Best PHP Blogs 2026: Top Sites for Developers

PHP still powers roughly 73% of all websites with a known server-side language, according to W3Techs data from late 2025. That share has declined gradually from the mid-70s over the past few years, but no other server-side language comes close. WordPress alone accounts for over 43% of all websites, and frameworks like Laravel and Symfony continue to drive professional PHP development forward.

PHP 8.5 shipped in November 2025 with the pipe operator and partial function application. PHP 8.4 remains in active support through December 2026, and PHP 8.6 is targeted for late 2026. The JetBrains State of PHP 2025 survey found that PHP 8.x dominates with 89% usage among surveyed developers, and the ecosystem is modernizing rapidly around static analysis (PHPStan), testing, and CI/CD tooling.

Our evaluation methodology scores blogs across five dimensions: writing quality, publication consistency, longevity, technical depth, and broad usefulness to PHP developers. We track posting activity, examine article depth, and verify each resource’s ongoing contribution to the PHP community.

Draft.dev Insight: At Draft.dev, we produce technical content for developer tools companies, including PHP-based platforms. This list reflects both our editorial standards and the resources our PHP subject matter experts actually use.

How to Choose PHP Blogs by Skill Level

Beginner PHP developers: Start with PHP The Right Way for best practices, SitePoint for structured tutorials, and r/PHP for community Q&A. These provide foundational knowledge without assuming framework experience.

Intermediate developers (1-3 years): Add Laravel News or Symfony blog depending on your framework, plus Kinsta for practical hosting and performance content. These cover real-world implementation patterns.

Senior developers and architects: Prioritize Stitcher.io for PHP version adoption data and language direction, Matthias Noback for software architecture, PHP Architect for deep technical analysis, and The PHP Foundation blog for PHP internals and RFC tracking.

Framework-specific needs: Laravel News dominates Laravel coverage. For Symfony, follow the official Symfony blog. For framework-agnostic PHP, Stitcher.io and PHP Architect cover the language itself.

The Top PHP Blogs in 2026

1. Laravel News

Laravel News is a blog for everything surrounding the open-source PHP web framework. It combines a variety of topics but relies heaviest on developer articles and framework updates. There are also less-technical articles and occasional sponsored posts, but they are not devoid of value. Laravel News’ articles and tutorials have offered great detail from a community of experts and best PHP developers since 2012. The blog is published daily and reads crisp and clear. Articles are well-referenced, and there are virtually no errors, making technical information that much easier to read.

• Writing Quality – 5
• Consistency – 5
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 5
• Broad Usefulness – 5

Overall Score: 5.0

2. PHP Architect

PHP Architect is the blog for the monthly print magazine on PHP. You can buy a single month’s magazine or subscribe; there is no free content. However, for anyone serious about PHP, there is a plethora of excellent content for technical savants going back to 2002. Each month’s magazine comprises several in-depth articles written by active PHP programmers who meet the background and editorial requirements to be considered authoritative. PHP Architect’s writing is professional-tier and reads as such, while also boasting useful references and examples throughout. Their regular monthly publication schedule allows for consistent content once per month.

• Writing Quality – 5
• Consistency – 4
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 5
• Broad Usefulness – 5

Overall Score: 4.8

3. Stitcher

Stitcher.io is a modern PHP blog by Brent Roose, PHP Developer Advocate at JetBrains and host of the PHP Annotated YouTube channel. The blog covers PHP language evolution, version adoption statistics, software architecture patterns, and framework development. Brent’s PHP version stats posts (published every January and July using Packagist data) are some of the most widely cited reference material in the PHP ecosystem. He also writes extensively about upcoming PHP features, recently covering the pipe operator in PHP 8.5 and his proposals for PHP editions. With 14,000+ newsletter subscribers, a 600-member Discord community, and ongoing development of the Tempest framework, Stitcher.io sits at the center of the modern PHP community.

• Writing Quality – 4
• Consistency – 5
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 5
• Broad Usefulness – 5

Overall Score: 4.8

4. SitePoint

SitePoint is an Aussie-based web publisher that hosts educational tutorials and articles around programming. It is more of a developer blog rather than PHP specific as the articles cover a range of programming languages and niches. PHP specialists write the blog, and the content reflects their technical expertise despite the occasional grammatical imperfection. Articles are written with a natural flow and include plenty of resourceful evidence to satiate further reading. The blog has been regularly published multiple times per week since 1999! A great site to bookmark and add to your list of developer blogs.

• Writing Quality – 4
• Consistency – 5
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 5
• Broad Usefulness – 4

Overall Score: 4.6

5. r/PHP

Reddit is a popular web discussion board with nearly limitless content. Since r/PHP is composed almost entirely of PHP specialists and programmers, posters hold each other to a high standard and work to stave off promotional material. The diversity of community members allows everyone from greenhorns to grey-beards to offer their perspectives. New posts are published daily; however, as Reddit is an open platform, it’s not immune to less adept writers who submit content.

