Website Development

What are Some Popular PHP Frameworks and their Primary Features?

Looking to build a business website using a PHP framework? Here are some of the most popular PHP frameworks and their primary features.

0 Apr 25, 2025

The process of developing websites has evolved over the years and at present it has become a complex and demanding procedure. To save time and minimize in the website development process, developers now highly rely on some popular PHP frameworks for building different types of websites. You should know the reason why the PHP language is widely used to create a website and how a PHP framework helps with the security.

A PHP framework is a set of pre-built tools and libraries that are designed to simplify the process of developing websites and web applications using the PHP programming language.

If you are looking to build a business website using PHP and wondering which framework would be the best, here in this post, we will have a detailed discussion on the most popular PHP frameworks and their primary features. Read on for further information.

Top popular PHP Frameworks Used in Website Development

Here are some of the most popular PHP frameworks used in website development and their features:

Laravel

Released in 2011, Laravel is one of the best and most popular, open source, free, PHP frameworks that enable developers to build fully customizable web applications. Many top companies such as Pfizer, Tour Rader, and BBC use Laravel as their server-side scripting language. Laravel is popular among developers owing to its ability to handle complex web applications.

Laravel has an impressive number of in-built libraries, significantly simplifying the website development process.

Key Features of Laravel

Fully secure and scalable
Gives access to active community support
Comes with built-in features
Supports MVC architecture

CodeIgniter

Another lightweight and popular PHP framework is CodeIgniter. Released in 2006, this PHP framework comes with the smallest footprints and is perfect for handling errors and creating dynamic websites. This PHP framework offers pre-built modules that help to create reusable and powerful components. It has a library with a simple interface and requires a logical structure to access it.

Key Features of CodeIgniter

Lightweight framework
Enables excellent documentation
Promotes quicker page loads
Comes with built-in security features

Symphony

Released in 2005, Symphony is a popular PHP framework ideal for large scale corporate applications. What makes this framework exceptional is that developers can deploy it within a single click. Drupal8, eZ, Open Sky, publish etc are some of the popular projects that use this PHP framework. Symphony offers extensive libraries and components that make it the first choice of many developers. If you are looking to create flexible and feature-rich web applications, you should consider using symphony as it enables integration with other vendor libraries.

Key Features of Symphony

Equipped with built-in debugging
Highly flexible and customizable
Independent from database engine
A comprehensive testing framework that offers excellent documentation

Phalcon

Phalcon was released in 2012. It is a flexible PHP full-stack framework based on C and C++ development style. It offers advanced development features such as asset management, universal autoloader, and caching. If you are looking to create seamless web applications, Phalcon would be a perfect choice. The Proshore, Urban Sports Club, Edureka are some of the companies to use this PHP framework.

Key Features of Phalcon

Offers exceptional performance
Based on the programming language C
Supports PostgreSQL, SQLite, and MySQL
Gives access to an active and dedicated library

Laminas (Formerly Zend)

Formerly known as Zend Framework, Laminas is an open source PHP framework that was released in the year 2006. The extensive component library offered by this framework enables developers to choose only the necessary component, eliminating unnecessary overheads. This PHP framework is customizable and unlike other frameworks, can integrate with external libraries. Top companies such as Google, IBM, and Microsoft use this PHP framework.

Key Features of Laminas

Equipped with MVC architecture
Integrates with external libraries
Offers extensive database support
Prioritizes security and speed

Conclusion

PHP frameworks play a very significant role in the development of websites and web applications. By choosing the right PHP framework, you can build a functional website or web application for your business that is secure, flexible, customizable, and offers impressive speed.

At Originate Soft, we develop modern, highly functional, and user-friendly websites and applications using top PHP framework, providing website owners complete control over the features and functionalities. If you are looking to build a functional and successful business website using a PHP framework, our expert team is here to help. Connect with us today to discuss further.

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