WordPress vs Laravel

Comparing WordPress vs Laravel is complicated because both "platforms" have little in common except for their use of PHP. However, it’s essential to understand the differences between the two options to determine how you can build your next project.

In this blog, we’ll discuss who should use WordPress and Laravel. We’ll cover customization options, ease of use, security, and more. Let’s dive in!

It’s important to understand that WordPress and Laravel are two very different types of software. However, they are both ‘solutions’ that allow you to build websites and online applications.

WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) that allows you to build sites using visual tools. You’ll get access to a Block Editor that works similarly to page-building software and a dashboard with options for creating and managing content, user accounts, and more:

On paper, WordPress is a blogging platform. However, the CMS is incredibly versatile, so much so that 43% of all existing websites use it. Therefore, it’s suitable for everything from eCommerce stores to personal blogs.

If you use the open-source version of WordPress, you’re not even limited to a specific web host. You can set up the CMS on any server you like.

Laravel

Laravel is not a CMS but a “framework” for the PHP programming language. That’s the same language that powers WordPress. However, Laravel doesn’t offer any visual tools or dashboards to help you build a website.

With Laravel, you get a library of pre-programmed functions to assemble a website. That process takes place from a Command Line Interface (CLI) called Artisan.

To use Laravel, you need to know your way around PHP, even if you interact with the framework using a scripting language. While that process might sound complicated, using Laravel can be remarkably simple if you have a development background.

Laravel is not a ‘platform’ you can pick up without programming knowledge. If you don’t have a background in web development, WordPress is definitely the preferred option.

That doesn’t mean WordPress is only a platform for beginners, though. The CMS is incredibly customizable, and you can use it to develop websites with highly complex functionality.

WordPress vs Laravel PHP Framework: Ease of Use

While WordPress and Laravel offer such different experiences, we can compare how easy they are to use. Let’s start with WordPress.

WordPress

WordPress is easy to learn, even if you have no experience with web development. It can take some time to go from zero to a fully functional website. However, you’ll have an amazing wealth of resources and tutorials for the CMS. Combine those resources with an intuitive dashboard and WordPress is a beginner-friendly option:

Once you’ve gained some experience using WordPress, you should be able to create new pages and entire websites relatively quickly. You’ll practice using the Block Editor, know which plugins to use in certain situations, and get an idea of which themes you can use for different sites.

Laravel

If you don’t have a background in web development or experience using the command line, Laravel can be overwhelming. However, you don’t need to be a master programmer to use Laravel.

A basic understanding of PHP and CLI functionality should be more than enough to unlock Laravel’s potential:

Laravel offers extensive documentation to help you get started. For the best possible experience, we recommend checking out the Laracasts library. The library includes in-depth video tutorials to help you get started with Laravel. You’ll also learn how to use some of the many "packages" or pre-built features the framework offers.

If you want a "simple" installation, Laravel offers some starter kits that come with various features, including scaffolding (the basic structure for any Laravel app you create). You can use starter kits like Laravel Jetstream to deploy applications more quickly:

Undoubtedly, the learning curve for Laravel is steeper than for WordPress. But again, we’re talking about two options for web projects with completely different approaches. If you’re comfortable with the command line, you can set up a Laravel project on your server and start publishing pages within minutes.

WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Customization

Both Laravel and WordPress offer a wealth of customization options for any project you’re working on. Here’s how they compare:

WordPress

Most people customize WordPress using plugins and themes. Plugins are add-ons that can add new functionality to the CMS. Fortunately, there are thousands of plugins available to use, and many of them are free:

Plugins don’t just add new features to WordPress; they also let you change core aspects of how the CMS works. For example, if you don’t like the default Block Editor, you can replace it with a page builder plugin like Divi. With WordPress, you can develop almost any type of online project you can imagine.

If you have web development experience, you can also edit WordPress core code and create new plugins and themes. In short, every aspect of WordPress is customizable.

Laravel

With Laravel, you start every project from scratch and choose which dependencies and packages you want to use. This means that every website built with Laravel only includes features that are manually added:

The Laravel model means that each project has a unique set of features. With Laravel, you can add or remove any package since the framework uses a modular system.

While some packages can add a visual interface to your Laravel website, you should expect to perform most operations via the command line. This means you’ll need to understand Laravel syntax and feel comfortable managing a web project through commands.

WordPress vs Laravel PHP Framework: Themes and Templates

Many platforms offer themes and templates to customize your website’s style. Themes let you quickly try out new designs and improve your site’s appearance without coding. Here’s how WordPress and Laravel handle themes differently.

WordPress

As you may know, WordPress offers an extensive collection of themes, both free and premium. You can search for and install themes without leaving the dashboard and change options almost instantly:

And if you look beyond free options, many premium themes add new functionality to WordPress, such as page-building themes (like Divi ). The biggest challenge with themes is usually settling on an option, since there are so many.

