Laravel Development Agency for Builds, Upgrades and Rescues
New Laravel and PHP applications built in-house, older ones brought up to a supported version, and abandoned ones taken over, with the code assigned to you when we're done.
At a glance
- 5.0 from 50 Google reviews
- In-house PHP developers in Long Eaton
- Laravel 13 ready
- Bespoke builds from £5,000
Vimana Digital is a Laravel development agency in the East Midlands building, upgrading and rescuing Laravel and PHP applications for UK businesses: portals, CRMs, booking systems and SaaS products. Bespoke websites start from £5,000, applications are quoted after a short discovery, and most builds take four to eight weeks. Prices exclude VAT. You own the code on completion.
- Bespoke websites start from
- £5,000
- Most builds take
- 4–8weeks
What a Laravel development agency does
Laravel is a framework for PHP, the language that runs most of the web. A framework is a tested set of building blocks (logins, databases, payments, email, security) so developers spend their time on your business logic rather than re-inventing the basics. Here's what we use it for:
- New web applicationscustomer portals, quoting tools, booking systems and internal dashboards. Part of our web development service.
- Business systemsbespoke CRMs, operations software and custom CMS platforms, scoped on our software development pages.
- SaaS productsLaravel is our default stack for subscription software, with Stripe billing and multi-tenancy. See SaaS development.
- Upgradesmoving Laravel 9, 10, 11 or 12 applications to Laravel 13 before their security support ends.
- Rescue and takeoverauditing and continuing an application another developer built or abandoned.
- APIs and integrationsconnecting Laravel applications to Xero, Sage, Stripe, courier services and your website.
- Hosting and maintenanceon our hosting or in your own AWS or Azure account, with monitoring through website management.
Which Laravel version should you be on, and why it matters
Every Laravel release has a fixed life. When it ends, security problems found afterwards are not fixed in that version, so an application that still works perfectly can quietly become a risk.
| Version | Released | Bug fixes until | Security fixes until | PHP versions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laravel 13 | 17 March 2026 | 2027 | 17 March 2028 | 8.3 to 8.5 |
| Laravel 12 | 2025 | 13 August 2026 (ended) | 24 February 2027 | 8.2 to 8.4 |
| Laravel 11 and earlier | 2024 and before | Ended | Ended | Older PHP |
Source: Laravel release schedule, Laravel News, seen 9 October 2026.
What that table means in practice:
- If your app is on Laravel 12It has stopped receiving bug fixes and has a few months of security cover left. Plan the upgrade now; it is a small job today and a bigger one once two versions have passed.
- If it's on Laravel 11 or olderIt is already unsupported. Many applications in this state also run on a PHP version your host is about to retire.
- Upgrades are rarely rewritesMost are a day or two of dependency work, a test run and a staged deployment. The exceptions are apps with many abandoned third-party packages, which we find in the audit, not after we've quoted.
The rate question, answered honestly. UK Laravel contractors' median day rate was £410 in the six months to 9 October 2026 (ITJobsWatch, 2026), while UK agencies commonly publish day rates of £600 to £900 (Softomate, 2026). A contractor suits a defined task inside a team that already has a product owner and a tester. We quote fixed prices for defined scope instead of day rates, for businesses that don't have those people in-house.
Not sure what version you're on? Book a free 20-minute call and we'll show you how to find out.
Get a quoteLaravel vs WordPress vs plain PHP: which should you use?
Short answer: WordPress for content sites your team edits daily, Laravel for anything people log in to and act on, plain PHP only when there's a good reason. We build all three and will tell you which one fits before quoting.
| WordPress | Laravel | Plain PHP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Brochure sites, blogs, standard shops | Portals, CRMs, booking, SaaS, custom admin panels | Small bespoke sites with little logic |
| Who edits content | Your team, familiar editor | Your team, through a panel we build for your content | Your team, through a panel we build |
| Adding features | Install a plugin | A developer codes it | A developer codes it |
| Security surface | Core is solid; plugins are the risk (91% of 2025 vulnerabilities, Patchstack) | No plugin ecosystem; CSRF, SQL injection and authentication protection built in | Depends entirely on the developer |
| Typical Vimana price | From around £1,000 | From £5,000 for websites; applications quoted after discovery | From £5,000 |
| Learn more | WordPress web design | This page | Web development |
One thing the old version of this page overstated: "Laravel is more secure than WordPress" is only true if someone keeps Laravel updated. An unmaintained Laravel 9 app is not safer than a well-managed WordPress site.
PHP and Laravel applications we've built
Notts County FoundationA new PHP platform for Notts County FC's official charity with a bespoke CRM, bespoke donation software replacing a subscription plugin, and an in-house accessibility toolkit, built to WCAG 2.2.
LoopCoBespoke PHP platform and custom CRM that creates client campaigns, routes QR codes, captures engagement and gives each client their own login to see results.
NOPE GroupBespoke PHP website with a custom CMS panel and an emissions calculator used in sales conversations.
Bradgate Financial SolutionsRebuilt as bespoke PHP so new mortgage pages could be added as search opportunities appeared; hosted by us since, and now cited in Google's AI Overviews for Leicester mortgage searches.
"Great service and results.. fully recommended built our website for NOPE-Group"
Mr Collins, Google review"Amit is very knowledgeable and has been very patient with us, responding quickly to any changes we have asked for (and there has been a lot of changes!)."
