Laravel APIs that scale to millions of requests.

A Laravel API is a server side application built with the Laravel PHP framework that exposes data and business logic through HTTP endpoints (REST) or a typed query language (GraphQL). It is the backend that powers mobile apps, single page web apps, partner integrations, IoT devices, and microservices. Laravel ships with everything an API needs out of the box, including routing, validation, authentication through Sanctum or Passport, rate limiting, queue processing, real time events, and testing.

Both work well in Laravel. Pick REST when consumers are diverse (mobile apps, third parties, partners), endpoints map naturally to resources, and caching at the HTTP layer matters. Pick GraphQL when a single client (usually a web or mobile app) needs flexible queries, you want to avoid over fetching, and a typed schema is valuable for the team. We build REST with Laravel's native resources and Sanctum, and GraphQL through Lighthouse. Most real projects use REST. About 20 percent of our API work is GraphQL.

Our process is six steps. One, discovery and architecture (endpoint inventory, auth model, data shape). Two, OpenAPI specification and database schema sign off. Three, build in feature branches with Pest tests on every endpoint and Larastan static analysis. Four, integration and load testing on staging. Five, deploy through Forge, Vapor, or GitHub Actions with versioning and rate limiting. Six, post launch monitoring with Pulse, Telescope, and SLA support.

Sanctum is Laravel's default lightweight option for SPA authentication, mobile app tokens, and simple machine to machine API keys. Passport is the heavier full OAuth 2.0 server you reach for when you need third party developer access (think your customers building apps on your API) with scopes, refresh tokens, and authorisation code flow. For most apps Sanctum is enough. We choose Passport only when the product genuinely needs an OAuth provider role.

A focused REST API for a mobile app (auth, 20 to 30 endpoints, basic admin) typically ships in 4 to 8 weeks. A full product API with complex business logic, third party integrations, GraphQL layer, or partner facing endpoints usually runs 2 to 4 months. Enterprise APIs with compliance, SLA, and high availability requirements typically take 4 to 8 months. We share a week by week estimate after the discovery call.

A simple Laravel REST API starts around $8,000 to $15,000. Most mid sized API projects with auth, business logic, third party integrations, and documentation land between $20,000 and $60,000. Enterprise APIs with GraphQL, partner access, rate limiting, audit logs, and SLA backed support typically run $60,000 to $150,000. Dedicated Laravel API developers at Acquaint Softtech start at $22 per hour or $3,200 per month full time. A full breakdown sits on our Laravel development cost page.

Yes. We have shipped Laravel APIs handling 80,000 plus loan applications per month with sub 120ms P95 latency. The standard scaling toolkit is Redis caching for hot data, queue workers through Horizon for heavy work, read replicas at the database layer, horizontal application scaling on Forge or Vapor, CDN at the edge, and rate limiting per token. For very high traffic systems we add CloudFront, asynchronous job processing, and circuit breakers for downstream services.

Every Laravel API we ship comes with OpenAPI 3.1 specification, auto generated from the codebase using Scribe or L5 Swagger. The spec is hosted at /docs on the API itself and exported as a static Postman collection. For GraphQL APIs, the schema is the documentation, browsable through GraphiQL or Apollo Studio. We also write a short integration guide for partners covering auth, rate limits, error codes, and webhooks where relevant.

Yes. We build integrations with payment processors (Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay), CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot), accounting tools (QuickBooks, Xero), messaging (Twilio, SendGrid), KYC and identity (Onfido, Veriff), and any system that offers an API or webhook. More on our Laravel integration services page.

Yes, completely. Source code ownership and IP transfer terms are agreed in writing before kick off, the NDA is signed before any project discussions, and the repository is yours from commit one. There are no surprise licence fees later, no usage limits, and no white labelled dependencies that lock you in.