Backendby Software Pro

PHP

The Web's Most Deployed Language, Modern, Fast, and Production-Proven

PHP powers 77% of the web including WordPress, Facebook's legacy stack, and Wikipedia. Modern PHP (8.x and Laravel) is a genuinely excellent language for content platforms, e-commerce backends, and API systems, with type safety, JIT compilation, and a mature ecosystem. We build PHP applications that are clean, performant, and built to last.

77%
Of all websites run PHP
PHP 8.3
JIT + fibers + types
Laravel
#1 PHP framework (GitHub stars)
Why PHP

Key Strengths

Where modern PHP 8.3 with Laravel or Symfony genuinely ships products faster than the JavaScript or Python equivalent.

Laravel's Expressive Elegance

Laravel is widely considered the best-designed web framework, with Eloquent ORM, Blade templates, Artisan CLI, and first-class queue support making it a joy to build with.

Hosting Universality

PHP runs on virtually every hosting provider on earth. From shared hosting to Kubernetes, deployment options are unmatched by any other server-side language.

WordPress and WooCommerce Ecosystem

PHP is the language of WordPress, which powers 40% of the web. Build custom plugins, themes, headless WordPress APIs, and WooCommerce extensions with PHP expertise.

PHP 8 Performance

PHP 8's JIT compiler brings 2 to 3 times performance improvements over PHP 7 in compute-heavy workloads. Modern PHP is fast.

Mature E-Commerce Stack

Magento, WooCommerce, OpenCart, and custom Laravel storefronts give PHP the most battle-tested e-commerce ecosystem available.

Octane for High Performance

Laravel Octane with Swoole or RoadRunner enables concurrent PHP handling with persistent application state, making PHP viable for real-time and high-throughput APIs.

Questions? We've Got Answers

Your PHP Modernization Questions, Answered.

Direct answers on how to modernize a legacy PHP codebase incrementally instead of getting trapped in a multi-year rewrite.

Featured Answer

How do you maintain and modernize a legacy PHP codebase without a full rewrite?

Incremental modernization works better than full rewrites for legacy PHP. Strangler fig patterns extract specific functionality into new services while leaving the legacy codebase intact. Database access can be modernized through ORM adoption without rewriting business logic. Modern PHP versions provide significant performance improvements without code changes when carefully tested. Tests and automation matter more than the language version. Full rewrites consistently underestimate the embedded business logic in legacy systems, leading to multi-year delays and budget overruns.

Schedule a PHP modernization consultation.

Talk to a PHP engineer
Production Use Cases

What We Build With PHP

Production PHP applications we have shipped: SaaS, e-commerce, headless WordPress, and enterprise admin platforms.

E-Commerce

Laravel and WooCommerce Storefronts

Build custom e-commerce platforms with Laravel or extend WooCommerce with bespoke plugins, handling catalog, cart, checkout, and fulfillment workflows.

Custom checkout flows
Payment gateway integrations
Headless WooCommerce + Next.js
Media

Headless WordPress CMS Platforms

Build editorial content systems with WordPress as a headless CMS, using the WP REST API or WPGraphQL to serve content to React/Next.js frontends.

WPGraphQL API layer
Custom Gutenberg blocks
Multi-site content networks
SaaS

Laravel SaaS Applications

Build multi-tenant SaaS with Laravel Spark or from scratch, with authentication, subscription billing, team management, and API access out of the box.

Stripe billing with Cashier
Multi-tenancy with stancl/tenancy
API token management
Enterprise

Legacy PHP Modernization

Migrate legacy PHP 5/7 monoliths to modern PHP 8 and Laravel architecture, improving security, performance, and developer experience without a full rewrite.

PHP 5 to 8 migration
SOLID refactoring
Test coverage from zero
Technical Profile

PHP at a Glance

An honest read on modern PHP 8.3 performance, scaling, and the workloads it handles best in production.

Hosting Ecosystem
Universal
Laravel DX
Excellent
Performance (PHP 8 + Octane)
Good
E-Commerce Ecosystem
Best-in-class
Legacy Code Risk
Manageable with modern PHP
Decision Guide

PHP is the right choice when:

Great fit for

WordPress/WooCommerce platforms and plugins
Content-heavy websites with broad hosting requirements
Laravel SaaS, fast to build and easy to maintain
E-commerce with Magento or custom storefront
Teams with existing PHP codebase to modernize

Consider alternatives when

High-concurrency real-time systems (use Node/Go)
ML/AI workloads (use Python)
New teams with no PHP context (consider Node/Python instead)
Ecosystem

PHP Stack & Integrations

The Laravel, Symfony, and broader PHP ecosystem we pair with PHP in shipped production applications.

Laravel
Framework
WordPress / WooCommerce
CMS / E-Commerce
MySQL / PostgreSQL
Database
Redis
Cache
Stripe / Cashier
Payments
Laravel Octane
Performance
Horizon (Queue)
Jobs
AWS S3
Storage
PHPUnit / Pest
Testing
Docker / Forge / Vapor
Deployment
Our Expertise

Software Pro's PHP Track Record

Headquartered in NYC, Software Pro ships PHP in production across FinTech, Healthcare, SaaS, and Enterprise clients, with real benchmarks, clean architectures, and zero shortcuts.

Laravel SaaS from MVP to 100K users
WooCommerce custom plugin and theme development
Headless WordPress with Next.js frontend
Legacy PHP 5/7 to PHP 8 and Laravel migration
High-performance PHP with Laravel Octane and Swoole
8000+
Projects Delivered
3000+
Clients Nationwide
200+
Engineers on Staff
5.0
Clutch Rating

PHP Development FAQs

Ready to Build with PHP?

Book a free 30-minute technical call. We'll review your stack, scope your project, and recommend the right PHP architecture for your goals.

No commitment · 24h response · NDA available

Digital Marketing Service