Laravel development services we provide
Custom Laravel application development
Metadrop builds net-new applications for enterprise use cases: SaaS and multi-tenant platforms, customer portals, back-office systems and internal business tools. Each build starts with a domain-modelled Eloquent schema, queued background work and an automated test suite from day one, a structure designed to support long-term maintainability as the team and the scope grow.
Laravel API backend development
REST and GraphQL APIs for mobile apps, decoupled frontends and partner systems, with typed request and response contracts, versioning and token-based authentication through Sanctum, Passport or OAuth2/OIDC. Queues, scheduled jobs and event broadcasting carry the long-running and asynchronous work: imports, exports, notifications and payment reconciliation.
Legacy PHP and Symfony modernization
Incremental migration of an aging PHP, CodeIgniter, CakePHP or Symfony codebase to Laravel. The legacy application and the Laravel application run side by side while modules are retired progressively, so the business keeps working through the transition.
Laravel version upgrades
Laravel ships a new major release roughly once a year, with bug fixes for about 18 months and security fixes for about two years per release. Staying inside that window is a scheduled activity rather than an emergency project, so Metadrop plans major-version upgrades ahead of the support boundary. PHP runtime upgrades are handled in the same pass: PHP 8.1 reached end of life in December 2025, so an application still running on it receives no security patches at the language level.
Enterprise system integration
Laravel applications connected to Salesforce, SAP, Oracle and other ERP/CRM systems, payment gateways, identity providers and custom legacy REST or SOAP services.
Laravel maintenance and support under an SLA
Long-term ownership of a running application: security patching, dependency and framework upgrades, performance tuning, monitoring and feature evolution under a contractual SLA with defined response times.
Laravel consulting and architecture review
An independent assessment of application architecture, data model, query performance, queue design, test coverage and deployment pipeline, delivered as a prioritized roadmap before any code changes.
They've Trusted Metadrop
From humanitarian and children's NGOs to specialty chemicals, industrial manufacturing and international sport, organizations across 50+ countries have relied on Metadrop for backend engineering, API development and enterprise platform integration.
How we approach a legacy PHP or Symfony migration to Laravel
This section describes the method Metadrop applies to a Laravel migration, phase by phase, so the effort and the risk controls can be assessed before any budget is committed. The starting points Metadrop is asked to assess are usually one of three: a bespoke PHP application with no framework, an unmaintained CodeIgniter or CakePHP codebase, or a Symfony application whose version is out of support.
The method is incremental rather than a single cutover. Legacy and Laravel run in parallel behind one entry point, and functional areas move across one at a time. Automated tests are written against the legacy behaviour first, so each migrated module has a pass/fail gate before release. The sequence is designed to minimize downtime and to preserve existing data and URLs.
What the method is designed to produce: end-of-life dependencies removed, security patching restored, a current PHP runtime, and a test suite that makes the next upgrade routine. The audit in phase 1 is a standalone deliverable, so an organization can commission it, read the sequence and the risk register, and decide on the migration afterwards.
That audit-first, phase-gated, test-guarded pattern is how Metadrop runs modernization work on production PHP platforms generally. The inherited codebase is audited first, urgent risks are addressed, then architecture and version changes are released behind automated gates. On one such engagement, Metadrop took over a European HVAC division's production PHP platform from a previous provider and modernized it in sequenced phases: a full security, performance, functional and accessibility audit came first, then an urgent action plan, an infrastructure migration to cloud hosting, a CI/CD pipeline, an architecture change from single-site to multisite, and a major-version platform upgrade, with an end-to-end test framework and static-analysis quality gates introduced alongside the work.
Five phases, each with an explicit gate and a named deliverable the client keeps:
Codebase and data audit
module inventory, database schema and data-quality map, integration surface, test-coverage baseline, risk register, and the target Laravel and PHP versions.Parallel-run scaffold
the Laravel application stood up alongside the legacy code, a shared session and authentication strategy agreed, and the deployment pipeline modernized.Phased module migration
functional areas ported in priority order, each released behind its regression suite rather than held for a big-bang launch.Data and integration cutover
migrations rehearsed on production-like copies, third-party integrations re-pointed and verified, and a rollback path defined per step.Legacy retirement and handover
remaining legacy code removed, documentation and knowledge transfer completed, code and credentials handed over as agreed in the engagement.
Laravel API backends and enterprise integrations
Delivery is API-first: REST and GraphQL endpoints with versioned contracts, schema validation on every request and response, token-based authentication, rate limiting and per-client scopes. Automated API test suites cover endpoint contracts and error paths, and they run inside the deployment pipeline rather than as a manual step before release.
The enterprise systems Metadrop integrates in practice include Salesforce (CRM, Identity, Marketing Cloud, Loyalty), SAP (PIM and master data) and Workday, along with ERP and PIM feeds and custom legacy REST or SOAP services. On the payments side that means Stripe, PayPal and European card-processing gateways, including recurring subscriptions, payment synchronization and reconciliation jobs. Identity and single sign-on run over SAML, OIDC and OAuth2, with role and permission models mapped to the client's existing directory.
