Laravel development is the fastest way we know to turn a business process into a reliable web application without reinventing the basics. Laravel gives you routing, an ORM, queues, scheduling, caching, mail, authentication and testing out of the box, with a consistent style that makes code readable years later. That lets the budget go into the parts that are unique to your business – the rules, workflows and integrations – instead of plumbing.
Contents
At CodeWiz we build custom Laravel applications, APIs and admin panels, design the databases behind them and implement authentication that is secure without being annoying. We also take over existing Laravel projects: upgrading old versions, untangling controllers that grew to thousands of lines and adding the tests that should have been there from the start.
This service is for companies that need a customer portal, booking or ordering system, internal tool, marketplace or SaaS product; for teams whose spreadsheets and email threads have become the real “system”; and for owners of Laravel applications that have become slow, fragile or stuck on an unsupported version.
For development, open-source tools are the default when they fit the job.
Custom Laravel Applications Built Around Your Business
Every Laravel application we build starts from the domain, not the framework: what the users do, which rules must never be broken, what happens when a payment fails or a supplier is late. The framework then gives us well-tested building blocks for each of those needs.
A development engagement starts from the system you already run.
What we build with Laravel
- Customer and partner portals with accounts, documents, orders and invoices.
- Booking, reservation and scheduling systems with availability rules and reminders.
- Internal tools and back offices that replace spreadsheets, often with a Filament admin panel.
- SaaS products with subscriptions, teams, roles and usage limits.
- Integration hubs that sync data between an online store, ERP, CRM and accounting software.
Architecture that stays maintainable
Controllers stay thin. Validation lives in Form Requests, authorization in Policies, and business operations in small, single-purpose Action classes that can be called from a controller, a queued job, an Artisan command or a test. Side effects such as emails or webhooks are triggered by events, so the core logic stays readable:
The development work stays in your repository and on your infrastructure.
final class PlaceOrder
{
public function __construct(private PaymentGateway $payments) {}
public function handle(Customer $customer, array $lines): Order
{
return DB::transaction(function () use ($customer, $lines) {
$order = $customer->orders()->create(['status' => 'pending']);
$order->lines()->createMany($lines);
$this->payments->authorize($order);
OrderPlaced::dispatch($order);
return $order;
});
}
}Slow work – PDF generation, imports, emails, calls to external APIs – runs in queues monitored with Laravel Horizon, and recurring tasks use the built-in scheduler instead of a pile of cron entries. For the interface we usually choose Livewire for admin-heavy applications and Inertia with Vue or React when the frontend is highly interactive. Every project gets automated tests with Pest, code style enforced by Laravel Pint and static analysis with Larastan in CI.
CodeWiz reviews development in production, not only in a demo.
Laravel API Development for Apps, Partners and Integrations
Laravel is an excellent foundation for APIs that serve a mobile app, a JavaScript frontend or external partners. A good API is predictable: consistent URLs, consistent error formats, stable versions and documentation that matches the code.
Decisions about development follow the business constraint that actually hurts.
How we build Laravel APIs
- API Resources shape every response, so database columns never leak directly and the format stays stable when the schema changes.
- Versioned routes (
/api/v1) so existing apps keep working while new features ship. - Sanctum tokens with abilities for first-party apps and partners, and OAuth2 with Passport when third parties need delegated access.
- Cursor pagination, filtering and sparse fieldsets for large collections.
- Idempotency keys on endpoints that create orders or payments, so a retry never creates a duplicate.
- Generated OpenAPI documentation with Scribe or Scramble, kept in sync automatically.
Route::middleware(['auth:sanctum', 'throttle:api'])
->prefix('v1')
->group(function () {
Route::apiResource('orders', OrderController::class);
});
class OrderResource extends JsonResource
{
public function toArray(Request $request): array
{
return [
'id' => $this->id,
'status' => $this->status,
'total_cents' => $this->total_cents,
'lines' => OrderLineResource::collection($this->whenLoaded('lines')),
'created_at' => $this->created_at->toIso8601String(),
];
}
}Laravel’s named rate limiters protect endpoints per user, token or IP – the principles are covered in our complete guide to API rate limiting. On the consuming side we wrap external APIs in dedicated client classes using Laravel’s HTTP client with timeouts, retries and faked responses in tests, so a slow supplier API cannot take your application down with it.
