Hire PHP Developers for Laravel Web Apps and APIs
RED SAG provides dedicated PHP and Laravel developers from our team in Tamil Nadu, India, to businesses and agencies in the USA, UK, Australia, Canada and India. They work in your Git repository, follow your deployment process and report in your chat and ticket tools, so they fit into your team rather than beside it.
Laravel runs a great deal of real business software: customer portals, booking and billing systems, APIs behind mobile apps, and admin panels that staff use all day. Alongside new builds, we are often asked to upgrade applications stuck on Laravel 6 or 8 and older PHP versions, to speed up slow Eloquent queries, or to add tests to code that has none.
You can hire a Laravel developer full time, part time or hourly, or agree a fixed price for a defined module or upgrade. Every engagement can begin with a one-week paid pilot on a real ticket, so you see the quality of the code and the updates before you commit to a month.
What our Laravel developers build for you
Business web applications
Portals, booking systems, CRMs and billing tools with role-based access through policies and gates, audit trails, PDF invoices and scheduled reports built on Laravel's task scheduler.
REST APIs for mobile and SPA front-ends
Versioned JSON APIs with API Resources, Form Request validation, Sanctum or Passport authentication, rate limiting and OpenAPI documentation your app developers can rely on.
Admin panels and back offices
Internal tools built quickly with Filament or Laravel Nova, with custom actions, filters, imports and exports, so staff manage orders, users and content without touching the database.
Interactive apps with Livewire or Inertia
Dynamic interfaces using Livewire and Alpine.js, or Inertia with Vue or React, when you want a rich front-end without maintaining a separate single-page app and API.
Payments, queues and integrations
Stripe or Razorpay payments, Laravel Cashier subscriptions, webhooks processed on Redis queues supervised by Horizon, and integrations with accounting, SMS, email and shipping services.
Upgrades and legacy PHP rescue
Stepping applications up through Laravel and PHP versions with Laravel Shift and Rector, replacing abandoned packages, and moving plain PHP or CodeIgniter code into Laravel step by step.
PHP & Laravel skills and ecosystem
Core
- PHP 8.2+
- Laravel 10/11
- Composer
- Eloquent ORM
- Blade
- Artisan commands
- Service container
Front-end options
- Livewire
- Alpine.js
- Inertia.js
- Vue 3
- Tailwind CSS
- Vite
Admin and packages
- Filament
- Laravel Nova
- Spatie Laravel Permission
- Spatie Media Library
- Laravel Excel
- Laravel Cashier
Data and performance
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- Redis
- Laravel Horizon
- Laravel Scout with Meilisearch
- Laravel Telescope
- Debugbar
APIs and auth
- Laravel Sanctum
- Laravel Passport
- Laravel Socialite
- API Resources
- Webhooks
- OpenAPI / Scribe
Testing and deployment
- PHPUnit
- Pest
- Larastan / PHPStan
- Laravel Pint
- Laravel Forge
- Envoyer
- Docker with Laravel Sail
Junior, mid-level or senior
Pick the level that matches the work. Many teams pair one senior developer with a junior or mid-level developer to keep costs down without losing review quality.
Junior
1–3 years
Builds CRUD features, Blade views and simple endpoints within existing patterns, with code reviewed by a senior.
- Create migrations, models, controllers and Form Requests for new features
- Build Blade or Livewire views from designs
- Write feature tests for the endpoints and pages they add
- Fix bugs and small validation or display issues
Mid-level
3–6 years
Owns complete modules, including queues, integrations and data modelling.
- Model relationships and write efficient Eloquent queries
- Build APIs, jobs, events and scheduled commands
- Integrate payment gateways and third-party services with retries
- Review pull requests and estimate work accurately
Senior
6+ years
Sets application architecture, leads upgrades and keeps production healthy.
- Plan Laravel and PHP upgrades and large refactors without downtime
- Design multi-tenant, permission and billing structures
- Tune database indexes, caching and queue throughput
- Set up static analysis, CI and zero-downtime deployments
Common PHP & Laravel problems our developers avoid
N+1 queries in lists and APIs
Loading a relationship inside a loop quietly turns one query into hundreds. Our developers eager-load with with() and load(), enable Model::preventLazyLoading() in development, and check query counts.