You can fully customize every aspect of the themes you use. Additionally, you can edit page templates with the Block Editor in WordPress.

Laravel

Laravel uses the Blade templating engine by default. This lets you manually create layouts, which is more efficient than building pages from scratch. However, you’ll still need to code each section and element of your Blade templates.

Alternatively, you can use CSS preprocessors and frontend toolkits. One of the most popular options among Laravel users is Bootstrap:

Toolkits like Bootstrap support and offer themes. However, these are not specific to Laravel itself but to the preprocessor you’re using.

While the lack of a theming system may be a drawback for some, the open approach Laravel takes is quite appealing. Since you’re working with a framework, you’re free to use any frontend toolkit. As a result, you can choose from hundreds or thousands of templates if you take the time to set things up.

If you’re looking for Laravel templates, you’ll find some admin dashboard options. Note that Laravel doesn’t come with an admin panel or dashboard. However, you can build one and use Laravel templates to customize its style:

These templates usually require dependencies and frontend toolkits to work. Additionally, you’ll still need to configure Laravel to work with the template and display data through it (some packages can handle this).

WordPress vs Laravel PHP Framework: Publishing Tools

While Laravel isn’t necessarily a “publishing” platform, it can certainly fill that role with the right approach. Let’s talk about how WordPress and Laravel compare when it comes to publishing tools.

WordPress

Publishing posts and pages is at the heart of the WordPress experience. The CMS focuses on providing tools to easily create pages and blog posts. The Block Editor reflects that with its visual approach to page creation:

WordPress also offers functionality for managing posts. You can edit, update, and delete posts at any time. Even if you have a massive content library, WordPress makes it easy to manage.

Laravel

Laravel doesn’t come with built-in publishing tools. With the right packages, however, you can easily change that. Some Laravel packages focus on adding blogging and publishing functionality to the framework.

One example is Laravel Blog. This package adds a dashboard that looks like WordPress and a classic text editor for publishing new posts and pages:

The alternative is to manually code and publish pages. That’s a valid approach, but if you plan to run a blog that publishes content frequently, you’ll want to use packages to handle the workload more efficiently.

WordPress versus Laravel PHP Framework: Security

Protecting your website from attacks and securing user data is key to any modern website. Here’s how Laravel and WordPress compare when it comes to security.

WordPress

One of the biggest advantages of using WordPress is that the platform receives regular updates and security patches. If you keep WordPress itself, plus the themes and plugins you use, up to date, your site should be largely secure.

That said, there are plenty of extra steps you can take to further protect your site. Some plugins can help you implement features like Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). Additionally, you can whitelist IP addresses, use web hosts that offer advanced security features, and more.

Laravel

Laravel provides many pre-programmed security features that you can implement for your projects. These features aren’t enabled by default, meaning you’ll need to manually add them per project. They include:

• A user authentication system
• Protection against XSS attacks and SQL injections
• Email verification
• Password hashing and reset functionality

In addition to the pre-programmed functionality, Laravel also has packages to enhance security. Undoubtedly, Laravel is much more secure than most other PHP frameworks. However, there’s always more you can do to protect your site, so it’s essential to take a proactive approach.

WordPress versus Laravel PHP Framework: E-Commerce

Running an online store is one of the best ways to make money online. This section helps you decide which platform is best suited for the job.

WordPress

WordPress is a very user-friendly CMS for running an eCommerce store. Using the free WooCommerce plug-in, you can create a storefront, upload products, process payments and shipping, and more:

You can also use WooCommerce extensions to add extra functionality to your store, such as product filters and customer reviews. Since you control your store visually, it’s very easy to organize and sell your products.

Additionally, you can choose from other free and paid eCommerce plug-ins, such as Easy Digital Downloads. Overall, WordPress eCommerce is highly accessible.

Laravel

As we’ve explained earlier, Laravel works with packages. Some Laravel packages can add complex functionality to your projects, such as publishing tools and eCommerce systems.

E-commerce packages like Aimeos and GetCandy can help you set up complex online stores:

These eCommerce packages give you demonstrably more freedom than WooCommerce, as you can design more complex product, cart, and customer parameters. You’ll typically also get access to an admin hub to manage all your sales. As with most Laravel features, however, you’ll need developer experience to get the most out of eCommerce packages.

Conclusion

Laravel and WordPress take very different approaches to building a website. With WordPress, you get a CMS with visual tools to help you build and manage every aspect of your site. Laravel, on the other hand, is a PHP framework where you must rebuild projects from scratch using pre-built features and packages.

There’s no absolutely better option for building a website. If you’re an experienced programmer, you’ll likely appreciate Laravel for what it offers: an incredibly scalable and customizable framework that can adapt to your needs. On the other hand, WordPress works right out of the box, which can simplify and speed up some projects.

Do you have questions about using WordPress vs Laravel? Let’s discuss it in the comments below!

Featured image via Prabowo96 / shutterstock.com