Last Updated on 2026-02-10
Your engineering team wants to rewrite everything in Node.js. Your board questioned why you’re still using PHP in 2026. Meanwhile, Etsy handles billions of requests daily on PHP.
Someone’s lying about what actually works.
Here’s the truth about why companies still use PHP: PHP hasn’t been dying for 15 years—it’s been running 77% of websites while developers argued about its death on Reddit. The language everyone claims “nobody uses” somehow powers Slack, Wikipedia, and 40% of the internet’s top sites.
CTOs defending why companies still use PHP already know this. The “PHP is dead” noise came from developers chasing resume keywords, not from companies trying to ship products.
- ✓ Why 77% of websites still run PHP despite the "death" narrative
- ✓ Real numbers: PHP vs. Node.js hiring timelines and costs
- ✓ How to evaluate if migration makes business sense
- ✓ Framework for defending why companies still use PHP to boards
- ✓ Why offshore PHP hiring beats local recruitment
Why Everyone Says PHP Is Dead (But Why Companies Still Use PHP Works)
PHP has been declared dead more times than a soap opera character. Yet it keeps showing up for work.
The “PHP is dead” narrative started around 2010. Developers discovered Node.js could run JavaScript on servers. Python gained machine learning credibility. Ruby on Rails looked elegant.
PHP just kept powering more websites.
The narrative came from three places. Stack Overflow’s developer survey shows PHP isn’t “loved” by developers. That’s accurate. The same survey shows PHP ranks 6th in actual usage.
Developers want trendy languages. Companies need languages that ship products. These aren’t the same thing.
Hacker News and Reddit amplified the noise. WordPress security vulnerabilities from 2012 got blamed on PHP itself. Legacy PHP 5 code became proof that the language failed.
Modern PHP frameworks got ignored completely.
Current PHP Usage Statistics (2026)
According to W3Techs, PHP powers 77% of all websites with known server-side languages as of February 2026. This market share remained stable between 75-79% for the past decade.
The global PHP developer population sits at 5.2 million developers (Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 2024). Compare that to Node.js at 2 million. That’s why companies still use PHP—the talent pool is 2-3X larger.
Laravel, the leading PHP framework, has 70,000+ GitHub stars. The framework ecosystem proves why companies still use PHP for modern applications.
WordPress alone powers 43% of all websites globally. This single PHP application drives massive developer demand.
Enterprise adoption tells the real story. Etsy handles billions of daily requests on PHP. Slack serves 10+ million users with a PHP backend. Wikipedia, Tumblr, and Mailchimp run production systems on PHP.
These aren’t small hobby projects.
PHP market share remained remarkably stable from 2020 through 2026. The narrative of decline doesn’t match deployment data. That’s why companies still use PHP—it works.
"PHP didn't die. It became boring. Boring means stable, predictable, and proven. Boring means you hire developers who ship products instead of chasing framework-of-the-month. The languages that actually die stop evolving. PHP 8.3 has JIT compilation, union types, and performance rivaling Node. That's not dead—that's unfashionable on Hacker News." — Matt Watson, CEO Full Scale
Understanding why the narrative is wrong matters less than understanding why the reality works. Let’s examine the business case that boards actually care about—the real reasons why companies still use PHP.
Why Companies Still Use PHP: The Business Case Nobody Mentions
Why companies still use PHP in 2026: Mature ecosystems, abundant talent pools, and proven scalability outweigh language trends. PHP offers faster hiring (14-60 days vs. 90+ for Node), 60% lower costs offshore, extensive framework support, and 28 years of production-tested libraries. Business pragmatism—shipping products and scaling teams—matters more than developer sentiment.
Most PHP defense focuses on technical features. That misses the point completely. Boards care about business outcomes.
Talent Availability Creates Massive Advantages
The global developer market has 5.2 million PHP developers. Node.js has 2 million. Python web developers number 1.5 million. PHP’s talent pool is 2-3X larger. This explains why companies still use PHP.
What this means for hiring:
- PHP developer hiring: 30-45 days average (US markets)
- Node.js developer hiring: 60-90 days average
- Senior PHP developers: More available (longer language history)
- Offshore PHP hiring (Philippines): 14-21 days at Full Scale
Larger talent pools create competitive advantages. You fill positions faster. You have salary negotiating leverage. You find experienced developers who’ve shipped products.
The Philippines has 350,000+ PHP developers. Eastern Europe adds 800,000+. Latin America contributes 300,000+.
Full Scale’s proprietary hiring data shows clear patterns. PHP developers pass technical assessments at a 78% rate. Node developers: 71%. Python developers: 75%.
Why? Larger pools mean better selection. Companies looking to hire offshore development teams benefit significantly from PHP’s abundant talent availability.
Total Cost of Ownership Tells the Real Story
Development costs extend beyond salaries. TCO includes hiring time, onboarding complexity, and opportunity costs.
