Back-end framework · in regular use
Laravel agency in Nice
The PHP framework we choose for a business application with an admin back-office and many business rules.
What we do with it
Laravel at our clients, concretely
Used with Filament on an electrical self-consumption monitoring tool, with Nova on a product configurator, and with Inertia on a client portal combining automated document reading and an internal social network.
The limits
When we recommend something else
For a pure API with no admin interface, FastAPI gives a leaner result.
Our work
Projects we delivered with Laravel
Paradigm
Platform for a Nice business centre: registered address, digitised mail, messaging and assistant.
Laravel: Application core: accounts, registered addresses, billing and job queues.
Read the Paradigm case studyHelioneo
Collective self-consumption platform: agreements, allocation keys, Enedis data and billing.
Laravel: Application and back office (Filament, Livewire) for managing operations.
Read the Helioneo case study
Method
How we bring Laravel into a project
We start by mapping out the data and the roles with your staff: who enters information, who approves it, who only reads it. That breakdown feeds straight into Laravel's Eloquent models and authorisation policies, written before the first screen exists. The repository is created in your name on day one, and the development environment runs in Docker containers that behave the same on every machine.
Business logic lives in dedicated action classes rather than in controllers or admin screens, so it can be tested on its own and reused from an API or a scheduled command. Long-running jobs such as file imports, PDF generation or outgoing emails go through Laravel's queues so they never slow the interface down. Pest or PHPUnit cover the business rules, and Larastan checks the code on every push in the continuous integration pipeline.
Deployment targets hosting set up under your own credentials, with database changes applied automatically and the option to roll back to the previous release. We deliver a README covering installation, scheduled tasks, the queues to monitor and configuration variables, then walk through it with whoever will look after the application.
For your business
What it changes in practice
For your users, a Laravel back-office means data entry and approval screens that follow the way you actually work, with separate permissions for each role. A new business rule, an extra field or an export requested by the accounts team can usually be added without reworking the application, because the framework already has a set place for each piece. Heavy processing runs in the background: a user starts an import, carries on working and gets a notification when it finishes.
For management, baseline security comes with the framework: forms protected against forged requests, hashed passwords and parameterised database queries. It therefore does not depend on every developer remembering it on every page. Hosting stays straightforward, since a standard PHP server is enough, which leaves a wide choice of providers. And because the code sits in a repository in your name, you can hand a one-off change to another developer without renegotiating access.
Our reading of it
What we take away from Laravel
Laravel earns its place when a project carries a lot of predictable plumbing: authentication, roles, transactional e-mail, scheduled jobs, an admin interface. All of it already exists and is configured rather than built, which keeps the budget on what actually sets you apart. The foundation stays modern PHP, so a large part of the market can pick it up.
Migrations describe the schema inside the repository, versioned like the rest of the code, so the staging and production databases stop diverging in silence. We connect it just as readily to MySQL, often imposed by the hosting, or to PostgreSQL when the data calls for stricter types and sharper queries. The framework’s risk is known and we watch it: it makes stacking community packages easy, and each one has to be maintained afterwards.
Decision guide
Should you choose Laravel?
Laravel or Symfony for an SME business application?
We recommend Laravel when the application centres on an admin back-office and a large set of business rules. Filament or Nova provide lists, forms and access rights without hand-writing every screen: we have used them on an electrical self-consumption monitoring tool and on a product configurator. Symfony makes more sense for a larger team that wants fine-grained control over each component. With one to three developers, Laravel cuts the amount of scaffolding code you have to maintain.
Laravel or FastAPI: which one suits our project?
It comes down to whether you need an admin interface. If your staff enter, approve or review data in a back-office, Laravel wins: authentication, roles, database migrations and management screens all live in one framework. If the project is only an API consumed by other software, with no management screens, FastAPI gives a leaner result. For mixed applications we start from Laravel and move heavy data processing into a separate Python service.
Will we find Laravel developers to extend the application later?
Yes. PHP remains one of the most widely used languages on the web, and Laravel is its most popular framework, so freelancers and agencies who work with it are easy to find across Europe. The framework's conventions dictate where routes, models, controllers and migrations live, which means a newcomer gets their bearings quickly. For an SME that is a practical safeguard: the application does not rely on one developer's memory or on a single supplier.
Client questions
What clients ask us about Laravel
What does maintaining a Laravel application cost?
Most of the cost lies in keeping up with releases. Laravel ships one major version a year, each with security fixes for a limited period, so steady upgrades are far cheaper than a large catch-up project after years of neglect. We estimate this work from the size of the application, the number of installed packages and the use of add-ons such as Filament or Nova, which follow their own release schedules.
Could another supplier take over our Laravel application?
Yes. The code follows conventions shared across the Laravel community, database changes are recorded in migration files and dependencies are listed in the Composer file. We hand over the code repository, hosting credentials and installation instructions. An outside Laravel developer can set the project up on their own machine and carry on developing it without going through us.
Can we move to Laravel from an old PHP site or an in-house application?
Yes, and staying within PHP makes the move easier. We work in stages: first taking over the existing database, then rebuilding the screens one module at a time while the old application stays in service until the new one is ready. Your users sign off each part before the switchover. The back-office is often migrated first, as Filament speeds up rebuilding it.
Can Laravel exchange data with our existing software (accounting, CRM, ERP)?
Yes, through their APIs where they exist. We write a separate connector for each system, with its credentials kept out of the code and a log of every exchange. Synchronisation runs as scheduled tasks or queued jobs, and a failure on the third-party side is flagged without blocking your users. Where a vendor only offers file exports, we automate the import and make clear that it is less reliable than an API.
Can we open part of the application to our customers or to a mobile app?
Yes. Laravel Sanctum exposes a secured API to a mobile app while reusing the back-office's models and authorisation rules, so each business rule is written only once. For a web client portal, Inertia pairs Laravel with a React or Vue interface without building a separate API; we used it that way on a client portal. Your customers' accounts stay walled off from your staff's, with their own permissions.
Going further
Laravel sits within our Software development
A technology does not make a project. The method around it decides the outcome: scoping, prototypes, short cycles, and a clean way out.
Neighbouring technologies
A Laravel project in mind?
The first conversation is free. We will tell you plainly whether this technology is the right one, and if not, which is.
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