Top Laravel PHP Packages to Use in Your Project

Jacques MBABAZI
5 min readSep 7, 2023

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Top laravel packages to use in your larevel application

Laravel, the PHP web application framework, has taken the development world by storm with its elegant syntax and robust features. One of the reasons for its popularity is the vast ecosystem of packages that extend its functionality. In this article, we’ll explore the top 20 Laravel PHP packages that can supercharge your projects and make your development process smoother than ever.

Introduction

Laravel packages are pre-built libraries that you can integrate into your Laravel applications to add specific features or functionality. They save you time and effort by providing ready-made solutions to common development challenges. Let’s dive into the world of Laravel packages and discover some gems you can incorporate into your next project.

1. Authentication Packages

Laravel Passport

Laravel Passport is an official package for API authentication. It simplifies the process of setting up OAuth2 servers, making it a breeze to secure your APIs and allow third-party applications to access your services.

Laravel Sanctum

If you need lightweight API authentication without the complexity of OAuth2, Laravel Sanctum is the way to go. It provides a simple, sessionless authentication system for your APIs.

2. Database Packages

Spatie Laravel Query Builder

GitHub: https://github.com/spatie/laravel-query-builder

This package allows you to filter, sort and include eloquent relations based on a request.

Laravel Scout

Laravel Scout integrates with popular search engines like Algolia and Elasticsearch, enabling full-text search capabilities in your application with minimal effort.

3. UI/UX Packages

Laravel Blade UI Kit

This package enhances your Blade templates with a set of common UI components, making it easier to create beautiful, consistent user interfaces.

https://github.com/blade-ui-kit/blade-ui-kit

Laravel Livewire

Livewire combines the best of PHP and JavaScript to create dynamic, reactive interfaces without writing a single line of JavaScript code.

4. Testing Packages

Laravel Dusk

Dusk is a powerful browser automation and testing tool that allows you to write expressive, browser-based tests for your Laravel applications.

Pest PHP

Pest is a delightful testing framework that provides an elegant and fluent syntax for writing tests. It’s easy to read and write, making testing a joy.

PHPUnit

PHPUnit is a widely used unit testing framework for the PHP programming language. It follows the xUnit architecture for unit testing frameworks, which originated with SUnit and gained popularity with JUnit. PHPUnit was created by Sebastian Bergmann and is actively developed, with its source code hosted on GitHub.

5. Security Packages

Laravel Bouncer

Bouncer is a powerful and flexible package for handling roles and abilities in your Laravel application. It offers fine-grained control over access permissions.

Laravel Security Package

This package provides security-related utilities and enhancements, helping you secure your Laravel application against common threats.

https://github.com/GrahamCampbell/Laravel-Security

6. Performance Packages

Laravel Horizon

Horizon provides real-time monitoring and job queue management, allowing you to easily manage and optimize your application’s performance.

Laravel Telescope

Telescope is an elegant debug assistant for Laravel applications, making it easy to diagnose and fix issues in real-time.

7. Image Handling Packages

Intervention Image

Intervention Image is an open source PHP image handling and manipulation library. It provides an easier and expressive way to create, edit, and compose images and supports currently the two most common image processing libraries GD Library and Imagick.

Laravel Media Library

Media Library offers an easy way to associate files with Eloquent models and handle file uploads and transformations seamlessly.

8. Payment Processing Packages

Laravel Cashier

Cashier simplifies subscription billing and handling of online payments, integrating seamlessly with popular payment gateways.

9. Localization Packages

Laravel Translation

Translation simplifies the process of adding multilingual support to your Laravel application, making your project accessible to a global audience.

Laravel Localization

Localization takes language support to the next level, offering powerful features for translating content and managing locales.

10. SEO Packages

Laravel SEO Tools

Enhance your website’s search engine optimization with this package, which provides tools for managing meta tags, sitemaps, and more.

Laravel Sitemap Generator

Generate dynamic sitemaps for your Laravel application, helping search engines discover and index your content efficiently.

11. Real-Time Communication Packages

Laravel Echo

Laravel Echo facilitates real-time event broadcasting and listening, enabling you to build interactive, live-updating features.

Laravel Websockets

Websockets provide a robust solution for building real-time, WebSocket-based applications in Laravel.

12. Queue Management Packages

Laravel Queue

Laravel Queue simplifies the task of managing and processing background jobs, helping you keep your application responsive.

Laravel Supervisor

Supervisor provides process control for Laravel applications, ensuring that your queue workers are always up and running.

13. Analytics Packages

Laravel Analytics

Track and analyze user behavior with ease

using this package, which integrates with popular analytics services.

Laravel Mixpanel

For those who prefer Mixpanel for analytics, this package offers seamless integration with Laravel.

14. Content Management Packages

Laravel Nova

Nova is a beautifully designed admin panel for Laravel applications, making it a breeze to manage your application’s content.

Laravel Backpack

Backpack extends Nova’s functionality, offering additional features and customization options for your admin panel.

15. Documentation Packages

Laravel API Documentation

Automatically generate API documentation from your code comments, keeping your API users well-informed.

Laravel Docs

Laravel Docs provides an offline version of the official Laravel documentation for easy reference while coding.

16. Search Packages

Laravel Algolia

Integrate Algolia’s powerful search capabilities into your Laravel application for lightning-fast searches.

Laravel Scout Extended

Extend Laravel Scout with additional features and customization options for your search functionality.

17. Reporting Packages

Laravel Excel

Generate Excel and CSV files effortlessly, perfect for generating reports and exporting data.

Laravel Charts

Charts provides a simple and elegant way to create beautiful charts and graphs in your Laravel applications.

18. Miscellaneous Packages

Laravel Notifications

Notifications make it easy to send messages and alerts to users through various channels, such as email and SMS.

Laravel Excel

This package is so useful that it’s worth mentioning twice! It’s a go-to for working with Excel files in your Laravel projects.

Conclusion

In the ever-evolving world of web development, having the right tools at your disposal can make all the difference. The top 20 Laravel PHP packages listed here cover a wide range of needs, from authentication to analytics and beyond. Incorporating these packages into your Laravel projects can boost productivity and help you deliver high-quality applications with ease. Explore these packages, experiment with them, and watch your Laravel development soar to new heights.

FAQs

1. Are Laravel packages free to use?

Most Laravel packages are open-source and free to use. However, always check the licensing terms of each package to ensure compliance.

2. How do I install Laravel packages into my project?

You can install Laravel packages using Composer, the PHP package manager. Simply add the package’s name to your `composer.json` file and run `composer install`.

3. Can I develop my own Laravel packages?

Absolutely! Laravel provides tools and documentation for creating your own packages, allowing you to contribute to the Laravel ecosystem.

4. Are these packages compatible with the latest version of Laravel?

Package compatibility can vary, so it’s essential to check each package’s documentation for information on compatibility with the Laravel version you’re using.

5. Which package should I start with if I’m new to Laravel?

For beginners, start with packages like Laravel Blade UI Kit and Laravel Dusk. They offer user-friendly features and are relatively easy to integrate into your projects.

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Jacques MBABAZI
Jacques MBABAZI

Written by Jacques MBABAZI

Content creator about Laravel and it's ecosystem, Laravel developer with four years of experience. Support me here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/loficoders