Asynchronous workloads sit on queues with Redis, with retry and failure handling, plus scheduled jobs for imports, exports and notifications.
Metadrop built a GraphQL API for an international humanitarian NGO's authenticated application, covering CRUD endpoints, group management and invitation emails, alongside PayPal and European card-payment gateway integration, with automated REST and GraphQL test coverage.
On another engagement, Metadrop re-architected user registration and profile management for a European specialty-food manufacturer around Salesforce CRM, Identity and Loyalty services, with password policies and continuous customer-data synchronization.
A third integrated SAP PIM product master data into a global specialty chemicals group's platform and rebuilt the product search layer on top of the imported catalogue.
What organizations build with Laravel
SaaS and multi-tenant platforms
API backends for mobile apps and decoupled frontends
One Laravel backend serving a web application, a mobile app and partner integrations from the same versioned API surface.
Customer portals and self-service areas
Accounts, billing, documents and support areas with SSO, multilingual content and role-based access.
Internal business and back-office applications
Workflow, approvals, reporting and ERP/CRM overlays for internal teams, replacing spreadsheet and legacy-desktop processes.
E-commerce and payment backends
Checkout, subscription and reconciliation logic behind a storefront, with PIM-backed catalogues and multiple payment providers.
Data-heavy dashboards and reporting tools
Aggregation over large datasets with query optimization, caching and queued report generation, exposed through interactive views.
Public-facing applications that also need to rank
Server-rendered Blade or Inertia pages give crawlers HTML rather than client-side rendered output, with metadata, structured data and Core Web Vitals treated as delivery requirements rather than a post-launch fix.
Metadrop built the API wrapper layer behind a data-heavy public platform for an international sports federation, covering endpoint definitions, parameter handling and schema validation on every response, serving both the web platform and a companion mobile application.
For an international children's NGO, Metadrop delivered a recurring-donation subscription backend on Stripe supporting multiple concurrent subscriptions per customer, cancellation periods, guest checkout and payment synchronization to the CRM.
Our Laravel technology stack
- Language and framework: Laravel (current supported release), PHP 8.3+, Eloquent ORM, Blade, Laravel Octane for high-throughput workloads.
- APIs: REST, GraphQL, Laravel Sanctum and Passport, OpenAPI contracts.
- Frontend pairing: Livewire, Inertia.js, Vue.js, React, Tailwind CSS, chosen per project rather than per habit.
- Data and infrastructure: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Elasticsearch/Solr, S3-compatible object storage.
- Testing and quality: Pest and PHPUnit, static analysis (PHPStan, Larastan), PHP_CodeSniffer, browser-level end-to-end tests.
- DevOps and hosting: Docker, GitLab CI, Jenkins, GitHub Actions; Laravel Forge, Envoyer and Vapor; AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
- Observability: application performance monitoring, structured logging, queue and job monitoring, uptime and error alerting.
Security, compliance and governance
GDPR-aligned data flows
Lawful-basis mapping, data minimization in the schema, consent capture, retention and deletion jobs, and data-subject-rights tooling for export, rectification and erasure are built into delivery rather than retrofitted. At application level that also means encryption at rest for sensitive fields, audit logging and least-privilege access across environments.
Secure development practice prepared for NIS2 requirements
A secure SDLC, dependency and CVE scanning in the pipeline, code review before merge, secrets kept out of the repository, and a vulnerability-response window defined in the SLA. Metadrop applies this for organizations in regulated sectors and for public bodies preparing for NIS2 requirements.
Laravel application security baseline
CSRF protection, input validation and mass-assignment guards, parameterized queries through Eloquent, secure session and cookie configuration, Content Security Policy and security headers, and brute-force and rate limiting on authentication endpoints. Framework and PHP versions are kept inside their support window as a maintenance activity, since an unpatched runtime can place in-scope organizations in breach of NIS2 and GDPR security obligations (an interpretation of the regulations, not legal advice).
WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility for user-facing interfaces
Semantic markup, keyboard navigation, focus management and ARIA patterns on Blade, Livewire and Inertia interfaces, with automated and manual checks as part of the standard delivery approach. WCAG 2.1 AA is today's legal accessibility baseline in the EU; WCAG 2.2 AA is applied as a design-quality target, not presented as a separate legal requirement.
ENS-certified partner
Metadrop holds Spanish National Security Scheme (ENS) certification, a requirement in Spanish public-sector procurement and a recognized signal in EU public tenders.
Independent technical governance
Metadrop documents technical risk and its trade-offs in terms a non-technical stakeholder can act on, and raises it as early as possible during delivery.
How we work: delivery process and engagement models
Discovery and scoping
business goals, success metrics, data model, integration map and constraints, scoped before a line of code is written.Architecture and roadmap
Laravel application architecture, database and queue design, a migration plan where applicable, and a prioritized backlog ready for sprint zero.UX/UI design
key flows and a component library designed before build, which reduces rework. See UX/UI design services.
