Laravel and Codeigniter are two of the most popular PHP frameworks used for web development. A quick look at the usage statistics on BuiltWith shows that Laravel currently has over 1.7 million websites using it, with over 658,000 live sites. The framework is most widely implemented in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries.

According to BuiltWith, CodeIgniter has a user base of over 1.4 million websites. Of these, around 423,000 sites are still live today. CodeIgniter finds the most usage in the United States, India, Indonesia, and Brazil.

Both frameworks have developed large communities of developers and ongoing support over many years. Both provide developers with various features and tools to help build powerful applications and websites.

Choosing between both is really hard when you are not familiar with them. So, let’s understand both frameworks first and then decide which one to use.

What is Laravel?

Laravel is the leading PHP framework for developing database-driven websites and web applications. Since its original release in 2011, it has grown tremendously in both popularity and features.

Some key factors that have contributed to Laravel’s success include its elegant syntax, focus on developer experience, and a large ecosystem of free and paid third-party packages. The framework is backed by Taylor Otwell and the Laravel core team who regularly release new major versions and provide long-term support for each release.

At its core, Laravel aims to provide an excellent starting point for both small and large applications. It leverages Symfony components and follows sound architectural principles to make coding enjoyable and productive.

Key Features Of Laravel

Some highlights of Laravel include:

• An MVC structure that separates application logic from presentation for clear code organization.
• Blade templating for building responsive views in a simple yet powerful way.
• Eloquent ORM to interact with databases using plain English models and relationships.
• Authentication and authorization scaffolding to securely handle user management out of the box.
• Artisan CLI for common tasks like creating migrations, models, and generating stubs.
• Documentation site and active community support forums to aid with any development questions.
• Large ecosystem of third-party packages via Composer for added functionality.

With these features and its emphasis on productivity, Laravel is a sensible choice for both individual and enterprise projects of all complexities. Its rapid growth in popularity points to the framework’s ability to satisfy a wide range of web development needs even in e-commerce.

What is CodeIgniter?

CodeIgniter was created in 2006 by EllisLab, to provide a clean and simple way to develop database-driven applications in PHP. Since then it has grown into a mature framework with a significant user base, including many large and complex websites.

Some reasons for CodeIgniter’s success over the years are its small footprint and easy learning curve. The framework gets out of the way so developers can write code in a straightforward procedural style. It also strives to eliminate unnecessary abstraction found in some larger frameworks.

At its core, CodeIgniter uses a Model-View-Controller architecture and focuses on features like security, database abstraction, and file uploading without bloat. This keeps applications nimble and easy to maintain as projects evolve.

Key Features of CodeIgniter

Some noteworthy aspects of CodeIgniter include:

• A simple yet powerful routing system for matching URLs to controllers and functions.
• Active Record class for building and running database queries intuitively.
• Flexible library classes to assist with tasks like validation, file handling, and encryption.
• Support for advanced features like caching, sessions, emailing, and RESTful services.
• Helpers are provided to build views efficiently with arrays, form tags, and other elements.
• A configurable core that is easy to extend via applications folders and “hooks”.
• Documentation with many community-created add-ons and tutorials to augment learning.

CodeIgniter’s lightweight nature has made it suitable for building small to medium-sized web projects quickly and easily while still providing ample room for expansion. Its developer-friendly design philosophy continues to appeal to many as an alternative to larger frameworks.

Also Read: 10 Best Tips for Laravel Performance Optimization

Main Differences Between Laravel and CodeIgniter

Also Read: Detailed Guide To Build A Property Listing App Using Laravel

Large-scale Projects Built with Laravel

Here are a few examples of large, sophisticated projects that have chosen Laravel as their framework of choice:

Alison: Learning Platform

Introduced in 2007, Alison is one of the leading online education platforms offering courses in various subjects. With over 20 million users across 195 countries, Alison is transforming how the world accesses skills training and career development opportunities. Laravel powers its full-scale eLearning system.

Barchart: Research Tools

A global leader in financial data and tools, Barchart serves over 3.7 million traders and investors each month. Its comprehensive platform delivers professional-grade stock, forex, and crypto research through easy-to-use dashboards. Laravel supports the backend of this robust marketplace.

AlphaCoders: Creator Hub

This creative platform connects artists globally to find work, collaborate, and grow audiences. With Laravel handling the backend infrastructure, AlphaCoders can scale internationally while offering unique opportunities to content creators worldwide.

