Laravel VS Slim Framework

Laravel is a full-stack PHP framework that can be integrated with powerful front-end frameworks such as React or Vue.js. With Laravel, you’ll be creating websites and apps that are scalable and capable of growth.

If you're planning to convert a backend server to an AI agent using function calling, avoid languages and frameworks that require developers to manually write JSON schemas, such as PHP Laravel and Java Spring RestDocs.

Using a full-stack framework with batteries-included, such as Wasp for JavaScript (React, Node.js, Prisma) or Laravel for PHP, takes the complexity out of piecing the different parts of the stack together. Since these frameworks are opinionated, they've chosen a set of tools that work well together, and the have the added benefit of doing a lot of work under-the-hood. In the end, the AI can focus on just the business logic of the app.

Laravel installed (version 8+ recommended)

I have been learning Laravel. If you read this article of mine you will recall I said I wouldn't reach for Laravel because I already use TYPO3. I had to walk back that statement when I realised while I have TYPO3, it is better suited to more involved projects.

I'll echo @ejs and say it depends, but I'm a huge fan of Laravel (https://laravel.com/)! The team recently released some updated starter kits (https://laravel.com/starter-kits) as well which are nice (Vue, React, and Livewire)

For the uninitiated, Laravel is an opinionated, "batteries included" stack that lets you get right to the meat of the application without spending time working on authentication, routing, html templating, and so much more.

There are also several (paid) resources the organization provides that allow you to get your app hosted pretty quickly (see Forge and Cloud).

If you want to explore Laravel further, check out its official site.

Laravel is a popular and respected open-source, free PHP programming language framework that is aimed at making development processes appealing without having to sacrifice quality. It uses an MVC (Model View Controller) pattern which makes the language more relatable and adaptable. It can also be regarded as a web application framework with expressive and elegant syntax that attempts to take the pain out of development by easing common tasks used in web projects and applications.

Lumen sneaks into our top four as Laravel’s little sibling, designed for microservices and APIs. It’s got a minimalist vibe, but here’s the tea: it’s basically Laravel Lite, carrying some of the same heft under the hood. While it’s fast for a Laravel offshoot, its performance lags behind true micro frameworks like Flight or Slim—check the TechEmpower benchmarks for proof.

Most people that know Laravel know the AppServiceProvider. I'm named it ModuleServiceProvider and only have the boot method. Because I'm going to use modules in the app directory I removed the Http/Controllers and Models directories. For this post I'm going to use a User module to demonstrate the folder structure.

Slim PHP is like that reliable friend who always shows up on time—minimalist, focused, and ready to handle your HTTP requests with finesse. It’s a micro framework kingpin, loved for its simplicity and flexibility, especially when crafting RESTful APIs. Slim 4 (the latest as of 2025) keeps things lean with no third-party dependencies out of the box, but it’s extensible enough to grow with your project.

Slim Framework

Slim is a micro PHP framework used for web development with 11.7k stars and 2k forks on GitHub. It has a simple and intuitive API development process. It is a micro-framework, meaning you only get a minimum of support for HTTP requests and forwarding requests to appropriate controllers. So the question is, why should you choose a micro-framework? Because it offers you flexibility and high extensibility.

Slim is very lightweight and has a similar API to Express https://github.com/slimphp/Slim

Yes, I've opened a ticket with Slim. I also saw it in a non-slim file (Pimple) so I don't think it is a Slim issue.https://github.com/slimphp/Slim/issues/2160

Sounds like part of Slim's RoutingResults. Which then is pretty much:

Switched from Python to PHP and now using Slim. Very happy with the move so far.

At my day job we needed to develop an API and I've never really tried to build one using vanilla PHP, but instead used frameworks such as CodeIgniter or Slim or just a simple file that would mimic the functionality of an API but not be a proper one. Also we had a requirement that we needed to have full control over the code so we were not supposed to use any of the pre built solutions because of that requirement.