Agile delivery in 2-week sprints
a demo, a retrospective and a transparent backlog every sprint.Quality, security and accessibility gates
automated tests, static analysis, CVE scanning and accessibility checks before each release.Launch and continuous improvement*
production rollout, monitoring, performance budgets and ongoing maintenance under a defined SLA.
Hire Laravel developers for your team
Engineers experienced in Laravel and PHP added to an existing in-house team and working under client management. Typical ramp-up is 2 to 4 weeks from agreement to a developer contributing to the sprint, depending on access provisioning and codebase onboarding.
Dedicated team
Fixed-price project
Time and materials
Maintenance retainer
Why organizations choose Metadrop for Laravel
Metadrop brings 15+ years of PHP and enterprise web engineering and owns the full lifecycle: strategy, UX/UI, build, integration, maintenance and SLA-backed support. As a European partner delivering in 50+ countries and 30+ languages, it regularly delivers multilingual and multi-region projects, with the compliance credentials EU enterprise procurement expects. It is ENS-certified and a Drupal Silver Certified Partner, with a delivery track record across GDPR, WCAG and NIS2-driven requirements.
Independent technical governance is a structural part of the engagement: architecture and risk decisions are documented rather than left implicit. Experience integrating CRM, ERP, PIM, identity and payment systems addresses one of the areas that often has the greatest impact on project timelines. Client relationships commonly run 3+ years, which is how framework and runtime upgrades stay routine instead of becoming rescue projects.
Metadrop's published engineering writing covers PHP application development, mocking third-party APIs in development and test environments, and behaviour-driven testing practice, a documented backend and API-testing discipline that predates the current Laravel tooling generation.
Frequently asked questions
What are Laravel development services?
Consulting, architecture, design, build, migration, integration and long-term support for applications built with Laravel, the open-source PHP web framework. In practice the work spans SaaS and multi-tenant platforms, REST and GraphQL API backends, customer portals, internal business applications and e-commerce backends.
Is Laravel a good fit for enterprise applications?
Laravel suits custom business logic, API backends and multi-tenant platforms, the cases where the application, not the content, is the product. A CMS such as Drupal is the better fit when editorial workflow, content modelling and multilingual publishing are the core requirement. Either way, enterprise readiness comes from how the application is engineered: a domain-modelled schema, queued background work, test coverage, observability and a supported PHP runtime.
Laravel vs Symfony for enterprise applications: which should we choose?
Metadrop works with both and advises on team composition, integration surface and roadmap rather than framework preference.
Can you migrate our legacy PHP or Symfony application to Laravel?
The goal Metadrop works to is preserving existing data, URLs and business rules while replacing the code that carries them. The approach is incremental: legacy and Laravel run in parallel, modules move across one at a time, and each move is guarded by automated tests written against the legacy behaviour first. The audit phase produces a module-by-module sequence, a data-migration plan and a rollback path per step, and it can be commissioned on its own before any migration commitment.
How long does a Laravel project take, and what does it cost?
A focused build or API backend typically runs 2 to 4 months; a platform programme or a phased legacy migration runs multi-quarter. Cost depends on scope, integration count, team composition and engagement model. Metadrop publishes its engagement models and quotes per project after a free consultation rather than a public rate card, because rates vary by profile and contract length. The discovery and audit phase typically results in a grounded estimate with the main cost drivers named before the budget is fixed.
How do you secure a Laravel application, and is it GDPR-ready?
The baseline practice is CSRF protection, input validation and mass-assignment guards, parameterized queries, secure session and cookie configuration, security headers and CSP, rate limiting on authentication, and dependency and CVE scanning in the pipeline. GDPR-aligned data flows are part of delivery too: lawful-basis mapping, data minimization, retention and deletion jobs, audit logging and data-subject-rights tooling. Whether a given application meets GDPR, NIS2 or accessibility obligations depends on the client's own scope, content and processing activities, so this is a technical readiness statement rather than legal advice.
Which frontend pairs best with Laravel, Livewire, Inertia, Vue or React?
Livewire suits server-driven interfaces where the team is PHP-first and the interaction model is form- and list-heavy. Inertia.js keeps Laravel routing and controllers while rendering Vue or React components, a middle path for app-like UIs without a separate API layer. Vue or React against a REST/GraphQL API suits a decoupled frontend, a separate frontend team, or a mobile app sharing the same backend. Metadrop picks per project based on team skills, interactivity level and whether other clients will consume the same API.
Do you maintain, upgrade and take over existing Laravel applications?
Yes. Takeover engagements start with an audit of the codebase, dependencies, data model and deployment pipeline, followed by a prioritized remediation plan. Ongoing work then runs under a contractual SLA covering security patching, framework and PHP version upgrades, performance tuning, monitoring and incremental features. The client owns the codebase and the repository; code, documentation and credentials are handed over as agreed in the engagement, and delivery uses standard Laravel tooling so another team can pick the project up.
Start your Laravel project with Metadrop
Enterprise Laravel delivery from a European partner, with full lifecycle ownership and compliance built into the delivery baseline. Tell us about your application, your legacy PHP codebase or the API you need, and we'll scope a free 30-minute consultation, with no commitment required and a reply within one business day.