PHP Development Company for Scalable, Business-Critical Web Applications

PHP is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development, in php.net’s own words, and its code runs on the server, so the browser receives only the HTML it generates. This section draws that request path, groups the ten PHP development services above, charts how long each PHP version is supported, and sets out how the work runs, what lands on your side of the table, which kind of build suits which job, how to hire dedicated PHP developers, what moves the cost, and what to ask any PHP application development company, including us.

On this page

• What PHP is, and where the code runs
• PHP web application development services, grouped by what they change
• How long each PHP version is supported
• How a PHP build runs, step by step
• What lands on your side of the table
• A PHP framework, a CMS or a custom build: which suits the job
• Four ways to hire dedicated PHP developers, compared
• What moves the cost of PHP development
• How to compare PHP and web application development companies
• PHP development questions, answered
• More about PHP development
• Talk to our engineers

What PHP is, and where the code runs

php.net names three things server-side scripting needs: the PHP parser, as a CGI or a server module, a web server, and a web browser. The code is executed on the server, generating HTML which is then sent to the client, so the browser receives the result of running the script without knowing the code that produced it.

PHP web application development services, grouped by what they change

The ten PHP development services above fall into three kinds of work. Every line below uses the service’s own wording from this page.

How long each PHP version is supported

This page’s migration service upgrades outdated PHP versions to modern, supported releases, and php.net publishes what supported means. On its Supported Versions page, each release branch is fully supported for two years from its initial stable release, with reported bugs and security issues fixed, then supported for two more years for critical security issues only. After those four years the branch reaches its end of life and is no longer supported.

How a PHP build runs, step by step

The seven steps are this page’s own PHP development methodology, shortened.

1. Requirement analysisBusiness goals, technical requirements, features, workflows, integrations, performance needs and timelines.
2. Planning and designA development plan of milestones, delivery phases and responsibilities, with wireframes, architecture and database structure.
3. DevelopmentCoding from approved designs to established standards, with suitable frameworks and libraries, typically iterative.
4. Testing and quality assuranceFunctional, usability, performance and compatibility testing of each module.
5. Deployment and launchConfiguration, performance optimization and security hardening on the chosen hosting or server environment.
6. Support and maintenanceIssues addressed, updates applied, performance improved and security maintained after launch.
7. Collaboration and communicationRegular progress updates and review checkpoints throughout the lifecycle.

The cadence under every step is the one published on our about page: two week sprints, so working software arrives every two weeks, and a first production release typically lands in three to six months.

What lands on your side of the table

The six items below are published on our software development services page, and none of them is specific to one language.

• The repository and the cloud accounts, in your name from the first commit.
• A written scope and a costed roadmap, before any build starts.
• Working software every two weeks, not a status report about software.
• Architecture and a security posture you can put in front of a reviewer.
• Infrastructure your own engineers can run once we hand it over.
• Monitoring, maintenance and a roadmap after launch, priced up front.

A PHP framework, a CMS or a custom build: which suits the job

This page sells all three. What each is for comes from this page’s own service descriptions; where each goes wrong comes from the build, buy or configure section of our custom software development page.

For WordPress specifically, its own project describes it as built on PHP and MariaDB and licensed under the GPLv2, on WordPress.org.

Laravel, Symfony or CodeIgniter, in their makers' words

Three of the PHP frameworks named above describe themselves this way on their own sites:

• Laravel: "a framework for building modern web apps and AI agents" (laravel.com).
• Symfony: "a web framework and a set of reusable PHP packages to build web applications, APIs, microservices and CLI apps" (symfony.com).
• CodeIgniter: "the small framework with powerful features" (codeigniter.com).

Which one suits a build depends on the size of the application and on what your team already maintains. The comparison above sets out when a framework, a CMS or a custom build fits the job.

Four ways to hire dedicated PHP developers, compared

Sthenos sells PHP work in the four commercial shapes published on our software development services page. The table restates that page’s comparison.

