PHP
Open SourcePHP is a popular general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to web development.
Published 29 May 2026 · Last updated 27 September 2026
Scores
Popularity2/5
Legacy-heavy language running much of the web; declining new project adoption.
Learning Curve3/5
Basic PHP is approachable, but modern typed PHP and async patterns take deliberate effort.
Flexibility4/5
General-purpose language usable with any framework or none; highly composable.
Performance3/5
Modern PHP performance is respectable; results vary widely by framework and configuration.
Portability4/5
General-purpose language; skills and code transfer across the PHP ecosystem and beyond.
About PHP
PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a general-purpose scripting language designed primarily for web development and first released in 1994. It runs on the server, can be embedded directly in HTML, and outputs dynamic pages, the model behind WordPress, Wikipedia, and the majority of websites whose server-side language is known.
The PHP 8 series modernised the language substantially. It added a JIT compiler, union types, match expressions, named arguments, attributes, enums, and readonly properties; PHP 8.4 brought property hooks and asymmetric visibility, and PHP 8.5 added the pipe operator. Written with strict types and a modern framework, PHP is a maintainable choice for large applications, and the PHP Foundation funds core development.
Composer is the dependency manager and Packagist its package registry. The dominant frameworks are Laravel, the most popular modern PHP framework, and Symfony, a component library that Laravel itself builds on, with lighter options such as CodeIgniter and Slim. PHP runs on virtually every shared hosting plan as well as in containers and with application servers like FrankenPHP and RoadRunner, which keep the app in memory between requests.
The language is free and open source under the PHP License, with a new minor version each year and two years of active support per release.
Key Features
- Embeddable directly in HTML for server-side templating
- JIT compiler, enums, readonly properties, and strict typing in PHP 8
- Property hooks (8.4) and the pipe operator (8.5)
- Native database drivers for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and more via PDO
- Composer and Packagist for dependency management
- Runs on almost any web host, from shared hosting to containers
- Major frameworks: Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter
Pros
- Available on virtually every web hosting provider, with very cheap hosting options
- Simple deployment model: each request starts fresh, with no long-running process to manage
- Huge talent pool and extensive documentation on php.net
- Laravel and Symfony are mature, productive frameworks
- Steady yearly releases with modern language features
Cons
- Inconsistent standard library naming from its early history
- Loose typing by default can hide bugs unless strict types are enabled
- Slower than compiled languages for CPU-intensive work
- Limited native multithreading and async compared with Go or Node.js
- Rarely used outside web development
PHP Pricing
Open SourceTech Stacks with PHP
HTMX + Laravel
ProjectA PHP stack combining Laravel's Blade templating with HTMX for dynamic interactions. Server returns Blade-rendered HTML fragments that HTMX swaps into the page. Familiar territory for PHP developers wanting modern interactivity.
Laravel Starter
ProjectPHP web application built with Laravel, the batteries-included framework, with Blade templates.
Tools Related to PHP
Works well with PHP(1)
PHP applications are the core use case for Hostinger's shared hosting plans, with LiteSpeed and NVMe SSD providing fast execution for PHP workloads including WordPress and Laravel.
Integrates with PHP(3)
PHP's mysqli extension and PDO_MySQL driver connect to MariaDB transparently; MariaDB is the default database in many PHP-based Linux server stacks, replacing MySQL in Debian and Ubuntu system packages.
PHP ships with the mysqli extension and PDO_MySQL driver built in; MySQL was co-designed with PHP as part of the LAMP stack and remains the canonical PHP database choice in shared hosting environments.
PHP bundles the SQLite3 and PDO_SQLITE extensions and enables them by default, so a PHP app can open a SQLite database file without installing anything else.
Frameworks built on PHP(1)
Laravel is a PHP web application framework with elegant syntax.
Tools that require PHP(2)
WooCommerce is a PHP plugin that requires WordPress to function.
WordPress is written in PHP and needs a PHP runtime on the server to render pages and run plugins and themes.
Alternatives to PHP(4)
Go is a modern compiled language for services; PHP is a scripting language historically dominant in web — different ecosystems.
Both web-focused languages; PHP has a larger web footprint (WordPress/Drupal), Ruby is known for Rails and developer productivity.
PHP is web-dominant (WordPress, Laravel); Python leads in data/ML and general scripting — both are scripting languages with different primary ecosystems.
Java is a compiled OOP language for backend/Android; PHP is a web scripting language — rarely interchangeable, very different ecosystems.