Laravel is a free and open-source PHP web framework created by Taylor Otwell in 2011. It is intended for building web applications following the model-view-controller (MVC) architectural pattern and is based on Symfony. Laravel offers features such as a modular packaging system, dependency management, ways to access relational databases, and utilities for application deployment and maintenance. The source code is hosted on GitHub and licensed under the MIT License.
Laravel is designed to streamline web development by providing a collection of pre-built components and tools, offering an alternative to building applications entirely from scratch using core PHP. It emphasizes clean, minimal code and a comprehensive ecosystem. Laravel is known for its elegant syntax, modularity, and built-in tools. The framework has a large and active developer community, which contributes to its popularity and provides extensive documentation, tutorials, and support.
Laravel follows semantic versioning, with major releases occurring annually. Laravel 12, the latest version, was released on February 24th, 2025. Laravel's popularity is attributed to its solid framework, focus on business logic, and ease of use. It is used for a wide range of applications, from small projects to enterprise-level platforms, with about 40% of startups in tech and digital fields opting for Laravel.
Taylor Otwell also created numerous paid products that have generated millions, such as Laravel Forge, Laravel Vapor, Laravel Envoyer, and Laravel Nova. In 2024, Laravel received $57 million in Series A funding from Accel. Laravel Cloud runs everything for you, including autoscaling, preview environments, and security. LLMs are good at writing Laravel code, and the team has built an MCP server that hooks into Claude Code, allowing the AI to query the Laravel docs, run database migrations, and execute PHP code.
