Laravel vs CakePHP vs CodeIgniter – Discover The Best PHP Framework

In the IT industry, PHP is one of the popular server-side scripting languages. It is often in the limelight for many reasons. Moreover, the Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is one of the oldest programming languages and has been around for more than two decades.

Although some say and believe that PHP is dead, the statistics speak completely opposite “there are approx. 4,532,971 active PHP websites”. In addition, the PHP frameworks have made the development process way much easier. There are many frameworks in PHP such as Laravel, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, etc.

Framework – A set of web development tools that provides a layout to build a web application or solution. This is like a structure intended to serve as a support or guide to building a digital web or app solution.

Since there is often a debate about which is the best PHP framework among Laravel vs CakePHP vs CodeIgniter, we will help you discover the best framework based on your business requirements.

Let’s get started!

Laravel Overview

Laravel is the most popular and trending PHP framework nowadays. This framework allows developers to focus on the core fundamentals of the project along with agile development methodology. As a result, many businesses (small-scale to enterprise-level) prefer to hire Laravel developers to achieve organizational goals effectively.

Laravel is an open-source framework which means it is cost-effective. The framework has a very unique architecture to design the infrastructure based on the project requirements. In addition, developers can save and reuse code in the Laravel database. This makes the development process fast, simple, and smooth.

Main Benefits of Laravel

Check below some major benefits of Laravel technology for businesses;

Dependency Management – Laravel, being the most trending framework of PHP has some great features such as dependency management. This characteristic allows web developers to learn contemporary web apps to better understand the service container (IoC) functionality. IoC is a strong instrument, especially used to manage class dependencies. The dependency injection is either removing or injecting hard-coded courses via a composer-like instrument.

Eloquent ORM – The Laravel framework of PHP has support for Eloquent ORM (Object Relational Model). This feature allows developers to work with databases efficiently and effortlessly.

Authentication – In every modern web application, authentication is an important component. For a developer, writing authentication in other PHP frameworks consumes a lot of time and effort. However, Laravel has a box authentication scheme using an easy command.

Routing – The routing feature in Laravel is simple to comprehend. This allows developers to create restful applications easily in no time. In addition, developers can create search engine-friendly URLs. These routes are very flexible and controlled easily.

Security – Laravel is one of the best frameworks when it comes to high security. It offers a secure web development environment. As it saves all the passwords as a hash. Laravel uses BCrypt for SQL injection attack safety and escapes all user entries to prevent script tags from rejection.

CakePHP Overview

CakePHP is a popular open-source PHP framework distributed under an MIT license. This framework allows developers to build fast and robust solutions. This is why businesses across the world tend to hire CakePHP developers.

CakePHP helps to create powerful solutions by following a simple web development process. By using CakePHP, developers can create dynamic and complex projects/solutions effortlessly. CakePHP is a powerful framework; it’s crammed up with numerous classes and features that assist to diminish the time of development and increase productivity on web applications.

Main Benefits of CakePHP Technology

Here we discuss below the CakePHP benefits;

MVC Pattern – The Model-View-Controller architecture in the CakePHP framework targets modern programming requirements. So developers work in a new pattern in various aspects of a database model.

CRUD Scaffolding – This feature is a must to run basic functionalities in databases like Create, Read, Update and Delete. CakePHP framework helps developers in advanced filters in databases to get complete control over production dynamics.

Built-In Validation – It allows developers to built-in validation for the flow of entities, validation methods, and features to ease the development process.

Extend With Plugins – The new feature in CakePHP allows to easily modularize an app for ever-changing requirements. As a result, developers can reuse code and build on existing facilities by extending programs with a wide range of new features.

Auto-Detect – CakePHP framework runs on the Autodetect feature. This means no configuration is required until there isn’t any need for additional fixing or installation.

CodeIgniter Overview

CodeIgniter is another open-source web framework in PHP. This was primarily used to modify the HMVC (Hierarchical Model–View–Controller). Thus, it allows developers to arrange controllers, views, and models in modular groups. In the IT sector, CodeIgniter is suitable for developing dynamic websites as it offers numerous modules that help to construct robust and reusable components.

Compared to other PHP frameworks, CodeIgniter is popular for its high speed and quick responsiveness. Consequently, the demand to hire CodeIgniter developers has been drastically increasing. The best advantage of this PHP framework is that it sanctions the plugins of third-party and helps in complex functionalities. It also has a great data encryption procedure and security format.