Handover for development includes the runbook your team will use.
Database Design for Laravel Applications
Most performance problems in Laravel applications are database problems: missing indexes, N+1 queries hidden behind Eloquent relationships, or a schema that made sense for the first feature and nobody revisited. Good database design is cheaper at the start than any amount of caching later.
Our approach
- A normalised schema with real foreign keys and constraints, so invalid data cannot get in even if a bug slips through.
- Money stored as integers in minor units, timestamps in UTC, and enums for statuses instead of free-text strings.
- Composite indexes designed for the actual queries, verified with
EXPLAINon realistic data volumes. - Eager loading by default and
Model::preventLazyLoading()in development, so N+1 queries fail loudly before they reach production. - Every change as a migration in Git, with zero-downtime patterns (add, backfill, switch, remove) for large tables.
Schema::create('orders', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->id();
$table->foreignId('customer_id')->constrained()->cascadeOnDelete();
$table->string('status', 20);
$table->unsignedBigInteger('total_cents');
$table->timestamps();
$table->index(['customer_id', 'status', 'created_at']);
});MySQL or PostgreSQL?
| Criterion | MySQL / MariaDB | PostgreSQL |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting availability | Everywhere, including shared and managed hosting | Widely available on VPS and managed cloud databases |
| JSON and advanced types | Good JSON support | Excellent: JSONB with indexes, arrays, ranges, custom types |
| Full-text and geo search | Basic full-text | Strong full-text, PostGIS for geospatial data |
| Typical Laravel fit | Classic business apps, stores, existing MySQL estates | Data-heavy SaaS, reporting, multi-tenant and geo features |
For multi-tenant SaaS we choose between a shared database with a tenant_id on every table (simple, cheap, enforced with global scopes) and a database per tenant (stronger isolation, easier per-customer backups, more operational work). When data grows beyond one server, partitioning and sharding come into play – see our guide on database sharding vs partitioning.
Laravel Authentication Systems and Access Control
Authentication is where shortcuts become security incidents. Laravel ships with excellent, audited building blocks; our job is to choose the right ones and wire them together correctly for your users.
| Package | What it does | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Starter kits (Livewire, Vue, React) | Ready-made login, registration, password reset and profile screens | A new application needs standard auth screens fast |
| Fortify | Headless auth backend: login, registration, 2FA, email verification | You want your own UI on a proven backend |
| Sanctum | SPA cookie auth and personal API tokens with abilities | Your own SPA or mobile app talks to your API |
| Passport | Full OAuth2 server | Third-party apps need delegated access to user data |
| Socialite | Login with Google, Microsoft, GitHub, Apple and others | Users should sign in with existing accounts |
What a complete authentication system includes
- Two-factor authentication with TOTP apps and recovery codes, and passkeys where the audience is ready for them.
- Single sign-on for companies: OpenID Connect with Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace or Keycloak, and SAML when an enterprise customer requires it.
- Roles and permissions with Policies, Gates and spatie/laravel-permission, including team- or tenant-scoped roles.
- Login throttling, secure session cookies, session invalidation on password change and a list of active devices.
- Audit logs of sign-ins and sensitive actions, which many B2B customers ask for during procurement.
The official Laravel authentication documentation is a good overview of how these pieces fit together.
The Laravel Ecosystem Tools We Rely On
- Horizon for queue monitoring, Pulse for application health and Telescope for local debugging.
- Reverb for self-hosted WebSockets – live notifications and dashboards without a paid service.
- Octane with FrankenPHP or Swoole when request volume justifies a long-running application server.
- Filament for admin panels and internal tools that would take weeks to build by hand.
- Scout with Typesense or Meilisearch when users need fast, typo-tolerant search.
- Pest, Pint and Larastan for tests, consistent style and static analysis on every pull request.
