Laravel is a PHP framework for building web applications and APIs, and it is one of the frameworks we build with. Laravel 13 was released on 17 March 2026 and requires PHP 8.3 or newer; Laravel 12 receives bug fixes until 13 August 2026 and security fixes until 24 February 2027. Choose a framework by its support policy, ecosystem and your team's skills; with Laravel, plan to move to a new major version about once a year.
Key takeaways
- Laravel releases a major version about every year, around the first quarter; minor and patch releases may come as often as weekly and "should never contain breaking changes".
- Support: bug fixes for 18 months and security fixes for 2 years.
- Laravel 13: released 17 March 2026, supports PHP 8.3 to 8.5, security fixes until 17 March 2028. Laravel 12: PHP 8.2 to 8.5, bug fixes until 13 August 2026, security fixes until 24 February 2027. Laravel 11's security support ended on 12 March 2026.
- Laravel 13 adds a first-party AI SDK, JSON:API resources and native vector query support, and Laravel says most applications may upgrade without changing much code.
- PHP itself has end dates: PHP 8.2 security support ends on 31 December 2026, 8.3 on 31 December 2027.
What is Laravel?
Laravel describes itself as a framework for building modern web apps and AI agents. It sits on PHP and gives you routing, database access, authentication, queues, caching, testing and more in one consistent package, so teams do not assemble these from separate libraries. It is widely used for dashboards, portals, e-commerce back ends and APIs. See our Laravel development and PHP pages for the work we do.
Which Laravel versions are supported?
| Laravel | PHP | Released | Bug fixes until | Security fixes until |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 8.3 to 8.5 | 17 March 2026 | Q3 2027 | 17 March 2028 |
| 12 | 8.2 to 8.5 | 24 February 2025 | 13 August 2026 | 24 February 2027 |
| 11 | 8.2 to 8.4 | 12 March 2024 | 3 September 2025 | 12 March 2026 (ended) |
| 10 | 8.1 to 8.3 | 14 February 2023 | 6 August 2024 | 4 February 2025 (ended) |
If an application runs Laravel 11 or older, it no longer receives security fixes from the framework, so upgrading is a priority. Laravel 12 is now past its bug-fix window, so plan the move to 13 before February 2027.
What does PHP support look like?
The PHP project's table gives each branch two years of active support and two more of security-only fixes:
| PHP | Active support until | Security support until |
|---|---|---|
| 8.2 | 31 December 2024 | 31 December 2026 |
| 8.3 | 31 December 2025 | 31 December 2027 |
| 8.4 | 31 December 2026 | 31 December 2028 |
| 8.5 | 31 December 2027 | 31 December 2029 |
Laravel 13 needs at least PHP 8.3, so a server still on 8.2 must move too. PHP 8.2 security support ends at the end of this year.
What is new in Laravel 13?
Laravel's release notes describe Laravel 13 as a relatively minor upgrade in effort, with new capabilities:
- A first-party AI SDK with a unified API for text generation, tool-calling agents, embeddings, audio, images and vector stores.
- Semantic and vector search support in the query builder, documented for PostgreSQL with pgvector.
- JSON:API resources for compliant API responses.
- A strengthened request forgery protection middleware with origin-aware verification.
- Queue routing by class and more PHP attributes for controllers, authorisation and jobs.
An AI SDK does not remove the need for the practices in AI agents vs automation: clear scope, review of outputs and logging.
Laravel or CakePHP, or another framework?
Compare frameworks on facts you can check:
- Support policy: how long each version gets fixes, and how often you must upgrade.
- Ecosystem: first-party packages for queues, payments, real-time and testing, and the size of the community.
- Team skills: the framework your developers know best is usually fastest and safest.
- Fit: the application's needs, such as API-only, admin-heavy or real-time.
- Hiring: how easy it is to find people to maintain it.
We do not claim one PHP framework is better in general; check each project's current documentation. If you are weighing other stacks, see Node.js frameworks in 2026 and .NET for enterprise applications.
How should you plan a Laravel upgrade?
- Check your current Laravel and PHP versions against the tables above.
- Read Laravel's upgrade guide for each major step.
- Upgrade PHP first where needed, then dependencies, then the framework.
- Run automated tests and fix what breaks.
- Deploy to a staging environment before production.
- Repeat yearly so each step stays small.
Laravel says that it strives to make moving to a new major release possible in a day or less, though results depend on how much custom code and how many third-party packages you use.
FAQ
Which Laravel version should a new project use?
Laravel 13, the current major release (17 March 2026), which supports PHP 8.3 to 8.5 and has security fixes until 17 March 2028.
Is Laravel 12 still supported?
For security fixes, until 24 February 2027. Its bug-fix window ended on 13 August 2026.
Does Laravel 13 require a new PHP version?
Yes, PHP 8.3 or newer.
How often should we upgrade?
Roughly once a year, since a new major version arrives each year and security support lasts two years.
Can Laravel build AI features?
Laravel 13 includes a first-party AI SDK and vector search support, which you can use to build features such as assistants and semantic search; people should still review what the system produces.
Sources (2 links)
- Laravel, "Release Notes (13.x)": https://laravel.com/docs/13.x/releases
- PHP, "Supported Versions": https://www.php.net/supported-versions.php
