We analyzed hundreds of hosting companies and selected those that are developer-friendly; provide high speed, performance, and scalability; and allow for custom configuration of servers.
Then we factored in expert and consumer ratings from our large database.
What Is Laravel?
Laravel hosting is a mechanism for deploying PHP applications over the internet. Laravel is based on the Model View Controller (MVC) design pattern, it allows you to create databases, manage PHP values, integrate Git, and run your web application in the best online environment.
Laravel modules provide all the core features that every web application needs, such as a database abstraction layer and user login.
Laravel takes this a step further and offers additional modules for commonly needed functionalities, including event listeners and the Laravel Cashier module for payment processing.
Even better, because Laravel uses Composer for package management, it is easy for developers to create, and for other developers to include generalized feature sets.
This is especially useful for software development teams building multiple apps in a related industry; domain-specific features can easily be modularized and included in multiple projects.
How To Choose a Laravel Web Host
There are multiple considerations and tasks involved in provisioning and managing servers and deploying your app optimally. Look for these factors as you choose a Laravel web host:
Deploy PHP apps fast with Forge: You can provision and manage cloud servers in seconds with Laravel’s Forge service. Log in to Forge and choose to deploy to Digital Ocean, Linode, Amazon Web Services (AWS), or Vultr. Or select “Custom VPS.” We provisioned a custom VPS server in under 60 seconds with a few clicks. Forge also enables you to have SSH keys added automatically to every server you create. And you can connect to GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket and push to deploy — straight from the Forge dashboard.
Laravel Vapor: Vapor is an AWS-powered serverless platform that offers fast scalability, and easy setup, and is designed to work seamlessly with Laravel.
MCrypt and databases: Laravel runs on PHP 8.0+ and requires a few extensions. Depending on the type of application you are building, you will need a database management system. The exact choice is up to you, although several are supported.
Server technology: Apache, NGINX, or a mix of the two, in our experience, offer the fastest and most secure results.
Why it's best: Provides high-performing servers with 20x faster performance than standard ones
A2 Hosting has a high-performance SwiftServer platform that allows you to host with their Turbo Servers for a faster speed. You can easily set up your Laravel software with a single click using Softaculous in your control panel. They constantly give updates when a new Laravel version becomes available, so you get the latest features and the most secure settings.
A2 Hosting is fully-equipped with reinforced distributed denial of service (DDoS) Protection that allows your site to remain online amidst DDoS attacks. Their Laravel Hosting starts at $2.99 monthly.
Pros and cons of A2 Hosting
Pros
Database backups
full refund within 30 days
Flexible hosting plans
Cons
Outdated interface design
No free domain
What customers are saying about A2 Hosting
A2 is a reliable, affordable hosting company that has fast speeds. The customer service is generally responsive but could use more updated tutorials and documentation.
Why it's best: Flexible VPS plans with custom-built infrastructure optimized for speed and reliability
Inmotion Hosting offers a 1-click Laravel installation with Softaculous. Their VPS plans are a good platform to host Laravel. They provide an in-house custom-built infrastructure, UltraStack, a unique hardware and software configuration optimized for speed and reliability, keeping your business online 24/7. It can handle intensive data workloads, demanding applications, and high-traffic websites. Pricing starts at $19.99 for Inmotion VPS plans.
Pros and cons of Inmotion Hosting
Pros
Free domain name for one year
Full lineup of hosting options
Dedication to open-source software
Cons
Datacenters are all US-based
No automatic backups
What customers are saying about Inmotion Hosting
Inmotion Hosting's high-performance hosting, support team, features, and customer service are well-liked. Prices are fair but can fluctuate.
Why it's best: Offers hosting plans flexibly designed for all types of businesses
Liquid Web offers high-performance Dedicated Servers for you to host Laravel. This host providesCDN and daily backups with guaranteed professional support to smoothly host your Laravel via their dedicated hosting plans.
You'll get single- and dual-processor Dedicated Servers where you choose between self-managed, core-managed, and fully managed depending on your support needs. The service comes with DDoS protection, Server Secure Advanced Security, and integrated firewalls. Their Dedicated Hosting plans start at $169 per month.
Pros and cons of Liquid Web
Pros
Free site migration
Supports site with unlimited visitors
Five-star customer support
Cons
High entry-level price
What customers are saying about Liquid Web
Liquid Web is known as one of the best hosting companies that allow you to easily host many websites. The tech support is open every day of the year, but there are some billing and customer service issues.
Why it's best: Scalable cloud hosting plans as your website expands and cloud servers have a great feature set.
Cloudways' Laravel hosting gives you the ease to launch applications in one click, reducing developers' load to install apps manually. They provide ready-made solutions to deploy applications effortlessly and help in improving Laravel app performance by providing pre-configured optimization tools including PHP-FPM, Supervisord, Redis & more others. With Cloudways, you can start hosting for free, their Premium plans start at $12 per month.
Pros and cons of Cloudways
Pros
Easy & Intuitive cPanel interface
Automatic backups
Fast servers designed for speed
Cons
CDN is not free
No domain registration
What customers are saying about Cloudways
Cloudways is a managed cloud services provider offering fast speeds as well as great customer service and pricing. The setup can be a bit hard, and there is no cPanel.
Laravel can run on shared hosting if your provider offers you the permissions you need to set it up. If that’s the case, you will need to compile the assets for your applications locally, then upload them to your hosting environment via FTP. However, Laravel developers report mixed results when trying to deploy to shared hosting. The bottom line is that Laravel isn’t designed to work on shared hosting. We believe it’s a better idea to use a VPS server for your Laravel projects.
Who uses Laravel?
In addition to being popular with individual developers and small-to-medium-sized businesses, Laravel is used by organizations like Pfizer (a pharmaceuticals company), the BBC (British Broadcasting Company), Invoice Ninja, Flarum.org (forums), October CMS, and 9GAG (an online platform and social media company).
How much does Laravel cost?
The Laravel framework is open-source and free to use. However, there will likely be ancillary costs for launching a Laravel project. Popular tools like Laravel Forge (deployment tool) and Laravel Vapor (for autoscaling) incur monthly fees. Remember to calculate your hosting costs. If you’re planning on hiring a developer, then obtain some estimates and add those to your calculations.
Which is better: Laravel or WordPress?
Whether or not Laravel is a better choice than WordPress depends on multiple factors, including the type of site you wish to build, the level of customization and functionality required, and the future plans for the website. For example, Laravel can be a wise choice for sites requiring future and/or complex customization. WordPress is a highly popular and easy-to-use CMS. But it can be challenging to maintain given the monolithic size of its code base. What are some alternatives to Laravel?
There are lots of PHP frameworks you could consider if you’re looking for an alternative to Laravel. Start your search by researching CodeIgniter, Symfony, Zend, Yii, Phalcon, FuelPHP, CakePHP, PHPixie, Slim, Aura, Kohana, and Flight. Medoo, POP PHP, Simple MVC, Fat-free, PHP Mini, Zikula, and YAF.