• Writing Quality – 4
• Consistency – 5
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 4
• Broad Usefulness – 5

Overall Score: 4.6

6. Kinsta

Kinsta’s blog features a broad range of development-focused articles. Their PHP articles are written by actual, experienced PHP developers and edited by seasoned coders with a grammatical bent, with many pieces containing custom code samples not found elsewhere. New content is released regularly throughout the week, which has led to an impressive library of articles over the years, all of which Kinsta regularly maintains and updates. It’s the perfect blog to add to your programmer subscriptions.

• Writing Quality – 5
• Consistency – 3
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 5
• Broad Usefulness – 4

Overall Score: 4.4

7. PHP Classes

This educational blog recruits a team of writers to produce tutorials and classes for programmers. Authors vary in content and style, as some posts are short with little detail, and others are longer with ample technical prose. Articles are relatively well-written and are consistently published every month, but they lack consistent formatting and grammatical uniformity.

• Writing Quality – 3
• Consistency – 5
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 4
• Broad Usefulness – 5

Overall Score: 4.4

8. Matthias Noback

Noback is a Netherlands-based backend web developer and published programming book author. His blog, which started in 2011, is broadly useful, and any book promotions or professional training courses are innocently placed without detracting from the article’s topic. Noback’s writing is a fluid stream of technical prose that shows his wealth of experience. The blog’s articles are excellently written with very few weaknesses and are published 1-2 times per month. Look for articulate information and pleasantly arranged visuals and links.

• Writing Quality – 4
• Consistency – 3
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 5
• Broad Usefulness – 5

Overall Score: 4.4

9. Zend

Zend is a company blog for the California-based enterprise PHP software company. Articles are extensive analyses of a given topic by one of several veteran PHP programmers, and subjects are broken down into great detail. The posts include occasional product promotions, but they are subtle and take a backseat to the articles’ premises, which are informational or educational. If not for some unfortunate spelling and grammar errors, the writing quality would easily be a 4 or 5. Articles are well-written and organized following the Zend style and feature plenty of excellent visual representations and supporting evidence. Look for at least a couple of new posts per month.

• Writing Quality – 3
• Consistency – 4
• Longevity – 4
• Technical Depth – 5
• Broad Usefulness – 5

Overall Score: 4.2

10. The PHP Foundation Blog

The PHP Foundation is the official nonprofit organization supporting PHP’s core development, founded in late 2021 after the community realized only two people were maintaining the language full-time. Recent posts have covered the pipe operator in PHP 8.5, compile-time generics proposals, FrankenPHP’s adoption into the official PHP organization, and a collaboration with Anthropic and Symfony on the official PHP SDK for the Model Context Protocol. The writing is clear and technically rigorous, authored by Foundation board members and contracted PHP core developers including Larry Garfield, Jakub Zelenka, and Tim Düsterhus.

• Writing Quality: 5
• Consistency: 4
• Longevity: 3
• Technical Depth: 5
• Broad Usefulness: 4

Overall Score: 4.2

11. PHP.Watch

PHP.Watch is a reference site maintained by Ayesh Karunaratne, a software architect, security researcher, and php-src contributor who also co-authors the PHP Foundation’s Core Roundup series. The site documents every change in upcoming PHP versions with structured breakdowns: what changed, why, code examples showing before-and-after behavior, and links to the relevant RFCs and pull requests. The PHP Versions section is particularly valuable, covering PHP 8.2 through 8.6 with individual pages for each feature, deprecation, and breaking change. Articles are less frequent than a traditional blog (a handful per year), but each one is thorough and well-researched, covering topics like AEGIS encryption with PHP Sodium, installation guides for new PHP releases, and MySQL compatibility fixes. PHP.Watch also provides a free API for accessing PHP change data programmatically. This is not a blog you visit for daily reading; it is the reference you pull up when you need to understand exactly what changed between PHP versions and why.

• Writing Quality: 5
• Consistency: 3
• Longevity: 4
• Technical Depth: 5
• Broad Usefulness: 4

Overall Score: 4.2

12. PHP Pot

PHP Pot is an individual coding blog founded in 2013 by Vincy, who writes weekly about a broad list of programming topics. The articles are not intended to be too involved but demonstrate technical expertise with professional and logical approaches. PHP Pot’s writing is organized but unfortunately suffers from subpar grammar at times. Nonetheless, articles are comprehensible and have plenty of supporting links and images to help articulate assertions.

• Writing Quality – 2
• Consistency – 5
• Longevity – 4
• Technical Depth – 4
• Broad Usefulness – 5

Overall Score: 4.0

13. PHP The Right Way

PHP The Right Way is a collection of authoritative tutorials that introduce novice PHP developers to the language’s best practices. Articles are short but contain precisely the required knowledge with relevant details and no more; think Hemingway for PHP. The blog’s posts are polished without error and serve as references within references for the interested reader.