Benefits of Using CodeIgniter Technology

Let’s discuss the benefits of CodeIgniter technology below;

Bugs & Errors – The CodeIgniter framework in PHP helps to create robust web solutions along with great functionality. As it is very easy to detect bugs and errors that may inhibit web operations.

Plethora of Tools – Although CodeIgniter has limited database support, it provides default relational databases like MySQL or PostgreSQL with its own ORM tool. So there are many tools for developers to help them in the development process.

Engaging User Interface – CodeIgniter offers the best features to create engaging UI (user interface) to develop attractive and powerful web solutions. However, this doesn’t affect the functionality of the website.

Easy Development – Since there isn’t any template engine, most code(s) are written in PHP. This means developers can very easily build quick solutions efficiently and effortlessly.

SEO-Friendly – CodeIgniter is one of the most SEO-friendly PHP frameworks. So a business doesn’t need to worry about digital marketing when opting for PHP development services with the CodeIgniter framework.

Things To Consider Before Selecting The Right PHP Framework

There are numerous PHP frameworks available in the market to choose from including Laravel, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, etc. Therefore, it is often difficult to pick the right framework because of its availability.

A framework plays a vital role in the development process as it provides a basic structure to streamline web development. Additionally, frameworks fasten and simplify the entire development process. As a matter of fact, web development frameworks are necessary to get quick solutions.

In case, you’re looking for skilled and experienced PHP developers who are a pro in each framework, then opt for offshore development for reliable and robust solutions. There are many benefits of hiring offshore developers such as reduced overhead costs, fast TAT (turnaround time), technology expertise, etc.

Project Need – To select the right and best framework, it is necessary to know and understand the project requirements correctly. For instance – when project needs are basic, the choice of framework would be different. On the contrary, if a project requires custom development, the choice would be completely different.

Robust Architecture – In PHP most frameworks implement MVC (Model-View-Controller) design pattern. While choosing the right framework, developers need to check on the rigidness.

Database Access – The most common reason to use frameworks is to re-use the database access. A framework helps to eliminate irrelevant tasks and fasten the development process.

Performance Support – The most effective and affordable way to enhance web performance is caching. In PHP development, developers store the static data in a cache to save time and improve overall performance.

Authentication – Although authentication is required on some web pages, it is important to check the data or information has been provided to the right person (on the claim). So choose a framework that has a built-in authentication feature for quick and better outcomes.

Security – In the digital world, online threats are very common. To make the PHP solutions secure and safe from any vulnerabilities, pick a framework with robust mechanisms.

Documentation & Community Support – When choosing a framework, always check the documentation and community support for a better learning curve and help in need.

Comparison of PHP Frameworks: Laravel vs CakePHP vs CodeIgniter

Discover the best PHP framework among Laravel vs CakePHP vs CodeIgniter with the below-mentioned comparison table.

Features	Laravel	CakePHP	CodeIgniter
Latest Version	8	4	4.1
Requirements	PHP 7.3+	PHP 7.2+	PHP 7.4+
ORM	Eloquent ORM	Active Records	Gas ORM
Template System	Blade, PHP, Custom	Custom	PHP, Simple template parser
CRUD Generation	Allow using a third-party package	Yes	Allow using a third-party package
Database Model	Object-Oriented	Object-Relational-Document-Oriented	Relational Object-Oriented
Supported VCS	Git Subversion	Git Subversion	Git Subversion GitHub
Multiple Databases	Yes	Yes	Yes
Security	Xss, Xsrf, SQL Injection, Auth Module	Xss, Xsrf, SQL Injection, Auth Mode	Built-in Xss, Xsrf, SQL injection
Structure & Updates	MVC Structure File	Strict Methodological approach like ROR	MVC Model & Easy On-boarding
Developer & User Community	Largest Community	Medium Community	Big Community

Final Takeaway

PHP is one of the oldest yet most popular programming languages. Each framework in PHP comes with some pros and cons. Moreover, every project is unique. So it is important to choose the right PHP framework to get the best outcomes. To help you find the most suitable web framework in PHP, we have mentioned all the details above.

Still, if you’re in a dilemma and unable to pick the framework between “Laravel vs CakePHP vs CodeIgniter”, then reach out to a reputed web development company.