Upgrading and Rescuing Existing Laravel Projects
Many Laravel applications we see were built quickly, then left on an old version while the business kept growing. Older Laravel and PHP versions stop receiving security fixes, and every year without upgrades makes the next jump harder.
- We start with an audit: Laravel and PHP versions, abandoned packages, test coverage, slow queries and security issues.
- Upgrades go one major version at a time, with automated refactoring through Rector and a test suite written first for the critical paths.
- Oversized controllers and models are split gradually into actions, jobs and policies, without a risky full rewrite.
- The result is a supported framework version, a passing CI pipeline and a codebase new developers can work on.
Deploying and Hosting Laravel in Production
A Laravel application is more than a web server: it needs queue workers, the scheduler, a cache, often WebSockets and storage for uploads. We set up zero-downtime deployments with atomic releases, workers supervised by Supervisor or systemd, Redis for cache, sessions and queues, and S3-compatible storage for files. Depending on the project, that runs on a VPS managed through an open-source hosting panel, in Docker containers or on a managed cloud platform. Configuration caching, route caching and OPcache are part of every production deploy.
When Laravel Is the Right Choice – and When It Is Not
Laravel shines for business applications with real logic, users and data. It is not always the best tool:
- For a content-driven marketing site or blog, WordPress gives editors more out of the box.
- For a tiny API or a single-purpose microservice, a micro-framework such as Flight or Slim may be leaner.
- For heavy real-time workloads with thousands of persistent connections, a Node.js service alongside Laravel can be a better fit.
Because we work across all of these stacks, our recommendation is based on your requirements rather than on what we happen to sell.
How We Work
- Discovery: we map your users, processes, data and integrations, and review any existing code or spreadsheets the application should replace.
- Plan: we design the domain model, database schema, API contracts and authentication approach, and split the work into milestones.
- Build: we develop in short iterations with a staging environment you can click through every week.
- Test: automated feature and unit tests, load testing on critical endpoints and a security review of authentication and authorization.
- Launch: zero-downtime deployment, data migration from old systems, monitoring and error tracking from the first minute.
- Support: framework and dependency upgrades, new features and performance tuning as your usage grows.
Why CodeWiz
- Full-stack Laravel: backend, database, frontend, DevOps and hosting handled by the same team.
- Tailored solutions: we model your actual business rules instead of forcing them into a generic package.
- Open-source first: Laravel, Filament, Reverb, Redis and PostgreSQL keep licence costs at zero and your code portable.
- Performance and security from day one: indexes, queues, caching and hardened authentication are part of the build.
- Fair pricing: premium development without premium prices, from Banja Luka, working remotely with clients locally and internationally – read more about CodeWiz.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Laravel development cost?
It depends on the number of user roles, screens, integrations and how complex the business rules are. A focused internal tool is a much smaller project than a multi-tenant SaaS with billing and SSO. We provide a clear estimate broken into milestones after the discovery phase.
How long does it take to build a Laravel application?
A first usable version of a focused application often takes several weeks; larger platforms take a few months. We prefer launching a smaller version early and iterating, so you see value sooner and the roadmap is driven by real usage.
Is Laravel secure?
Laravel provides protection against SQL injection, cross-site scripting and CSRF by default, plus well-maintained authentication packages. Most security problems come from how an application is built – missing authorization checks, mass assignment, exposed debug mode – which is why we review these explicitly before launch.
Can you take over or upgrade our existing Laravel project?
Yes. We audit the code, add tests around critical features, upgrade Laravel and PHP step by step and clean up the architecture gradually, so the application keeps running throughout.
Laravel or Node.js for our backend?
Both are solid. Laravel is usually faster to develop for business applications with admin panels, forms and complex rules; Node.js fits real-time workloads and teams that work only in JavaScript. We build with both and often combine them.
Ready to Build Your Laravel Application?
Tell us about the process you want to automate or the application you need, and we will propose an architecture, milestones and an estimate. Contact us to start the conversation, or see the full scope of our Laravel development services.