Direct cost comparisons (2026 data):
- US PHP developer salary: $95,000-$140,000 annually
- Offshore PHP developer (Philippines): $35,000-$55,000 annually
- Cost savings: 60-65% with equivalent quality
- Hiring timeline savings: 45-75 days
Opportunity cost matters more than salary differences. Rewriting working PHP applications typically costs $1.5-5M. Timeline: 12-24 months. During that timeframe, you ship zero new features.
Every month spent rewriting represents lost product development. If each major feature generates $500K revenue, and you’d normally ship 6-8 features in 18 months, that’s $3-4M opportunity cost.
Add the $2M rewrite budget. Total cost: $5-6M. This is why companies still use PHP—economics favor pragmatism.
Framework maturity creates hidden savings. Laravel provides out-of-the-box authentication, queues, caching, and APIs. Symfony offers enterprise-grade components with 4-year LTS releases.
Time-to-market advantages compound.
Proven Scalability Beats Theoretical Benchmarks
Let’s examine real production deployments. This is why companies still use PHP at scale.
Etsy processes billions of requests daily on PHP. Their architecture handles $2.7B annual revenue. They upgraded to PHP 7, saw 50%+ performance improvements, and never looked back.
Etsy’s engineering team tried HHVM and achieved “rocketship” performance. Those lessons fed into PHP 7 improvements. PHP scales to billions of requests without rewrites.
Slack serves 10+ million daily users with a PHP backend. Their hybrid PHP/Hack architecture handles massive concurrency. They didn’t need migration to “solve scale problems.”
WordPress.com demonstrates internet-scale PHP deployment. Serving 409 million monthly visitors. Handling billions of requests. These companies show why companies still use PHP—it works at any traffic level.
| Factor | PHP | Node.js | Python (Web) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global Developer Pool | 5.2M developers | 2.0M developers | 1.5M developers |
| Average Hire Timeline (US) | 30-45 days | 60-90 days | 45-75 days |
| US Salary Range | $95K-$140K | $110K-$165K | $105K-$155K |
| Offshore Cost (Philippines) | $35K-$55K | $45K-$70K | $40K-$65K |
| Enterprise Examples | Etsy, Slack, WordPress | Netflix, PayPal, LinkedIn | Instagram, Spotify |
This table shows why companies still use PHP clearly. Larger talent pools. Faster hiring. Lower costs. Proven enterprise deployment.
When Developer Preferences Override Business Needs
Your developers want to rewrite in Node.js. They say PHP is outdated. They claim “nobody good” uses PHP anymore.
Here’s what they actually mean: “I want Node.js on my resume for my next job interview.” This is resume-driven development.
Resume-driven development happens when technology choices prioritize career positioning over business needs. It’s not malicious. Developers optimize for their careers.
Common patterns emerge:
- “Nobody uses X anymore” (but usage statistics show otherwise)
- “We can’t hire for X” (but you have a team of X developers)
- “X is faster/better” (but you haven’t hit current limits)
- “Everyone is moving to Y” (but that’s selection bias from tech Twitter)
Evaluating Technology Change Requests
When your team requests technology migrations, ask specific questions. This helps you understand why companies still use PHP instead of chasing trends.
Question 1: What specific problem does our current stack prevent us from solving?
Vague answers (“it’s just better”) signal resume-driven development. Specific answers (“we can’t handle X at scale”) deserve investigation.
Question 2: What’s the opportunity cost?
Calculate features not shipped during rewrite time. Estimate revenue impact. Compare against rewrite benefits.
An 18-month rewrite means 18 months without major features. Competitors ship features. You ship nothing.
Question 3: What’s the actual talent landscape?
Can you hire for the proposed stack? What are realistic timelines? How do costs compare? Understanding why companies still use PHP often reveals better talent availability.
When Migration Actually Makes Sense (Rare)
Four scenarios justify technology migrations:
A specific technical limitation exists. The current stack fundamentally cannot solve a business-critical problem. New stack definitely solves it.
Example: Need real-time WebSocket handling at massive scale, and PHP’s limitations create genuine problems.
Talent pool genuinely exhausted. You literally cannot hire ANY qualified developers. Not “fewer applicants” but actual zero. This almost never happens with PHP’s 5.2M global developers.
The ecosystem reached a dead end. Framework abandoned. No security updates. Community collapsed. Laravel and Symfony are nowhere near this state.
Acquisition requirement. Parent company mandates technology standardization.
If fewer than three criteria are met, you’re dealing with resume-driven development. This understanding reinforces why companies still use PHP—business pragmatism wins.
⚠️ The Reality Check
"I've been CTO four times. Every single time, developers lobbied to rewrite in the new hot framework. You know what successful CTOs did? They said no. They invested in modernizing the existing stack, hired senior developers who'd shipped products, and kept teams focused on customer value. The unsuccessful CTOs? They approved the rewrite. Eighteen months later, they'd burned $2M, shipped nothing new, and competitors had eaten their lunch." — Matt Watson
Your team’s objections often cite “outdated PHP” as reasoning. But their mental model is probably outdated, too. Let’s update it with why companies still use PHP in 2026.
