Laminas vs Phalcon vs Lumen: Which is The Best PHP Framework

Choosing a framework from the long list of popular ones is never easy. There are several things that you should be looking for when selecting a framework. This article will consider three of the most popular frameworks, Laminas, Phalcon, and Lumen, considering various factors, including popularity, community size, goals, sustainability, and support offered.

However, testing them out before incorporating them into your tech stack is the best way to make a decision. Read more about why you should choose each to narrow them down and test them.

Why Should You Use It?

A framework is a basic structure that helps streamline web application development.

The following are some reasons you might want to use a PHP framework:

Speed up the development process with access to application architecture, templates, and utility functionalities.
Other features like making your website or application more secure, as popular frameworks follow best security practices.
To avoid creating the wheel for every application and reduce the number of errors in your PHP code.
To facilitate teamwork, developers will already know what is necessary.

Now we go through the three frameworks mentioned and why you should select them.

1. Laminas

The open-source successor to Zend Framework, Laminas, is a fully functional object-oriented framework that is extendable due to features like inheritance and interfaces. It is implemented in PHP 7 and licensed under the New BSD Licence.

It was created using the Agile methodology, which enables you to provide business clients with applications of the highest caliber. It is highly customizable for developers looking to integrate project-specific functionalities and follows PHP best practices.

Reasons to Use It

To decide whether it is the best PHP framework, look over the reasons listed below.

Complex, enterprise-level projects are a perfect fit for it.
Some key features are MVC components, a simple cloud API, data encryption, and session management.
You can use just the components you want from this framework, and it can integrate with other PHP libraries.
It has a sizable community and comes with thorough documentation.

Cons

The disadvantages of using the Laminas framework include the following.

It is not meant for novice developers because of its heavy framework, which has large libraries, multiple components, and classes. Only experts can handle the code.
For experienced developers, many resources are available, but even the framework has features and components. However, only a few resources are open to beginners, so they require additional resources to become knowledgeable.
Many plugins on the market can help developers create better programs and empower programmers. Compared to the price of plugins for other frameworks, the Zend framework’s plugins continue to be expensive.
Due to the extensive documentation and the fact that it contains every single detail, it continues to be heavier than other frameworks. Developers occasionally find it very difficult to review all of the documents thoroughly.

2. Phalcon

Phalcon, a full-stack framework using the MVC web architecture design pattern, was initially created in C and C++ and released in 2012. It was developed by a group of developers, with Andres Gutierrez as their team head. Because it is delivered as a C-extension, you do not need to learn the C programming language. However, you can still benefit from the low-level performance optimization used in native applications.

Reasons to Use It

Check out the reasons listed below to help you decide it is the best PHP framework.

It is suitable for building highly configurable web applications that follow enterprise development best practices and is simple to install.
A universal autoloader, asset management, faster execution, and the highest level of security and caching are some key features.
Due to its practical memory usage, Phalcon optimizes performance compared to other web application frameworks.
On the downside, Phalcon developers patch bugs rather slowly, which might not meet your standards for high levels of security.

Cons

The disadvantages of using the framework include the following.

Lack of publicity and ignorance of Phalcon’s existence among programmers
No built-in plugin
Not to be run on shared hosts; complex and challenging installation.
Source code C
No Helpers (you would have to convert the raw PHP code to a security image, for instance).
A small community makes it impossible to find the solution to your problems or the answers to your inquiries.

3. Lumen

The Laravel community and Taylor Otwell jointly developed Lumen, a micro-framework. While Lumen is a lighter, quicker tool with more programmable routing parameters, Laravel is a full-stack framework. Despite using Laravel’s elegant syntax, it has fewer third-party integrations and no PHP template engine. This package provides a quicker router implementation than the one with Laravel.

Reasons to Use It

Check out the following reasons that will convince you to choose it for the best PHP framework.

Lumen is a lighter option if you are familiar with Laravel but don’t want to use a full MVC framework. You can still upgrade your Lumen application to Laravel if you choose to.
Lumen’s website states that they no longer recommend starting new projects with Lumen and instead suggest upgrading to Laravel to take advantage of its most recent performance improvements.
Lumen is a popular framework for building high-performance APIs and microservices with loose coupling.
Although Lumen has a quicker server response time, the Laravel framework is more configurable and flexible.
There is a sizable and vibrant community surrounding Lumen, which is still widely used.

Cons

The disadvantages of using the framework include the following.

It is a more compact version of Laravel and is restricted to working on particular solutions only.
The most significant disadvantage of why developers don’t choose more is that the framework encourages the creation of smaller apps.
It is heavily reliant on Laravel.

You can streamline the development process and decrease the workload by using a framework. Each framework differs in terms of its community, documentation, and supported databases, and each has strengths and weaknesses of its own.

As a result, selecting the best framework to use depends on various elements, including security, usability, scalability, and documentation. To begin, learn the specifications for the project or application you want to create. Choose the PHP framework that best suits your needs.

Interesting Links:

Top 12 PHP frameworks

More information about PHP frameworks

Rahil Kandamplayil

Hi, my name is Rahil. I work at YUHIRO Global and I help web agencies and software companies from Europe to build developer teams in India.