Laravel is a popular PHP framework that offers a set of tools and features for building web applications. One of the most critical aspects of developing a Laravel application is choosing a suitable hosting provider that can meet the requirements and expectations of your project. A website using Laravel is likely to have several dependencies depending on the complexity of the solution and what it offers. Only some hosting providers are set up to handle such dependencies; hence, it is essential for one to select the hosting provider for your Laravel project wisely.
A Laravel hosting provider is a customized and tailored web hosting service to support Laravel framework applications. These providers offer hosting solutions that cater to the specific requirements of Laravel-based websites or web applications. This article provides more information on the ideal hosting providers for Laravel.
Hosting providers for Laravel
Several hosting providers cater specifically to Laravel applications due to their compatibility with Laravel's requirements. Here are some recommended hosting providers:
A cloud hosting provider that offers fast and scalable servers with SSD storage, flexible pricing, and a user-friendly control panel. DigitalOcean also has a large community of developers and tutorials for Laravel. Besides this, it is well-known for its simplicity and developer-friendly environment; DigitalOcean offers Droplets (virtual private servers) that can be easily configured to host Laravel applications. The added benefit is that DigitalOcean has acquired CloudWays and all its features, too. This means they also offer Lincode, Vultr, AWS, and Google Cloud services.
A web hosting provider that offers advanced caching, optimization, and security features. SiteGround supports Laravel and other PHP frameworks with its custom control panel and SSH access. It is also known for its managed hosting services, and offers shared hosting plans suitable for hosting Laravel applications with good performance and support.
A web hosting provider that offers turbo servers with up to 20x faster performance, unlimited resources, and free SSL certificates. A2 Hosting supports Laravel and other PHP frameworks with its cPanel and Softaculous installer. It offers several shared and managed plans as well. It is beneficial when integrating Laravel with WordPress.
This dedicated hosting platform is designed specifically for Laravel applications. It simplifies server provisioning and management, providing easy deployment and scaling. It is a server management and application deployment service that removes all the complexity of deploying your Laravel solution.
AWS provides a wide range of services suitable for Laravel hosting, including EC2 instances for server hosting, RDS for databases, and S3 for storage.
Similar to DigitalOcean, Vultr offers scalable cloud computing instances that can easily host Laravel applications. It provides competitive pricing and a user-friendly interface.
Linode offers reliable and scalable cloud hosting solutions for hosting Laravel applications. It provides good performance and flexible server configurations.
Heroku is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) provider that supports PHP applications, including Laravel. It simplifies deployment but might require additional configurations for optimal Laravel hosting.
Tips To Select A Hosting Provider
It is likely you are wondering what makes a good Laravel hosting provider. When choosing a hosting provider for Laravel, consider factors such as server requirements, ease of deployment, scalability, performance, support, and budget to best fit your project's needs. Here are some of the main factors to consider when selecting your hosting provider:
Performance: Performance is crucial when choosing a hosting provider for Laravel. You want your website to load fast and handle high traffic without issues. A high-performing server is essential for optimal user experience and for the proper function of SEO.
Server resources: The specifications of the server, like the CPU, RAM, disk space, and bandwidth available for your website, matter. You should choose a hosting plan that meets or exceeds the minimum requirements for Laravel: PHP 8.1 or higher, a database system such as MySQL or PostgreSQL, and a web server such as Apache or Nginx.
Server location: The physical distance between your server and your visitors is a factor that affects the performance of your website. Choose a hosting provider with servers close to your target audience or that offers a content delivery network (CDN) to speed up the delivery of your static assets. The server's network bandwidth is also an essential factor to consider; the more significant the bandwidth, the faster the website will load. For example, 100MBps bandwidth will suffice for most websites. However, 1Gbps will ensure your website runs smoothly, especially if it includes a few advanced features.
Caching: The process of storing frequently accessed data in memory or on disk to reduce the load on your server and database. Laravel supports various caching systems like Redis, Memcached, or APCu. Choose a hosting provider that offers these caching options or has built-in caching features.
Optimization: The process of improving the performance of your website by reducing the size and number of requests, minifying and compressing your code, and using best practices for web development. Laravel provides many tools and packages for optimization, such as Laravel Mix, Laravel Horizon, and Laravel Telescope. Always select a hosting provider that supports these tools or has optimization features.
Reliability: Ensure the server you choose is reliable with a 99.9% uptime. This is a critical feature that is optional for a Laravel solution. There is the risk of losing customers if your website tends to be unreachable very often.
Shared hosting: Laravel can be hosted on a shared hosting server. Doing so will eliminate the need to manage the server as well. However, if you wish to avoid the hassle of having to manage a server, you also have the option of selecting DigitalOcean and Ploi. They offer the flexibility of a VPS, and at the same time, it is also easy to manage like a shared host.
Free hosting: There are several hosting providers offering free hosting services. However, there are better methods to host a Laravel solution than this one, and it should not be considered.
Ideal database: Laravel is compatible with several databases like MariaDB 10.3+, MySQL 5.7+, PostgreSQL 10.0+, SQLite 3.8.8+, and SQL Server 2017+. Each project has unique requirements, and hence, select the database that best suits your requirements. Ensure that the hosting provider you choose supports the database you need.
Conclusion
Providers like Laravel Forge, developed explicitly by the Laravel team, are notable for their focus on Laravel applications. However, other general hosting providers offer suitable environments and support for Laravel applications by allowing users to set up and manage Laravel projects.
When choosing a Laravel hosting provider, it's crucial to consider factors like server requirements, scalability, performance, support, ease of use, and pricing to ensure the hosting environment meets the needs of your Laravel application.
