Is PHP Dead? Not Quite - Here’s When (and Why) It’s Still the Right Choice

PHP isn’t cool anymore—but it might still be perfect for your next project.

If you’ve been hanging around Twitter (sorry, X) or Reddit’s r/webdev lately, you’d think PHP is somewhere between COBOL and an ex you pretend never existed. The jokes write themselves. “PHP: Probably Horrible Programming.” Or my personal favorite: “The only language that was deprecated by Stack Overflow comments.”

And yet… it powers WordPress (43% of the internet), most of Facebook (still), and a stupid number of internal dashboards quietly running Fortune 500s. So here’s the uncomfortable truth: PHP isn’t dead. It’s just boring—and boring is underrated.

This post is a field guide for when to choose PHP, why it might be the right (or wrong) choice, and how to avoid the usual pitfalls if you do go down this road. No fluff. No gatekeeping. Just practical, mildly opinionated wisdom from someone who’s shipped enough production PHP to feel both pride and shame.

The Comeback Nobody Asked For (But Some of Us Needed)

Let me paint you a scene from our office, circa late 2023. One of our PMs walks in with a client request for a quick-turnaround internal tool. Not customer-facing, not real-time, no fancy front-end needed. Just a CRUD app to manage vendor payouts. They wanted it live in two weeks. We had three devs available. Two knew PHP.

Guess what we used?

Laravel.

Guess what shipped on time?

Yep.

This is the sort of project PHP excels at. And it's exactly the kind that still crops up constantly in fast-moving companies.

So why does PHP get such a bad rap?

Here’s a short list:

• It was everyone’s first backend language in the late 2000s—and everyone writes terrible code when they’re 19.
• It got bloated with WordPress plugin hell and spaghetti-code CMSes.
• It wasn’t "enterprisey" enough for the Java crowd, or "sexy" enough for the Node/Go/Rust startup scene.

But here’s the thing: PHP has grown up.

Modern PHP (v8.x) with frameworks like Laravel or Symfony is clean, fast, and perfectly capable of supporting real-world applications. It's not winning any Hacker News cool points, but it's punching above its weight on speed, stability, and developer happiness—if you know how to use it right.

The 5 Projects Where PHP Still Slaps

Before you dismiss it, ask: what are we building?

Here are five cases where PHP might be not just acceptable—but ideal.

1. Content-Heavy Sites

Think blogs, corporate sites, landing pages, or anything CMS-driven. If your team is non-technical and wants to manage content easily, WordPress still dominates. There are slicker options, sure. But nothing beats WP's plugin ecosystem and editor-friendliness.

Need a custom CMS? Laravel + Filament or Statamic gets you there fast—with way less complexity than a headless stack.

2. Internal Tools

You know the kind. Vendor portals. Invoice trackers. Admin dashboards your customers never see. These don’t need React+GraphQL+Kubernetes. They need to work. Laravel Nova or Symfony EasyAdmin + a few well-placed seeders = problem solved.

We once built a fully functional customer support dashboard in 9 days using Laravel Breeze, some Tailwind, and zero caffeine. Okay, maybe a little caffeine.

3. APIs for MVPs

Early-stage startup? Trying to validate an idea before Series A? PHP lets you get an API up in days. Laravel Sanctum makes auth easy, Eloquent ORM is fast to model relationships, and deployment on shared hosting is still dirt cheap.

Bonus: your junior devs won’t need a PhD to debug things.

4. eCommerce

No, you don’t need a Shopify subscription for every side hustle. WooCommerce (built on PHP) is still a beast for small-to-mid-sized stores. If you’re building custom storefronts or B2B order systems, Laravel’s ecosystem has you covered—from payment gateways to stock management.

We helped a client scale their Laravel-based merch store to 20K orders/month before they ever needed to replatform.

5. Migration Projects

Already on PHP? Don't rewrite. Modernize. We’ve seen companies spend a year moving to Node and… ending up with the same bugs, just written in different syntax. Laravel lets you upgrade your tech without a full rewrite—think better routing, cleaner templates, API support, and testability.

It’s like giving your dusty Corolla a turbo engine and a new coat of paint.

Where PHP Falls Flat on Its Face

Alright, let’s be honest about where not to use PHP—unless you enjoy pain.

Real-Time Apps

WebSockets? Multiplayer? Live dashboards with sub-second latency? Sure, PHP can do it. But so can a microwave oven if you try hard enough. Use Node, Go, Elixir—anything with event-driven guts.

Complex SPAs

If your frontend is already React/Angular-heavy, you probably want a backend that plays nicer with that mindset (Node, maybe even .NET). PHP’s strengths lie in full-stack delivery—HTML, logic, templating all-in-one. If you’re just slinging JSON back and forth, there are leaner options.

Hiring for Cool Factor

Want to attract young devs on Reddit or impress your hacker friends? PHP won’t help. A Rust-powered backend with gRPC and AI vector search might. This is shallow, but it’s real.

