What is Laravel 9?

Laravel 9 is a version of the popular PHP framework Laravel, launched on 8th February 2022. At the time, it was the latest release, and it was notable because Laravel usually ships every six months, yet this update took about 1.5 years to arrive after Laravel 8 (September 2020), reflecting the scale of the changes it brought. 

One important update, though: Laravel 9 is no longer the latest version; the current version is Laravel 13 (March 2026), and Laravel 9 has reached end of life, so it no longer receives security fixes. Keeping apps on a supported version is part of the Laravel development services at Acquaint Softtech.

Laravel 9 introduced several notable changes, all listed in the official Laravel 9 release notes:

• Brand-new homepage design: with the release, the Laravel website also got a new and better look.

• New PHP requirement: Laravel 9 asks for PHP 8 as a bare minimum, because it requires Symfony 6.0, which in turn demands PHP 8.

• New query builder interface: the query builder interface has improved, giving a cleaner way to construct SQL queries.

• New design for routes:list: viewing large route lists in the console, a pain point in earlier versions, became much clearer.

Laravel now ships a major version every year, so Laravel 9 sits well back in the lineup. Here is how the versions compare, and what an upgrade might cost, broken down in the Laravel version upgrade cost in 2026:

No. Laravel 9 was a non-LTS release, so its bug fixes ended in 2023 and its security fixes ended in early 2024. Running Laravel 9 in production today means no official security patches, which is a real risk. If you must stay on it for now, extra care is essential, which is where Laravel maintenance and support from Acquaint Softtech help.

For most teams, yes. Moving off an unsupported version restores security updates and unlocks newer features and better performance. Handling that jump cleanly, from Laravel 9 to a current release, is exactly what Laravel upgrade services from Acquaint Softtech cover.

Upgrading is done step by step, updating dependencies, applying breaking changes, and testing thoroughly, ideally one major version at a time. The full process is walked through in the guide on how to upgrade your Laravel app from legacy versions to Laravel 12.

For older or heavily customised apps, a larger migration may be needed rather than a simple version bump. Acquaint Softtech handles that through Laravel migration services, moving legacy code onto a current, secure version safely.

What PHP version does Laravel 9 need? PHP 8 as a minimum. What is the latest Laravel version? Laravel 13, released in March 2026. Is Laravel 9 still supported? No, it has reached end of life. For large systems still on Laravel 9, a planned upgrade is a priority in Laravel enterprise development.

If your app is still on Laravel 9, the safest move is to plan an upgrade before security gaps become a problem. You can hire Laravel developers from Acquaint Softtech, an Official Laravel Partner, to audit your app, plan the upgrade path, and move you to a current, supported Laravel version with minimal disruption.

In short, Laravel 9 launched in February 2022 with useful changes like a PHP 8 minimum, an improved query builder, and a clearer routes:list, but it is no longer current and has reached end of life. Laravel 13 is now the latest version, so if your project is still on Laravel 9, the practical answer is to plan an upgrade to stay secure, supported, and ready for what comes next.