Laravel version upgrade, zero downtime, no surprises.

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. 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.

Three reasons. First, 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 in February 2025. Second, performance: newer Laravel versions ship significant performance improvements, particularly with Octane, Vite, and improved query builder. Third, ecosystem: newer Laravel packages and Composer dependencies require newer Laravel versions, so staying outdated cuts you off from the ecosystem and makes hiring harder.

A single version upgrade (Laravel 11 to 12, Laravel 10 to 11) on a healthy codebase typically takes 1 to 3 weeks. A two version jump (Laravel 9 to 11, Laravel 10 to 12) takes 3 to 6 weeks because intermediate breaking changes accumulate. A larger jump (Laravel 8 to 11 or 12, Laravel 7 to 11) takes 6 to 12 weeks and is essentially a migration project. Older applications (Laravel 5.x, 6.x) sometimes benefit from a strangler fig migration rather than a direct upgrade. We share a concrete timeline after the upgrade audit.

A focused single version Laravel upgrade typically costs $4,000 to $12,000 for a small to mid sized application with a clean dependency tree. A two version jump (Laravel 9 to 11) on a mid sized application runs $10,000 to $25,000. A larger jump (Laravel 8 to 11, Laravel 7 to 11) typically costs $20,000 to $60,000 depending on application size, package dependencies, and custom code coverage. Dedicated Laravel upgrade engineers 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. Zero downtime Laravel upgrades are our default approach. The upgrade work happens on a parallel branch with full regression testing in staging. Production cutover uses a blue green deployment or rolling deployment through Forge or Vapor, with database migrations carefully designed to be backward compatible during the cutover window. Queue workers, scheduled jobs, and webhook receivers are all considered in the cutover plan so the application never appears down to users or integrations.

Both. Laravel Shift is an excellent automated tool that handles the mechanical parts of a Laravel upgrade (config file changes, namespace updates, deprecation fixes) and we use it as the starting point for most upgrades. Manual engineering work then handles the parts Shift cannot fully automate: third party package updates, custom code that uses deprecated APIs, business logic regressions, and integration testing. Shift reduces upgrade time significantly but does not replace senior engineering judgement on breaking changes.

The Composer dependency tree is usually the hardest part of a Laravel upgrade. Some third party packages have not been updated to support the target Laravel version and need replacement, patching, or temporary forking. Custom packages built in house need direct refactoring. Our upgrade audit catalogues every package, its current version, the target Laravel compatible version, and a recommended action (update, replace, patch, or remove). The dependency plan is signed off before the upgrade work starts so there are no surprises mid project.

Not if the upgrade is done properly. Every Laravel upgrade we ship includes a regression test pass on Pest or PHPUnit, manual QA on critical user journeys, performance verification at expected production traffic, and a rollback plan ready before cutover. If your application has no test coverage today, we typically write critical path tests as part of the upgrade engagement, because shipping a major version change without tests is genuinely risky. Post upgrade monitoring through Pulse and Sentry catches anything that slipped through QA.

For most applications, Laravel 11 LTS is the right target. It receives security patches until 2027, which gives a long runway before the next upgrade is needed. Laravel 12 is the current stable version with active feature releases but a shorter support window. Pick Laravel 12 if you need a specific feature only available there, or if you upgrade Laravel frequently and want to stay on the latest. Pick Laravel 11 LTS if you want to upgrade once and not think about it again for two plus years.

Yes. PHP runtime upgrades are often bundled with Laravel upgrades because Laravel version requirements determine the minimum PHP version. We handle PHP 7.4 to 8.3, PHP 8.0 to 8.4, and similar runtime upgrades as part of the engagement. This includes Composer constraint updates, deprecated PHP syntax cleanup, type hint modernisation, and runtime configuration updates on the deployment infrastructure. The PHP upgrade is sequenced before or alongside the Laravel upgrade depending on the specific path.