Fat controllers and hidden side effects
Controllers that validate, charge cards, send email and write logs are hard to test and change. We move rules into Form Requests, actions or services, and slow work into queued jobs.
Mass assignment and authorisation gaps
Unguarded models and missing policy checks are among the most common Laravel security holes. Developers define $fillable deliberately and authorise every route through policies or gates.
Staying on unsupported versions
Old Laravel and PHP releases stop receiving security fixes. We keep dependencies current with small, regular upgrades rather than letting them pile up into a risky rewrite.
Ways to hire
Four ways to work with our Laravel developers, and when each one makes sense for PHP & Laravel work.
Full-time dedicated developer
One developer works only on your product, around 160 hours a month, inside your tools and sprint rhythm.
Best when your Laravel application is core to the business and there is a continuing roadmap of modules, integrations and improvements.
Fixed monthly fee, invoiced monthly
Part-time dedicated developer
The same developer every week for about 80 hours a month, usually half days or agreed days.
Suits a mature application that needs security updates, dependency upgrades and a small number of changes each month.
Fixed monthly fee for the agreed hours
Hourly
Pay only for tracked hours against tickets you raise. Hours and task notes are shared with every invoice.
Useful for slow-page investigations, a failed deployment, a payment webhook bug or a code review before you buy or inherit an app.
Tracked hours, invoiced monthly
Fixed-price project
A written scope, a fixed quote and milestones. We carry the estimate risk; changes are quoted before they are built.
Fits a defined module, an admin panel in Filament, an API for a new mobile app or a Laravel version upgrade.
Milestone payments against an agreed scope
Indicative rates for Laravel developers
Rates by seniority for hourly, part-time and full-time dedicated work. Choose the currency you pay in.
| Seniority | Hourlytracked hours | Part-time dedicatedabout 80 hours a month | Full-time dedicatedabout 160 hours a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior1–3 years | $15–19/hour₹450–600/hour | $1,000–1,300/month₹40,000–50,000/month | $1,700–2,200/month₹65,000–85,000/month |
| Mid-level3–6 years | $19–24/hour₹600–850/hour | $1,300–1,650/month₹55,000–70,000/month | $2,200–2,800/month₹90,000–1.2 lakh/month |
| Senior6+ years | $24–30/hour₹850–1,150/hour | $1,650–2,050/month₹75,000–95,000/month | $2,800–3,500/month₹1.3–1.7 lakh/month |
Indicative rates, before any applicable taxes. The exact figure depends on the developer we assign, the skills your project needs and the length of the engagement, and is agreed in writing before work starts. Fixed-price projects are quoted per scope.
How we vet and assign Laravel developers
Technical interview
A senior engineer on our side interviews every developer on the stack you are hiring for, covering the topics listed on this page, before they are put forward to any client.
Review of real work
We read code the developer has written, from our own projects or their earlier work, looking at structure, naming, tests and how they handle errors, not just whether it runs.
Practical trial task
A short task in the same stack, done in a real repository and reviewed like a pull request. It shows how someone works, asks questions and writes up what they did.
Matched to your brief
We put forward the developer whose experience fits your product and time zone, share a short profile, and you interview them yourself before anything is signed.
What the PHP & Laravel interview covers
- Eloquent relationships, eager loading and spotting N+1 queries
- Request lifecycle, middleware, service container and service providers
- Queues, jobs, events and handling failures and retries
- Authentication and authorisation with Sanctum, policies and gates
- Testing with Pest or PHPUnit, database factories and faking external services
The trial task
Build a small Laravel API for orders: migrations and factories, a Form Request, a policy, a paginated API Resource endpoint without N+1 queries, and a queued job that sends a notification when an order is paid, with Pest feature tests. We review it as a pull request, including how the commits are structured.
How onboarding works
- 01
Call and NDA
A short call about your product, stack and team. We sign your NDA, or ours, before you share code, designs or business details.
- 02
Profile and interview
We share the profile of the developer we recommend and you interview them. A match usually takes about a week, depending on availability.
- 03
Contract and IP
The contract assigns all code and work product to you once invoices are paid, and sets out rates, hours, notice and confidentiality.
- 04
Access through your tools
You invite the developer to your GitHub or GitLab, Jira or Linear, and Slack or Teams. You control access and can revoke it at any time.
- 05
Updates you can rely on
A written update at the end of every working day, a weekly summary with hours, what shipped and what is blocked, and a demo when you want one.
