When Was Laravel Released?

Laravel was first released on June 9, 2011. To make an advanced alternative to the CodeIgniter framework, Laravel was developed. Taylor Otwell, a software developer from the US, developed Laravel to make it more elegant and efficient while offering robust features and modern development practices.

Since its initial release in June 2011, Laravel has gained significant popularity within the PHP community. It continues to evolve, with the latest major version, Laravel 13, released on March 17, 2026. You can check the full, official release log in the Laravel release documentation.

Here is every major version and its release date, from 2011 to 2026, so you can find the one you are looking for quickly:

 If you would rather have a team handle a new build or an upgrade, Acquaint Softtech, an Official Laravel Partner, offers Laravel Development Services on the current version.

Laravel 1

The initial release of Laravel 1, released on June 9, 2011, built a foundation for building web applications using PHP. Being the initial release, it had a limited set of features compared to later versions of Laravel. Laravel 1 included built-in authentication and authorization support, Models, Eloquent ORM for database operations, a simple routing mechanism, Views, Sessions, and caching.

Laravel 1 release date: June 9, 2011

• Elegant syntax and developer-friendly experience

• MVC architecture

• Powerful and flexible routing system

• Blade templating engine

• Fluent database query builder (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite)

• Eloquent ORM

• Artisan CLI

• Authentication and authorization

• Configurable caching

• Input validation and error handling

• Security features (XSS protection, password hashing)

• Session management and testing support

• Localization and internationalization

• Integration with third-party libraries via Composer

Laravel 2

Laravel 2 was released in September 2011, an improved version of the initial release of Laravel 1. The second major release introduced support for controllers, making Version 2 fully MVC compliant, and added the Blade templating system. One limitation of this framework is that it does not support third-party modules.

Laravel 2 release date: September 2011

Database migrations for version-controlled schema changes

• Enhanced routing with named routes and route grouping

• Unit testing suite

• Enhanced security including input validation and XSS protection

• Additional helper functions

Laravel 3

Laravel 3 was released on February 22, 2012. Version 3 added many more features like Artisan, the Command Line Interface (CLI), along with database migrations, unit test integration, session and database drivers, Bundles, and support for handling events. Its stable release helped Laravel gain popularity and drew more developers to the framework.

Laravel 3 release date: February 22, 2012

• Modular structure for customization and extensibility

• Enhanced routing with more flexibility and control

• Database query builder for fluent, chainable interactions

• Bundles for packaging and sharing reusable code

• Enhanced error handling and logging

Laravel 4

Laravel 4 was a major release that brought significant improvements and new features. Laravel 4 was released in May 2013 and is also known by the codename Illuminate, marking the point where the framework was rebuilt around Composer packages.

Laravel 4 release date: May 28, 2013

• Composer integration for dependency management

• Enhanced routing with filters and named routes

• Enhanced authentication and security features

• Queueing system for background task processing

• Improved testing support with a dedicated suite

Laravel 5

Laravel 5 was introduced in February 2015 due to significant internal modifications, resulting in a decision to rename the upcoming release of Laravel 4.3. Laravel 5 introduced Laravel Homestead, Laravel Valet, Laravel Echo, and Laravel Broadcasting, and improved authentication, Artisan commands, the Blade engine, Eloquent ORM, Query Builder, and middleware.

Laravel 5 release date: February 4, 2015 (5.1: June 9, 2015; 5.2: December 21, 2015; 5.3: August 23, 2016; 5.4: January 24, 2017; 5.5: August 30, 2017; 5.6: January 7, 2018; 5.7: September 4, 2018; 5.8: February 26, 2019)

• Laravel Homestead and Valet

• Laravel Echo and Broadcasting

• Laravel Scheduler

• Events and Listeners

• Form Requests and improved middleware

• Database seeding and file storage API

• Array validation

Laravel 6

Laravel 6 was released on September 3, 2019, and introduced Laravel UI, Laravel Vapor compatibility, and Laravel Nova. It significantly improved Artisan commands, the Blade engine, Eloquent ORM, Query Builder, migrations, caching, localization, and task scheduling, and adopted semantic versioning.

Laravel 6 release date: September 3, 2019

• Semantic versioning

• Laravel Vapor compatibility

• Improved exceptions via Ignition

• Job middleware and lazy collections

• Eloquent subquery enhancements

• Laravel UI

Laravel 7

Laravel 7 was released on March 3, 2020, and introduced Laravel Sanctum and the Laravel HTTP Client. It improved Blade component tags, route caching, the queue system, events and listeners, Eloquent ORM, Query Builder, validation, and configuration caching.

