Laravel version upgrade, zero downtime, no surprises.
Laravel upgrade services covering Laravel 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 upgrades to Laravel 11 LTS or Laravel 12. Dependency audit, breaking change handling, regression testing, performance verification, and zero downtime production cutover led by Official Laravel Partner engineers who upgrade applications week after week.
- Full Laravel version upgrade paths (Laravel 8 to 11, Laravel 9 to 12, etc)
- Dependency audit with package replacement plan signed off before work starts
- Regression testing through Pest, manual QA, and load testing before cutover
- Zero downtime production cutover with rollback plan ready
Upgrade the framework. Keep the application running.
Laravel upgrade services, in plain terms.
Laravel upgrade services are the engineering work of moving a Laravel application from an older version to a newer one (for example Laravel 8 to 11, Laravel 9 to 12, or Laravel 10 to 12) while handling breaking changes, updating dependencies, fixing regressions, and verifying performance before production cutover.
The honest summary: a proper Laravel version upgrade is not a Composer command. It is a multi week project with dependency audit, regression testing, and staged rollout that protects production from surprises. We have run Laravel upgrades across every supported version path since Laravel 4, and the pattern repeats: the Composer command is the easy bit, the dependency tree and custom code are where time gets spent. Acquaint Softtech engineers handle 30 plus Laravel upgrades a year across fintech, healthcare, eCommerce, and SaaS clients.
Three reasons the upgrade matters.
Most teams put off Laravel upgrades because the application is working today and the upgrade has no immediate user facing benefit. That logic holds until it does not. Here is when the cost of staying on an old Laravel version exceeds the cost of upgrading.
Security: older Laravel versions stop receiving security patches after their support window ends, so unpatched CVEs accumulate. Laravel 9 reached end of life in February 2024. Laravel 10 stopped getting bug fixes in August 2024 and is no longer maintained. Running an unsupported Laravel version means accepting that vulnerabilities discovered today will never be patched in your codebase.
Performance: newer Laravel versions ship significant performance improvements, particularly with Laravel Octane, the rewritten Vite asset pipeline, and improved query builder optimisations. Laravel 11 and 12 are measurably faster than Laravel 8 or 9 on the same hardware.
Ecosystem: newer Laravel packages and Composer dependencies require newer Laravel versions, so staying on Laravel 8 or 9 cuts you off from Livewire 3, Filament 3, Nova 5, modern Sanctum, and most actively maintained packages. Hiring engineers for older Laravel versions also gets harder over time as the community moves forward.
Four common Laravel upgrade paths.
The path you should take depends on your current Laravel version, your target version, and how active your codebase is. Here are the four upgrade paths we handle most often, with realistic timelines and effort estimates.
Laravel 11 to 12 upgrade
Single version jump. The simplest upgrade we handle. Laravel 12 introduced minimal breaking changes from 11, so this is mostly a dependency refresh, deprecation cleanup, and regression test pass. Most applications upgrade in 1 to 2 weeks.
Laravel 10 to 11 or 12 upgrade
Single or two version jump. Laravel 11 restructured the app skeleton, simplified bootstrap files, and changed several defaults. Laravel 12 builds on that. Most Laravel 10 applications can upgrade in 2 to 4 weeks with dependency updates and config migrations.
Laravel 9 to 11 or 12 upgrade
Two or three version jump. Laravel 9 to 11 crosses the skeleton restructure and several breaking changes including Pennant introduction and middleware reorganisation. Most Laravel 9 applications take 4 to 8 weeks including dependency replacements and full regression testing.
Laravel 8 (or older) to 11 or 12
Large multi version jump. Laravel 8 to 11 crosses the most accumulated breaking changes, Composer dependency drift, and skeleton restructure. Older applications (Laravel 7 or 6) sometimes benefit from a strangler fig migration rather than a direct upgrade. Plan 6 to 12 weeks.
What about Laravel 5 or earlier? Applications running Laravel 5.x or 4.x are usually better served by a migration to modern Laravel rather than a direct upgrade, because the codebase typically has accumulated other modernisation needs (PHP 8.x runtime, modern Eloquent patterns, removed packages). The strangler fig pattern lets you migrate one route or feature at a time without a big bang cutover.
Everything a Laravel upgrade needs to land safely.
Not just running the Composer command. The full engineering toolkit that takes a Laravel version upgrade from audit to production cutover without surprises.
Upgrade audit & plan
Written audit covering current Laravel version, PHP runtime, Composer dependency tree, package compatibility, custom code health, and effort estimate per finding. Signed off before kick off.
Dependency replacement plan
Catalogue every Composer package, target version, recommended action (update, replace, patch, or remove). Abandoned packages identified with replacement candidates.
Laravel Shift integration
Laravel Shift used to handle mechanical parts (config files, namespace updates, deprecation fixes) where applicable. Manual engineering on top for the rest.