For PHP development outsourcing under any of the four, settle the commercial terms in writing before the statement of work is signed: a ceiling on spend, the notice period, who owns the repository, what happens to the cloud accounts, and what counts as done. That holds whichever PHP software development company you engage.

What moves the cost of PHP development

Two published figures sit under every engagement model, both on our about page. The drivers under them carry no number, because a number without your scope attached to it is decoration.

• How settled the scope is. A settled scope can be quoted as a fixed price. An unsettled one priced as though it were settled is where the buffer, and the argument, comes from.
• The seniority and mix of the team. This is the stated reason the rate band has a range at all.
• How distinct the design has to be. A system built on a component library costs less than one drawn from scratch.
• The integration count, and whether the other side is documented. An integration into a modern documented API is routine. An integration into an undocumented system that somebody has to reverse engineer is a project of its own.
• Data migration. Reconciling the data, proving it moved correctly, and deciding what to do with the records that do not fit the new model.
• What happens after launch. Get deployment and maintenance priced up front, rather than sold back afterwards.

How to compare PHP and web application development companies

These questions apply to any of the PHP development companies on your shortlist, Sthenos included. The first rests on php.net’s published policy; the rest are published on our software development and custom software development pages for any vendor.

• Ask which PHP branch the application will run on, and when its security support ends. php.net publishes the dates for every supported branch.
• Ask what they have integrated with, by name and version. Experience with a platform and a completed integration against it are different claims.
• Ask what happens when the estimate is wrong. The answer tells you how the relationship will actually work.
• Ask who reviews the code, and whether that person can veto a merge.
• On testing, ask specifically what is automated and what is manual.
• Ask what documentation is a contractual deliverable, not what they promise to write.
• Ask which certifications are audited and which are self declared, then ask for the report date. Our about page lists what Sthenos does not hold, including a SOC 2 report and an ISO 27001 certificate.

PHP development questions, answered

How do we hire PHP developers through Sthenos?

Through one of the four shapes above. On our software development services page, staff augmentation adds engineers per person into your existing team, for when you have the plan and the management and need hands, and a dedicated team is priced monthly, per named engineer, for continuous product work over quarters. Our team augmentation page covers the first in detail.

What is PHP?

In php.net’s words, PHP, a recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. Its code is executed on the server, which generates the HTML the browser receives.

How long is a PHP version supported?

php.net supports each release branch fully for two years from its initial stable release, then for two more years for critical security issues only, after which the branch reaches its end of life. Read on 11 September 2026, the supported branches were 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5, with security support for 8.2 ending on 31 December 2026.

Should we use a PHP framework or a CMS?

This page describes frameworks such as Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter and Yii as the route to scalable and maintainable applications that are easy to extend, and content management systems such as WordPress, Drupal and Joomla as the route to content your teams publish, update and scale without technical dependency. The comparison above sets them beside a custom build.

How much does PHP development cost?

Sthenos rates are $150 to $250 per hour, depending on the seniority and mix of the team, and a typical project runs $50,000 to $200,000. Where the scope is clear we quote a fixed price for a defined outcome, with a costed roadmap before any build starts.

Who owns the code you write?

You do, entirely, from the first commit. The repository and the cloud accounts are in your name, with no licence back to us and no dependency on us continuing to exist.

How long does a PHP project take?

Sthenos works in two week sprints, so working software arrives every two weeks and a first production release typically lands in three to six months. A date more precise than that comes out of discovery, because it depends on scope rather than on goodwill.

More about PHP development

Services. Custom software development, web development services, CMS solutions, ecommerce development services, Magento services, CRM, ERP.

Standards and documentation, at the source. php.net, What is PHP, php.net Supported Versions, Laravel documentation, What is Symfony, CodeIgniter, Yii, WordPress.org, about.

Checklists, costs and related languages. The production readiness checklist, the production readiness audit, what custom software costs, and the Java, .NET, Python and Node.js development pages.

Ready to talk? Tell us which PHP version your application runs on, which framework or CMS it is built with and what it has to integrate with, and we will tell you which parts of the work are known and which are discovery. Talk to our engineers.