These success stories demonstrate how even some of the largest digital products leverage Laravel’s power, flexibility, and performance to excel at massive scales.

Also Read: Comparing Laravel Nova and Filament

Sites Built With CodeIgniter

While laravel is excellent for Large Scale and complex projects, It doesn’t render CodeIgniter useless. With proper expertise, CodeIgniter can give almost similarly robust sites. Here are some examples.

Nick Finck

Nick Finck is the personal portfolio site of Nick Finck, an experienced UX leader and public speaker. The site was built using CodeIgniter to showcase Nick’s background, projects, speaking engagements, and availability for consulting/mentoring. It provides a clean interface for potential clients to learn about Nick’s extensive expertise.

Sav

Sav is a leading domain registrar and web hosting company. They provide services for domain purchases, transfers, and sales. CodeIgniter powers their full-featured site where users can manage their domain portfolios, view auctions, and learn about Sav’s offerings. The lightweight framework helps their site maintain high performance while supporting a large number of features.

DoodleJump

DoodleJump was a hugely popular mobile game launched in 2009. The web version of the game, which allowed online multiplayer, was built with CodeIgniter. It demonstrated how the framework could effectively support an interactive gaming experience with low latency. CodeIgniter helped the site scale to handle huge traffic spikes as the game took off in popularity.

Also Read: Laravel Rest API for E-commerce

When to Use Laravel

Laravel is most applicable for large to enterprise-level web applications that require robust features and architecture out of the box. Some key scenarios where Laravel really shines include:

• Complex apps with dozens of interacting components and modules. Laravel’s package system and dependency injection container allow such apps to be built efficiently.
• Database-intensive applications that leverage relationships and advanced querying. Eloquent ORM and migrations simplify these tasks.
• Projects requiring JSON or XML APIs. Laravel provides tools like resource route model binding to quickly build APIs.
• Sites with sophisticated business logic and multiple user roles/permissions. Authentication and authorization systems cater to these needs.
• Applications where rapid prototyping is needed. Laravel’s scheming and provision of common utilities accelerate the development cycle.
• When optimal performance is critical at large traffic scales, Laravel is well-equipped to handle heavy workloads through caching, queues, etc.

Also Read: How to Build an E-commerce Store in Laravel

When to Use CodeIgniter

CodeIgniter is best suited for smaller to medium web projects or as a learning framework for beginners due to its low barriers:

• Basic websites, admin interfaces, or internal tools with minimal complexity.
• Personal projects and applications during the learning phase for new developers.
• Quick mockups and prototypes where a full-fledged framework isn’t required.
• Legacy projects on older PHP versions that need migration. CodeIgniter supports PHP 5.
• Budget constraints where a leaner framework is preferable over larger ones.
• When load times and resource usage are primary deciding factors. CodeIgniter has a smaller footprint.
• Small teams where rapid development matters more than features. CodeIgniter is very approachable.

Also Read: Best Laravel E-commerce CMS Solutions

Which is Better?

The choice between Laravel and CodeIgniter ultimately depends on the specific goals and requirements of each project. Both cater to somewhat different scenarios and use cases.

Laravel on the one hand, is a more fully-featured option with its robust ecosystem of packages, powerful architectural components, and utilities optimized for large platforms. It is well-suited for complex systems that require rapid development at large scale.

CodeIgniter provides a simpler and more lightweight alternative, making it approachable for smaller needs or as an educational framework. Its procedural nature provides comfort for developers with those backgrounds.

The distinct use cases of each end the debate of which one is definitively better, the most sensible choice is to evaluate each project individually and select the framework that aligns closest with its unique demands.

If your project falls into Laravel’s domain of sophisticated, database-driven web platforms, Hybrid Web Agency could be an ideal partner to oversee development.

As an experienced Laravel Development Company, Hybrid offers flexible engagement models to seamlessly augment development teams. Our senior developers have built many mission-critical Laravel applications.

We are adept at providing Turnkey Laravel Development Services as well as supplementing existing in-house teams through transparent, offshore outsourcing arrangements. You retain full control and oversight.

Their consultants can quickly analyze your requirements and propose a customized quote. Do not hesitate to contact Hybrid for a free-of-charge, no-obligation consultation.