Code Smell: The PHP Version

Let’s talk about what bad PHP smells like, and how to avoid stepping in it.

Red Flags:

• mysql_query() usage in 2025. Friend, please.
• 4,000-line monolith functions.php files
• Mixing HTML and logic with no templating system
• Everything in one folder named includes
• No framework. Just “raw PHP” and vibes.

Better Path:

• Use Laravel (or Symfony if you like strong typing and longer onboarding).
• Follow MVC. Use services, repositories, and request validation.
• Avoid global state. Dependency injection is your friend.
• Write tests. Even basic ones.
• Deploy with Forge, Vapor, or Docker instead of FTP’ing files like it’s 2007.

Scorecard: Is PHP Right for You?

Here’s a quick gut-check chart to help you decide.

Reality Check: The Boring Stack Wins

There’s a reason so much of the web still runs on LAMP (Linux + Apache + MySQL + PHP). It's cheap, simple, and battle-tested. When you're not optimizing for scale or sex appeal, boring stacks win.

We’ve seen million-dollar apps built in PHP that were fast, secure, and maintainable. We’ve also seen half-million-dollar rewrites in Node that went nowhere because the team was chasing “cool” over “shippable.”

If you’ve got a problem to solve and PHP solves it quickly, use it. Then go have a drink.

Wrap-up: What We Learned

• PHP is a cockroach. You can’t kill it, and sometimes you shouldn’t.
• It excels at fast CRUD apps, internal tools, CMSes, and getting MVPs out the door.
• It’s not for real-time apps, ML pipelines, or impressing your dev circle on Discord.
• Modern frameworks like Laravel and Symfony have brought sanity, structure, and developer delight back to the PHP world.

Want a Laravel app shipped in 2 weeks with clean code, docs, and test coverage? Ping the 1985 crew. We still write PHP when it makes sense—and we write it well.

1. Is PHP still relevant for modern web development in 2025?
Yes, PHP remains highly relevant, especially for content-driven websites, internal tools, and MVPs. Modern frameworks like Laravel and Symfony have evolved to offer clean architecture, robust tooling, and rapid development. While it may not be trendy, PHP is still widely used and dependable.

2. When should I consider PHP over newer languages like Node.js or Go?
Choose PHP when you need to build quickly with limited resources, particularly for CMS-heavy sites, CRUD apps, or admin dashboards. PHP also makes sense if you're working with existing WordPress or Laravel infrastructure. For real-time apps or highly concurrent systems, consider alternatives.

3. What makes Laravel such a popular choice for PHP development?
Laravel brings structure, modern syntax, and powerful tools to PHP development. Features like Eloquent ORM, Blade templating, built-in authentication, and first-party packages for queues, jobs, and testing make Laravel an excellent choice for rapid and maintainable web app development.

4. Is PHP a good option for building APIs?
Yes, PHP (especially with Laravel or Slim) can be used to build clean and scalable APIs. Laravel’s built-in support for routing, middleware, request validation, and response formatting simplifies API development. However, for very high-throughput or event-driven APIs, languages like Go or Node.js might be more efficient.

5. How does PHP compare in terms of hosting and deployment?
PHP still dominates in cheap, accessible hosting. You can deploy a PHP app on shared hosting, VPS, or serverless platforms like Laravel Vapor. Tools like Laravel Forge make secure deployments easy without requiring complex DevOps skills, especially for smaller teams.

6. What are the common pitfalls of using PHP today?
Many teams misuse PHP by relying on legacy patterns like mixing HTML with logic, not using frameworks, or using outdated practices like direct mysql_query() calls. To avoid these, stick with modern PHP versions, use a reputable framework, and follow MVC principles.

7. Is PHP secure for building production web applications?
Yes, PHP can be secure if modern practices are followed. Laravel and Symfony include CSRF protection, input validation, encryption, and other best practices out of the box. Like any language, the real risk comes from developer negligence—not the language itself.

8. How easy is it to find PHP developers in the current market?
While PHP may not be hot among new grads, there’s still a large pool of experienced PHP developers, especially in countries like India, Eastern Europe, and parts of Southeast Asia. Hiring might be tougher if you're aiming to attract developers excited by the latest trends.

9. Can I modernize my old PHP application without a full rewrite?
Absolutely. If your app is built on older PHP or WordPress stacks, you can modernize incrementally by introducing frameworks like Laravel for new features, refactoring slowly, and upgrading PHP versions. This avoids the risk and cost of a full rewrite while still improving maintainability.

10. What types of businesses benefit most from PHP development?
SMBs, digital publishers, eCommerce brands, and enterprise teams with content-heavy platforms or internal tooling needs often benefit the most. PHP’s speed of development, low hosting costs, and developer availability make it a pragmatic choice for a wide range of businesses.