Breaking change refactoring
Custom code refactored for deprecated APIs, removed methods, changed return types, and structural framework changes (skeleton restructure, middleware reorganisation).
Regression test pass
Full Pest or PHPUnit test pass. Manual QA on critical user journeys. Integration tests with third party providers (payment, KYC, CRM) verified in sandbox. Test coverage extended where needed.
PHP runtime upgrade
PHP 8.0 to 8.4 runtime upgrade as part of the Laravel upgrade where needed. Composer constraints adjusted, deprecated PHP syntax cleaned up, type hints modernised.
Performance verification
Load testing through k6 at expected production traffic to verify the upgrade did not regress performance. Slow query analysis. Cache and queue worker health verified.
Zero downtime cutover
Blue green or rolling deployment through Forge or Vapor. Backward compatible database migrations. Rollback plan ready. Pulse and Sentry active during cutover.
Named senior engineers on every upgrade.
Our Laravel upgrade work is led by project managers who have shipped upgrades across every supported Laravel version path. The judgement on which packages to replace versus patch comes from doing this repeatedly.
Mayur Nandaniya
Project Manager, Migration & Upgrade Lead
Six steps from upgrade audit to production.
Audit first, never blind upgrade. Dependency plan signed off before code is touched. Upgrade work on a parallel branch with full regression testing. Zero downtime cutover with rollback ready.
Upgrade Audit
Read only review of the current Laravel version, PHP runtime, Composer dependency tree, package compatibility with target Laravel version, custom code health, and test coverage. Output is an upgrade plan with effort estimate signed off before kick off.
Dependency Plan & Shift Setup
Catalogue every Composer package, identify target versions, plan replacements for abandoned packages. Laravel Shift configured for the target version where applicable to handle mechanical changes.
Upgrade Branch Build
All upgrade work happens on a parallel branch. PHP runtime upgraded first, then Laravel core, then dependencies, then custom code refactored for deprecations and breaking changes.
Regression Testing
Full Pest or PHPUnit test pass. Manual QA on critical user journeys. Integration tests with third party providers verified in sandbox. Larastan static analysis on every PR.
Performance Verification
Load testing through k6 at expected production traffic to verify the upgrade did not regress performance. Slow query analysis. Cache and queue worker health verified before cutover.
Zero Downtime Cutover
Blue green or rolling deployment through Forge or Vapor. Backward compatible database migrations. Rollback plan ready. Pulse and Sentry monitoring active during and after cutover.
The tools we use for production Laravel upgrades.
Production tested across 30 plus Laravel upgrades per year. Mature, supported, and well documented across the Laravel ecosystem.
Laravel targets
Automation tools
Testing & QA
Deployment
Monitoring
Async & cache
A Laravel upgrade we shipped.
One detailed snapshot from upgrade work across our 1,300 plus delivered projects. Full case studies sit in our portfolio.
Healthcare SaaS Laravel 8 to 11 upgrade shipped with zero downtime over a single weekend cutover
"We had postponed the Laravel 8 to 11 upgrade for two years because every previous attempt with our in house team got abandoned mid project. Acquaint audited the codebase in two weeks, planned the dependency tree, and shipped the upgrade in nine weeks with a clean weekend cutover. We are finally on a supported Laravel version with security patches flowing again."
A US healthcare SaaS platform serving 4,000 plus clinic users had been running Laravel 8.x in production since 2020. The original engineering team had attempted the Laravel 8 to 10 upgrade twice and abandoned both attempts due to dependency conflicts and regression issues. Laravel 8 reached end of life in January 2023, and by 2025 the application had accumulated 23 known Composer dependency CVEs with no patches available. The platform stored PHI and was subject to HIPAA, so the security exposure was unacceptable. The internal team had three engineers but none had upgrade specialist experience across that many version jumps.
Two week upgrade audit identified 87 Composer packages with 14 abandoned (needing replacement), 39 needing major version bumps, and the rest requiring minor updates. Custom code audit identified 142 deprecated API calls across 60 plus controllers. Nine week upgrade engagement covering PHP 7.4 to 8.3 runtime bump first, then Laravel 8 to 11 in two staged jumps (8 to 10, then 10 to 11) to keep the dependency tree manageable. Laravel Shift handled mechanical changes. Manual refactoring covered custom code and replaced 14 abandoned packages with maintained alternatives. Full Pest test coverage extended from 38 percent to 71 percent during the engagement to cover critical patient data paths. Production cutover ran over a single weekend with a blue green deployment through Vapor, backward compatible database migrations, and Pulse plus Sentry monitoring throughout. Zero unplanned downtime, no patient data incidents, and the platform has been on Laravel 11 LTS receiving security patches since.
Three ways to engage on a Laravel upgrade.
Most clients run Fixed Price for the upgrade itself, then transition to a maintenance retainer to stay current on future Laravel releases rather than letting the next upgrade accumulate.
