we integrate AI into the application itself. On our Laravel development projects, the final price is confirmed after a short Discovery stage, with a line-item estimate. You own the code, content and accounts, and we provide documentation.

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