• Writing Quality – 4
• Consistency – N/A
• Longevity – 3
• Technical Depth – 5
• Broad Usefulness – 4

Overall Score: 4.0

14. Colin O’Dell

O’Dell is a Director of Technology and has held leadership positions at different software companies. His self-named blog, dating back to 2009, is a collection of findings explored in his programming journey. There isn’t a vast archive of content, but it is also available in written and A/V formats and print. While most posts are relatively short, they are informative and should be useful to PHP devs. Colin’s longer-form articles allow his technical prowess to glimmer, and his posts are well-formulated with excellent command of language and grammar. While some reference links are included, Colin’s articles tend to lean on screenshots and code snippets. The blog is published every couple of months without a consistent schedule. A decent developer  blog to have a look at.

• Writing Quality – 5
• Consistency – 2
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 4
• Broad Usefulness – 5

Overall Score: 4.0

15. Akrabat

Akrabat is run by Rob Allen, a UK-based software developer and consultant. He has been programming in PHP among other languages since 1995, most notably OpenWhisk and Zend Framework in Action. At first glance, it seems like a run of the mill personal blog. However, after sifting through Akrabat’s contents, I was delighted to be proven wrong and uncover a deeper layer. Allen’s posts date back 15 years, covering all sorts of web-based projects and quirks he’s stumbled across. While probably not the best place for a newbie to start, Akrabat is an excellent resource for advanced PHP developers. His writing and posts convey a commensurate aptitude for web-based projects and nuances. Allen’s thoughts and data are sound but often lack punctual grammar. Look for helpful links and cope snippets throughout, and new posts sporadically every month or so.

• Writing Quality – 3
• Consistency – 3
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 5
• Broad Usefulness – 4

Overall Score: 4.0

16. Benjamin Crozat

Benjamin Crozat is a self-taught French web developer who launched his blog in September 2022 and grew it to over 15,000 monthly visitors with a public analytics dashboard anyone can verify. The blog covers PHP and Laravel development with a practical, tutorial-driven approach. Topics range from Laravel query builder patterns and Eloquent edge cases to PHP version comparisons, AI API integrations, and Tailwind CSS techniques. Benjamin also publishes original research, including a survey of 200 Laravel developers on package discovery habits. The writing is conversational and accessible without sacrificing accuracy, and posts appear multiple times per month.

• Writing Quality: 4
• Consistency: 5
• Longevity: 3
• Technical Depth: 4
• Broad Usefulness: 4

Overall Score: 4.0

17. Lorna Jane

Lorna Jane is an experienced UK-based PHP developer, writer, teacher, and speaker who actively works with APIs in various tech stacks and shares her vast knowledge in audio/video format and on her self-named blog. Blog posts are geared towards active PHP programmers with moderate coding experience. While articles are not ground-breaking, they cast a wide net with specific functions many coders will come across. Accordingly, the blog’s posts reflect her expertise and talent across multiple programming languages. Though articles are generally single-page length, they are information-dense and provide sufficient context and detail. The blog is well organized, and facts are backed up with evidence, but the writing contains too many run-on sentences, which sometimes makes comprehending the material difficult. Look for Lorna Jane to publish new articles a few times a year without regularity.

• Writing Quality – 3
• Consistency – 2
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 4
• Broad Usefulness – 5

Overall Score: 3.8

18. Paul M. Jones

Paul Jones is a long-time programmer who has written about maintainable PHP coding practices for years. Jones is a founding contributor to the Zend Framework (now Laminas), and he also authored a series of authoritative benchmarks on dynamic framework performance. The blog, active since 2004, provides a 50/50 split between analyzing technical programming functions and personal rants. Though I wouldn’t recommend this blog to a beginner, it will provide some value to advanced-level coders. Paul’s articles are examples of his technical knowledge and tap into his authoritative understanding. The blog is well-written and well-organized with minimal grammatical errors, even non-technical personal opinions. Articles are never short of helpful links, code snippets, and external sources. Jones’ blog is published somewhat consistently, roughly a couple times a month.

• Writing Quality – 4
• Consistency – 3
• Longevity – 5
• Technical Depth – 4
• Broad Usefulness – 3

Overall Score: 3.8

19. Matt Stauffer

Matt Stauffer is a well-known web developer and Technical Director at Tighten, and the host of The Five-Minute Geek Show and The Laravel Podcast. In his self-named blog, you’ll find many useful projects for programmers, especially for those who are still learning PHP. While the technical articles are often introductions to various tools and features, the author displays a clear knowledge of topics at hand. Blog posts are published at least monthly, articulate, and easy to read, and there are lots of code screenshots and visuals to hold your attention.

• Writing Quality – 4
• Consistency – 3
• Longevity – 4
• Technical Depth – 4
• Broad Usefulness – 4

Overall Score: 3.8

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