Excel Process Systems Ltd, Google review
How we upgrade or take over a Laravel application
For new builds the order differs (discovery, specification with screens, fixed price, staged build with demos, QA, handover); the full version is on our web development page.
- 1AuditFramework and PHP versions, third-party packages and whether each is still maintained, test coverage, hosting costs, and anything that looks like a security problem. You get a written summary.
- 2Dependency planWhich packages upgrade cleanly, which need replacing, and which features depend on them. This is where surprises are found, so they aren't surprises later.
- 3Tests around what mattersBefore changing anything, we add automated tests around logins, payments and the workflows your business can't afford to break.
- 4Staged upgrade on a copyOne major version at a time, on a copy of the application, never on the live system.
- 5Quality assuranceFunctional, device and performance checks through our website testing service.
- 6Deploy and monitorA planned switch-over, usually outside your busy hours, with a rollback ready and monitoring for the first days.
How much does Laravel development cost?
Bespoke website on Laravel or PHP
From£5,000
- Context: Most agencies quote £3,000 to £10,000 for bespoke sites (UK agency pages, 2026)
Web application, portal or SaaS MVP
Quoted after discovery
- Context: UK SaaS MVP ranges £25,000 to £60,000; CRM builds £8,000 to £35,000 (agency published ranges, 2026)
Laravel upgrade (one or two major versions)
Quoted after audit
- Context: Contractor day rate median £410 (ITJobsWatch, 2026)
Hosting and maintenance
Hosting from£120a year; management from £50 a month (paid annually) for standard sites; application plans agreed
Typical timelines: four to eight weeks for a bespoke website or focused application; upgrades in days rather than weeks; larger systems phased. We give a written timeline with every quote.
Laraveldevelopmentquestions, answered
Not covered here? Call and ask. We reply within 24 hours.
What is Laravel, and why do agencies build with it?
Laravel is an open-source framework for PHP, the language behind most of the web. It gives developers tested building blocks for logins, databases, queues, payments and security, so a business application can be built faster and maintained by any PHP developer. Vimana uses it for portals, CRMs, SaaS products and custom content systems.
Is Laravel better than WordPress?
For different jobs. WordPress is the right choice for brochure sites and blogs your team edits daily, and we build those too. Laravel wins when customers or staff log in and do something: quoting, booking, trade accounts, campaign management. It has no plugin ecosystem to patch, but every feature has to be coded.
How much does Laravel development cost in the UK?
Bespoke websites with Vimana start from £5,000. Web applications, portals and SaaS products are quoted after a short discovery phase because cost depends on user types, screens and integrations. For context, UK Laravel contractors' median day rate was £410 in the six months to October 2026 (ITJobsWatch).
How long does a Laravel project take?
Typically four to eight weeks for a bespoke website or a focused application, longer for systems with several integrations. An upgrade from Laravel 10 or 11 to 13 usually takes days rather than weeks, depending on how many packages the app depends on. We give a written timeline with the quote.
Which Laravel version should my application be on?
Laravel 13, released on 17 March 2026, which receives security fixes until 17 March 2028 and runs on PHP 8.3 to 8.5. Laravel 12 stopped receiving bug fixes in August 2026 and loses security support on 24 February 2027. Anything older is already unsupported and should be upgraded (Laravel News, 2026).
Can you upgrade an old Laravel application?
Yes. We audit the current version, PHP version and third-party packages, write a dependency plan, add tests around the critical paths, upgrade in staged steps on a copy of the app, then run our QA process before switching over. Most upgrades complete without any change your users would notice.
Can you take over a Laravel app another developer built?
Yes, after a code and infrastructure review. We check framework and PHP versions, security, test coverage, hosting costs and documentation, then give you a written view of what is sound and what needs work before quoting. Sometimes the honest answer is a partial rebuild, and we will say so.
Is Laravel a good choice for a SaaS product?
Yes, and it's our default. Laravel includes queues, scheduled jobs, notifications and Stripe subscription billing through its Cashier package, plus well-supported multi-tenancy packages for keeping customers' data separate. See our SaaS development page for how we scope a minimum viable product and what it costs to run.
Do you also do plain PHP development without a framework?
Yes. Several of our bespoke builds, including the NOPE and Notts County Foundation platforms, are custom PHP . We recommend Laravel for anything with logins, payments or an admin panel, because its security and structure are already tested, but we work in the PHP you already have.
Will I own the Laravel code?
Yes. Source code, repositories and hosting accounts are assigned to you on final payment, with documentation so any PHP developer can maintain it. Laravel itself is MIT-licensed open source, so there are no framework fees, and you are free to use us or anyone else afterwards.
Tell us what the application needs to do, or what it's stopped doing
Whether it's a new build, an upgrade before February 2027, or an app whose developer has gone quiet, send us the details and we'll come back with a straight answer and a fixed price.
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Author: Amit Saini, founder and lead developer, Vimana Digital. Last reviewed: 9 October 2026
- 0115 647 0444
- contact@vimanadigital.com
- Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm
- 1 Union Street, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 1HH
"Over the years I've worked in more than 100 countries and with some of the biggest agencies in the world and none were as fast and keen as Vimana." — Paul Harvey, Icarus Media, Google review