Laravel 7 release date: March 3, 2020

• Laravel Sanctum

• Custom Eloquent casts

• Blade component tags

• Laravel HTTP Client

• Multiple mail drivers

• Route caching speed improvements

• CORS support

Laravel 8

Laravel 8 was released on September 8, 2020, and introduced Laravel Jetstream for scaffolding, model factory classes, migration squashing, job batching, improved rate limiting, dynamic Blade components, and time testing helpers, along with bug fixes and usability improvements.

Laravel 8 release date: September 8, 2020

• Laravel Jetstream

• Model factory classes

• Migration squashing

• Job batching

• Rate limiting improvements

• Dynamic Blade components

• Time testing helpers

Laravel 9

Laravel 9 was released on February 8, 2022, adding support for Symfony 6.0 components with Symfony Mailer, Flysystem 3.0, a new Eloquent accessor/mutator syntax, and a Laravel Scout database driver. Laravel 9 is the version most people mean when they ask when Laravel was released in 2022.

Laravel 9 release date: February 8, 2022

• Symfony Mailer and Flysystem 3.x support

• Improved Eloquent accessors and mutators

• Enum casting and implicit Enum bindings

• Full-text indexes and where clauses

• Laravel Scout database engine

• Laravel Breeze API scaffolding and Next.js starter kit

Laravel 10

Laravel 10, released on February 14, 2023, brought enhancements to its application skeleton methods, all of which support argument and return types. A developer-friendly abstraction layer was also introduced, simplifying starting and interacting with external processes.

Laravel 10 release date: February 14, 2023

• Laravel Pennant

• Process abstraction layer

• Test profiling

• Generator CLI prompts

Laravel 11

Laravel 11 was released on March 12, 2024. It focused on a slimmer, cleaner application structure, reducing boilerplate and default files, and introduced a streamlined configuration approach, health check routing, and per-second rate limiting.

Laravel 11 release date: March 12, 2024

• Slimmer application skeleton

• Streamlined configuration

• Health check routing

• Per-second rate limiting

• New Artisan make commands

Laravel 12

Laravel 12 was released on February 24, 2025, continuing the yearly release cycle. It carried forward Laravel 11's minimalist structure with refinements, new application starter kits, and updated dependencies. You can see the details in what's new in Laravel 12.

Laravel 12 release date: February 24, 2025

• New application starter kits

• Updated dependencies

• Refinements to the minimal structure

• Continued modern PHP support

Laravel 13

Laravel 13 is the current major version, released on March 17, 2026. It requires PHP 8.3 or newer and builds on recent releases with further refinements and modern, AI-ready tooling. For a walkthrough of what is new, see 10 Laravel 13 features every developer should know.

Laravel 13 release date: March 17, 2026

• Requires PHP 8.3 or newer

• Latest security and performance updates

• Modern, AI-ready tooling

• Continued yearly release cadence

Since early 2022, Laravel has followed a yearly major-release cycle, with a new version arriving in the first quarter of most years: Laravel 9 in 2022, 10 in 2023, 11 in 2024, 12 in 2025, and 13 in 2026. Each major release gets roughly eighteen months of bug fixes and two years of security fixes before end of life, which is why teams treat upgrades as routine Laravel Upgrade Services.

The most reliable sources for release dates are Laravel's own channels. New versions are announced on the official Laravel blog, and every version's changes are documented in the release notes, so those are the best places to confirm a date rather than relying on third-party pages.

If your app is on an older version, moving up is usually far smaller than a rewrite, because each yearly release is incremental. 5 reasons to upgrade to Laravel 13 explains what has changed and when the effort is worth it.

Apps stuck on Laravel 8 or 9 can still be brought forward safely. A staged approach, rather than a big-bang rewrite, keeps risk low, and dedicated Laravel Migration Services handle the version jumps, testing, and cutover for you.

Yes. With Laravel 13 released in March 2026 on modern PHP 8.3, the framework is far from outdated; a project that ships a fresh major version every year is the opposite. Its large, active community and steady release history make it a safe long-term choice, and teams that want to start on it can hire Laravel developers to get moving quickly.

This is really a language question rather than a like-for-like one. Laravel is a PHP framework, while Python relies on frameworks like Django and Flask. Both are mature and capable, and the better choice depends on your team's skills and the type of product you are building.

In short, Laravel was first released on June 9, 2011, and has grown through thirteen major versions to Laravel 13 on March 17, 2026. Whether you are starting fresh or upgrading an older version, Acquaint Softtech offers custom Laravel development on the latest release.