Modern PHP Development with Laravel and Symfony

PHP engagements are priced on seniority and framework specialization (senior Laravel engineers with DevOps overlap sit at the higher end) and on whether you need a dedicated developer or a project team. For project-based work, such as a Laravel API build or a WooCommerce customization, we scope fixed-price options during discovery. Legacy PHP modernization projects are typically time-and-materials given the uncertainty involved; most modernization programs fall in our Enterprise Modernization range of $200K+ over 6 to 12 months, depending on codebase size and test coverage starting point. For typical budgets and timelines, see our project cost estimator at codieshub.com/project-cost-estimation.

Yes, and a full rewrite is usually not the right answer. We use the strangler fig pattern: new functionality is built in modern PHP 8.x with tests, while legacy code is refactored incrementally behind stable interfaces. We start with a codebase audit (2–4 weeks) that maps the dependency graph, identifies the highest-risk components, and produces a prioritized modernization roadmap. This lets you continue shipping features while the underlying architecture improves. Most mid-size legacy PHP applications can be substantially modernized in 6–12 months without a feature freeze.

A Laravel API backend with authentication, RBAC, a relational data model, an admin panel (Filament or Nova), and basic reporting typically takes 10–16 weeks with a two-engineer team. Adding a React or Next.js frontend extends this by 6–10 weeks depending on UI complexity. We deliver working software in two-week sprints with staging deployments, so you're reviewing real functionality, not prototypes, from week two onward.

Our primary frameworks are Laravel 11 (the majority of our PHP greenfield work) and Symfony 7 (enterprise applications with complex dependency injection requirements). We also work with WordPress and WooCommerce for content-heavy and e-commerce projects. For tooling: PHPUnit and Pest for testing, PHPStan or Psalm for static analysis, Laravel Telescope and Debugbar for profiling, Horizon for queue monitoring, and Envoyer or Forge for zero-downtime deployment. All projects use Composer for dependency management and Docker for local and production parity.

We conduct PHP security reviews as either standalone engagements (typically 1–2 weeks) or as part of a modernization project. The most common vulnerabilities we find in legacy PHP codebases are: SQL injection via string-concatenated queries (often in old MySQL procedural code), stored XSS from unsanitized user input rendered in templates, insecure direct object references (sequential integer IDs exposed in URLs without authorization checks), and exposed .env files or debug pages on production servers. We remediate with parameterized queries via PDO, output escaping, authorization middleware, and a deployment checklist. All findings are documented with severity ratings and remediation evidence.