⚡ PHP Backend Frameworks

PHP backend frameworks are built with the PHP language and are commonly designed around a synchronous request-response model optimized for traditional web servers.

They typically emphasize rapid development, tight integration with relational databases, broad compatibility with shared and managed hosting environments, and convention-based tooling for routing, templating, and form handling.

Statistics based on 3.3M+ analyzed websites. About this data

⭐ Most Popular in 2026

The following chart shows the leading PHP-based backend frameworks in 2026, based on market share.

The most popular is Laravel with a share of 11.2%, followed by CodeIgniter with 2.6% and Yii Framework with 2.5%.

🚀 Country Highlights

Here is a list of frameworks that are especially popular in certain countries.
Differences between global and country rankings are shown in parentheses.

✨ Best PHP Backend Frameworks

Below is a more detailed list of 13 PHP-based backend frameworks we track, ranked by their market share.

Available filters: PHP Python Java .NET Node.js Ruby Go
RankNameMarket share
1
Laravel
New York, United States

An open-source PHP backend framework that provides all features needed to build modern web applications such as routing, input validation, caching, queues, and file storage.

FreeOpen source
2
CodeIgniter
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

An open-source PHP full-stack web framework with small footprint, high performance, and minimal configuration setup.

FreeOpen source
3
Yii Framework
Chicago, Illinois, United States

An open-source, object-oriented, component-based MVC PHP web application framework.

FreeOpen source
4
Symfony
Clichy, Île-de-France, France

An open-source PHP web application framework and a set of reusable components designed to speed up the development and maintenance of web applications using best practices and high modularity.

FreeOpen source
5
Livewire
Buffalo, New York, United States

A full-stack framework for Laravel that allows developers to build dynamic user interface components using PHP and Blade templates without writing front-end JavaScript.

FreeOpen source
6
Nette

An open-source, component-based, MVC web framework for PHP 8.

FreeOpen source
7
CakePHP
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

A rapid development framework for PHP that uses MVC, front controller, associative data mapping and active record patterns to help developers build web applications faster.

FreeOpen source
8
ThinkPHP

A Chinese open-source, object-oriented web application framework based on PHP.

FreeOpen source
9
Flow

A PHP web application framework focused on Domain-Driven Design and clean code principles.

FreeOpen source
10
Fat-Free Framework

A lightweight PHP micro-framework designed for rapid development of web applications and APIs.

FreeOpen source
11
FuelPHP

An open-source, object-oriented, component-based MVC PHP web application framework.

FreeOpen source
12
Slim

An open-source, object-oriented PHP micro framework designed for rapid development of web applications and APIs.

FreeOpen source
13
Kohana

A deprecated open-source PHP framework that was last updated in 2016.

FreeOpen sourceLegacy

👉 See Also

🗃️ About This Data