The developer's first week
- Run the application locally with Sail or your Docker setup and seed a working database
- Check the Laravel and PHP versions, installed packages and any upgrade deadlines
- Read the routes, key models and queue setup, and agree coding and testing conventions
- Ship a small real ticket through your review, CI and deployment process
Working hours overlap
Our team is in India (IST, UTC+5:30). These are the overlap windows we plan around; the exact hours are agreed in the contract.
United Kingdom
Our normal day (9:00–18:00 IST) covers roughly 9:00 am to 12:30 pm in London in winter and 9:00 am to 1:30 pm in summer. A developer working 11:00–20:00 IST can cover until about 2:30 pm GMT.
USA and Canada (Eastern)
On a shifted schedule the developer is online for about 9:00 am to noon Eastern (New York, Toronto), enough for stand-up, reviews and questions. Work carries on overnight and is ready in your morning.
USA and Canada (Pacific)
For California or Vancouver we agree a fixed early window, typically 7:00–9:00 am Pacific, plus written hand-offs at the end of your day. We are open that overlap is shorter here.
Australia
India is 4.5 to 5.5 hours behind Sydney and Melbourne, so our normal day overlaps your afternoon, roughly 1:30–5:30 pm AEST. Perth overlaps from about 11:30 am onwards.
Try before you commit
Start with a one-week paid pilot
Before committing to a month, you can start with a one-week paid pilot. The developer works on a real ticket from your backlog, in your repository and tools, with the same daily updates as a normal engagement. At the end you decide whether to continue, change developer or stop. The pilot is billed at the hourly rate for the hours worked, and the code is yours.
Replacement if it is not a fit
If the developer is not the right fit, tell us and we will replace the developer at no extra charge. The new developer is briefed from the shared notes and tickets, and we overlap the hand-over where we can so you do not lose momentum.
Hiring Laravel developers: questions
How much does it cost to hire a Laravel developer from India?
As a guide, a full-time dedicated Laravel developer from RED SAG costs about $1,700–3,500 a month depending on seniority, and hourly work runs about $15–30 an hour. The rates table lists GBP, AUD, CAD and INR ranges as well. Your exact rate is confirmed in writing before work starts.
Can you upgrade an old Laravel application?
Yes. We first check the current Laravel and PHP versions, packages and test coverage, then upgrade one major version at a time, using Laravel Shift or Rector where they help. Each step is tested and deployed separately, so you are never left with a half-upgraded application.
Do your developers work with plain PHP or other frameworks?
Our focus is Laravel, but our PHP developers can maintain plain PHP, CodeIgniter or older custom frameworks, and often migrate such code into Laravel gradually. For WordPress or WooCommerce work, we would usually assign a developer who specialises in WordPress instead.
Livewire, Inertia or a separate front-end?
It depends on your team and product. Livewire keeps everything in PHP and suits admin-heavy apps. Inertia with Vue or React gives a single-page feel without a separate API. A separate React or Next.js front-end makes sense when you also need a public API or mobile apps.
How quickly can a Laravel developer start?
Usually within a week, depending on availability and how well a developer's experience matches your application, for example Filament, multi-tenancy or a specific payment gateway. If the best match needs a little longer, we will tell you honestly and let you decide whether to wait.
What if the Laravel developer is not the right fit?
If a Laravel developer is not working out, say so and we will replace the developer at no extra charge. The replacement picks up from your tickets and our shared notes. The one-week paid pilot also lets you check the fit on real work before any monthly commitment.
Can you work with our hosting and deployment setup?
Yes. Our developers deploy through Laravel Forge, Envoyer, GitHub Actions, cPanel or your own Docker and Kubernetes setup. Production access stays with you; we can work only through pull requests and your pipeline if you prefer not to share server credentials.
Are you a PHP development company or a staffing agency?
Both, in a way. As a Laravel development company in India we build complete applications for our own clients, and the same developers are available to join your team. So when you hire PHP developers in India from us, you get someone we employ and review, not an anonymous pool of offshore PHP developers found for the occasion.
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Hire Laravel developers from RED SAG
Share a few lines about your idea. We reply within one working day with questions, a rough budget and the next step, with no obligation.
- Reply within one working day
- Fixed-price quote, no obligation
- You own the code and the data
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