A Guide to Choosing Between Laravel vs Symfony in 2024
When it comes to selecting a reliable and efficient web application framework for building web applications, the choice is crucial. Out of all the other PHP frameworks, Laravel development and Symfony stand out with regard to providing a reliable and robust web app.
Data sourced from BuiltWith states that 1,706,641 websites utilize Laravel, and 110,124 websites use Symfony, signifying the fame, performance, and extensive capabilities of these frameworks that have led developers to prefer them.
Choosing between these two frameworks can be tricky, as they each have several benefits. This guide offers an in-depth analysis of the PHP Laravel framework and Symfony, outlining their specific use cases. With a thorough breakdown of Laravel vs Symfony, this article can provide valuable insight to make an informed decision.
Let’s discuss.
What is Laravel?
A renowned open-source PHP web framework, Laravel, has been developed utilizing Symfony components and modeled around a professional MVC (model-view-controller) structure.
It comes with a modular packaging system and Composer, a dependency manager exclusively for Laravel that works with PHP.
Recognized globally by expert PHP developers, Laravel is renowned for its steady performance, powerful features, and customizability. It is the ideal PHP framework for any business.
Pros of Laravel:
- Laravel comes with an Artisan Command-Line Interface that helps to simplify the entire development process.
- Developers can use composer for installing an extensive package ecosystem.
- The PHP framework provides several built-in lightweight templates to the development project.
- Programmers have access to robust routing for mapping HTTP requests and also help define routes clear
- Laravel ensures quick elimination of bugs with automated testing
Cons of Laravel:
- Lacks handy support for microservices architecture
- Using independent libraries can complex the code
- Not suitable for for developing complex websites or apps
What is Symfony?
Developed by Fabien Potencier in October 2005, Symfony is an open-source PHP framework offering an array of reusable components for web development. It can be tailored to a developer’s needs by incorporating custom modules.
To get the most out of Symfony, one may opt for the MVC (Model View Controller) model; however, it does not have the same structure as a full-fledged MVC framework like Laravel. PHP Symfony was created to simplify coding and help expedite the web development process.
Pros of Symfony:
- Symfony can handle a large number of requests and offers in-built mechanisms for a faster response time.
- Developers have greater flexibility to tailor the code according to the latest project requirements.
- The framework comes with handy built-in security features like authentication & authorization
- It support the integration of several third-party databases and libraries
Cons of Symfony:
- Symfony suffers from a steep learning curve
- The configuration system is complex and requires significant time to understand the concepts
- Including several dependencies can make the code slower
When to choose Laravel or Symfony for your project?
Analyzing the Symfony vs Laravel comparison, you must be able to select the best framework for your project. If you’re uncertain which option to choose, let’s break it down and identify when each is most appropriate.
When to Opt for Laravel?
- When seeking a fast and efficient way to deploy web applications.
- If you want to tailor-made applications to your specific needs.
- Its Restful API development features further promote rapid and effortless application development.
- Ensuring code quality and modern syntax.
Brands using Laravel
When to Opt for Symfony?
- Cutting-edge framework to implement.
- An extremely flexible and scalable architecture.
- Suitable for long-term projects.
- It has the potential to enable faster development.
- Capable of easily integrating with other systems.
Brands using Symfony
Laravel vs Symfony: An In-Depth Comparison
Let’s compare Laravel and symfony based on various parameters and see how they stack up against each other.
- Popularity
In terms of popularity, Laravel developers hold a distinct advantage over Symfony. The former has a much larger user base than the latter. Laravel offers various online resources to aid its developers, such as the Laravel documentation, Laracast forum, Codebright, Treehouse, and Sitepoint. Similarly, Symfony has its official documentation page as the go-to support platform.
- Performance
When examining the performance of Laravel versus Symfony, it’s evident that Laravel outshines the Symfony framework with an impressive 60 millisecond response time compared to Symfony’s 250 millisecond load time. In terms of memory usage and processing speed, Symfony offers incredible performance. Nevertheless, Laravel still takes the win.
- Architecture
When it comes to architecture, Laravel adopts the Model-View-Controller (MVC) approach, while Symfony works with the MVC and Model-View-Controller-Entity (MVCE) architectural patterns. Symfony is more suitable for building efficient web apps due to its greater flexibility.
- Scalability and Modularity
Symfony’s versatile design allows it to be scaled to suit a project’s exact specifications. At the same time, Laravel can be managed through load balancing and route caching via Artisan command-line tool. As such, Symfony offers more customization potential than Laravel’s monolithic architecture.
- Database Support
Two of the leading PHP frameworks, Symfony and Laravel, both offer object-relational mapping (ORM). Symfony utilizes Doctrine for this, whereas Laravel has Eloquent for ORM management. When it comes to database support, Symfony offers MySQL, Drizzle, SAP Sybase SQL, and Oracle, while Laravel offers PostgreSQL, SQLServer, MySQL, and SQLite.
- Code Structure
When assessing code structure between Symfony and Laravel in PHP, Laravel development has the advantage of its convention over the configuration approach that is straightforward for developers to begin working with. Conversely, Symfony’s system necessitates a more demanding learning curve with its emphasis on separating different components.
- Learning Curve
Compared to Symfony, Laravel’s learning curve is significantly more accessible, with intuitive APIs aiding the development process. Additionally, its video support and extensive documentation serve to simplify the learning process further. On the other hand, Symfony offers developers a modular design that enables them to select the components which best fit their requirements, accompanied by comprehensive documentation.
- Templating Engine
Symfony leverages the Twig templating engine, known for its accessibility. On the other hand, a Laravel developer can take advantage of the Blade templating engine, which is robust and has a straightforward syntax. Despite these differences, each templating engine brings unique benefits, and how they access variables varies.
- Security
With the Laravel framework comes an encryption system built to safeguard data, whereas Symfony provides granular security settings to identify potential vulnerabilities early on in the development stage. Ultimately, both frameworks supply an excellent level of security, but Symfony offers an even higher level of detail and granularity in its protection. So, the Symfony vs Laravel debate highlights a significant level of security with either of the two options.
- Scaffolding Tools
Artisan, Laravel’s scaffolding tool, offers support for models, test controllers, and database migrations, while MakerBundle, Symfony’s scaffolding tool, enables testing, database migration, and security. Furthermore, Laravel’s in-built authentication systems facilitate the incorporation of functionality, and Symfony offers generators for creating entities and forms. Both frameworks provide effective tools for web development.
- Speed
Laravel streamlines the web development process by including valuable features and tools, such as the Artisan command-line interface. Symfony’s routing system and microservices have been engineered to enhance development speed further. Although both frameworks offer efficient performance, more intricate components are required in Symfony to get the most out of it.
Finishing Words
With all the available options of PHP frameworks, choosing the right one for your project’s particular needs can be a challenge. Although, Laravel has proven itself to be a great choice, allowing for quicker development, a vast support system, and great documentation.
Wise decisions begin with expert help, so why not hire a Laravel Developer? Our team is ready to help you succeed. Contact us today.