Dedicated Developer
- Full time, exclusive to your account
- 176 hours per month per engineer
- 5 day developer replacement clause
- Direct Slack and email access
Fixed Price Upgrade
- Upgrade audit, plan, build, QA, cutover
- Project lead, upgrade engineers, QA included
- Dependency replacement plan signed off
- Post cutover handover with runbook
Time & Material
- Hourly billing, weekly invoices
- Scale team up or down on demand
- Effective rate from $18 per hour long term
- Full transparency on hours worked
Questions teams ask before starting a web app project.
Cannot find your answer here? Speak directly to our team. No sales pitch.
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What is a Laravel web application?
A Laravel web application is a server rendered or hybrid web app built using the Laravel PHP framework. It can serve interactive dashboards, multi tenant SaaS products, customer portals, internal business systems, marketplace platforms, or anything that needs structured server side logic with a polished user interface. Laravel handles routing, database access, authentication, queues, real time events, and testing out of the box, so engineering teams ship faster than writing raw PHP and end up with code that is much easier to maintain over the years.
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How long does it take to build a web application with Laravel?
A focused MVP usually ships in 6 to 10 weeks with two engineers. A mid sized business application with several modules, third party integrations, and a polished admin lands in 3 to 5 months. Enterprise web platforms with multi tenancy, compliance work, and heavy custom logic typically run 6 to 12 months. The timeline depends on feature scope, decision speed, and how complete the specification is on day one. We share a week by week estimate after the discovery call.
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What types of web apps can be built with Laravel?
Almost any server backed web product. The common types we ship are multi tenant SaaS platforms, internal business systems, customer portals, marketplace and listing platforms, content management systems, fintech and payment backends, learning platforms, healthcare and telehealth tools, real time dashboards, and APIs that power mobile apps. Laravel scales from a single founder MVP all the way to enterprise grade systems running across multiple servers.
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Is Laravel suitable for large web applications?
Yes. Laravel is used in production by FedEx, Disney Hotstar, BBC, Razorpay, and Pfizer, all of which run very large web applications. For scale, we use queue workers with Horizon, Redis caching, read replicas, horizontal scaling on Forge or Vapor, and asynchronous job processing. We have shipped Laravel platforms serving 40,000 plus concurrent users and 80,000 plus loan applications per month on a single architecture.
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Does Laravel work for real time web applications?
Absolutely. Laravel ships with native real time support through Reverb (the official WebSocket server), broadcasting events through Pusher or Ably, and Livewire 3 for reactive UI without a separate SPA. Common real time features we build include live notifications, collaborative dashboards, chat, live order tracking, and presence indicators. For deeper real time work we pair Laravel with Livewire and Alpine.js. More on our Livewire development page.
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How much does Laravel web application development cost?
A focused Laravel web app MVP starts around $12,000 to $20,000. Most mid sized business apps land between $30,000 and $90,000. Enterprise platforms with multi tenancy, compliance, and integrations typically run $80,000 to $250,000. Dedicated Laravel 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.
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How do you scale a Laravel web application?
Scaling Laravel is well understood. We profile bottlenecks with Telescope and Pulse, move heavy work to queues processed by Horizon, cache aggressively with Redis, introduce read replicas for the database, and horizontally scale the application layer through Forge or Vapor. For very large workloads we add CDN caching, edge functions, and asynchronous event driven flows. We have taken Laravel applications from a 12 second cold start to sub second response times in three sprints.
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Web application vs website in Laravel, what is the difference?
A website is mostly informational with limited interactivity. A web application has logged in users, data that persists, business logic, and workflows. Both can be built with Laravel, but a web application uses Laravel's full strength (authentication, authorisation, database modelling, queues, events, real time, testing) while a website often runs on a much lighter setup. If you log in, perform actions, and the system remembers state, you are looking at a web application.
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Do you build greenfield web apps or also rebuild existing ones?
Both. Roughly 60 percent of our Laravel work is greenfield, where we take a fresh idea or specification and ship the first production version. The other 40 percent is replatform work, where we modernise legacy PHP or migrate from CodeIgniter, WordPress, or older Laravel versions. For replatform projects we maintain feature parity, run shadow testing, and cut over with zero data loss. More on our migration services page.
What teams usually pair with upgrades.
Laravel upgrades are rarely standalone. Most clients combine the upgrade with one or more of these.
Migration Services
WordPress, CodeIgniter, or legacy PHP migration to modern Laravel.
Maintenance & Support
SLA tier maintenance to stay current on future Laravel releases.
Laravel Consulting
Architecture review and audit before deciding on upgrade versus rewrite.
Custom Development
New feature work after the upgrade unlocks newer Laravel capabilities.
Livewire 3 Development
Migrating Livewire 2 frontends to Livewire 3 after Laravel upgrade.
Filament Development
Filament v2 to v3 admin panel upgrades alongside Laravel upgrade.
Laravel Development Cost
Pricing breakdown by project type, region, and engagement model.
All Laravel Services
Browse our full Laravel development service catalog.
India (Head Office)
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