Modern PHP Reality: What Changed Since 2015
Your mental model of PHP might be decades out of date. PHP 8.3 doesn’t resemble PHP 5.6. This is why companies still use PHP—it has evolved. This evolution proves PHP is still relevant in 2026 for enterprise applications.
PHP 8.X Performance Revolution
PHP 8.0 introduced JIT (Just-In-Time) compilation. This brought 2-3X performance improvements for CPU-intensive tasks. PHP 8.3 performs within 10-15% of Node.js on most benchmarks.
Tumblr reported a 50% response time improvement after upgrading to PHP 8. Not from architecture changes. Just from the version upgrade.
Type Safety and Modern Features
PHP evolved from a dynamically-typed scripting language to a gradual typing system:
// PHP 5.6 (Old)
function process($value) {
if (is_int($value) || is_float($value)) {
return calculate($value);
}
}
// PHP 8.3 (Modern)
function process(int|float $value): float {
return calculate($value);
}
Union types, intersection types, readonly properties, and never type arrived. You can add types incrementally. This modern approach is why companies still use PHP—gradual migration without rewrites.
Async Capabilities Most Don’t Know About
The “PHP can’t do async” myth persists despite multiple solutions:
- Fibers (PHP 8.1): Built-in async primitives
- Swoole extension: Async I/O, WebSockets, coroutines
- ReactPHP: Event-driven, non-blocking architecture
Modern PHP handles concurrency fine.
Most PHP criticism references museum exhibits from 2010. Languages evolve. Ecosystems mature. This evolution explains why companies still use PHP—it keeps improving.
Laravel and Symfony Framework Maturity
Laravel transformed the PHP development experience. Eloquent ORM works elegantly. Artisan CLI handles code generation. Livewire builds dynamic UIs without JavaScript complexity. 30+ first-party packages solve common needs.
Symfony serves enterprise requirements. Component-based architecture. Four-year LTS releases. Professional support from SensioLabs. Used by Spotify, BlaBlaCar, and Trivago.
Both frameworks prove PHP’s modern capabilities. This maturity is why companies still use PHP for new projects.
When developers say “PHP is slow,” ask if they’ve used PHP 8 with Opcache and Laravel. Usually no. When they claim “PHP can’t do async,” ask about Swoole or Fibers. Usually: “What are those?”
Most PHP criticism relies on outdated information. This gap between perception and reality explains why companies still use PHP while developers debate its death.
The migration decision often hinges on one question: “Can we even hire PHP developers?” The answer surprises most CTOs and further validates why companies still use PHP.
The PHP Developer Hiring Reality in 2026
The “PHP developer shortage” narrative contradicts actual market data. Let’s examine why companies still use PHP from a talent perspective.
Global Talent Distribution
Total PHP developers worldwide: 5.2+ million. Node.js developers: 2 million. Python web developers: 1.5 million. PHP maintains a 2-3X larger talent pool.
Geographic breakdown:
- Philippines: 350,000+ PHP developers
- Eastern Europe: 800,000+ PHP developers
- Latin America: 300,000+ PHP developers
- United States: 450,000+ PHP developers
Full Scale’s Proprietary Hiring Data
Based on 500+ developer placements since 2017, here’s why companies still use PHP for offshore development:
Average time-to-hire:
- PHP (Laravel/Symfony): 14-21 days
- Node.js: 35-45 days
- Python (Django/FastAPI): 30-40 days
Quality metrics from assessments:
- PHP developers: 78% pass rate
- Node developers: 71% pass rate
- Python developers: 75% pass rate
Why PHP hiring runs faster: A Larger talent pool means better selection. More senior developers are available. The Philippines specializes in WordPress/e-commerce. Framework maturity, especially with Laravel.
Understanding how to manage offshore development teams effectively helps companies maximize these hiring advantages.
Philippines PHP Advantage
WordPress ecosystem dominance: 40%+ of websites use WordPress globally. This created a massive PHP training infrastructure. E-commerce specialization through WooCommerce, Shopify, and Magento.
Cost-quality balance: Senior developers cost $35K-$55K annually versus $120K-$150K US equivalent. Same technical capabilities. Excellent English communication. Reliable infrastructure.
Implementing proper staff augmentation onboarding processes ensures PHP developers integrate seamlessly into existing teams within 14 days.
The “PHP developer shortage” is a US tech hub problem, not a global reality. When clients ask why companies still use PHP, given hiring concerns, we present 3-5 vetted senior Laravel/Symfony developers within two weeks.
The Philippines alone has 350,000+ PHP developers. Compare 90-day US hiring timelines and $140K average salaries. The talent exists globally.
PHP’s “uncoolness” makes hiring easier. Resume-driven developers chase Node and Python jobs. Meanwhile, experienced senior PHP developers who’ve scaled production systems are available at 60% lower cost with 3X faster hiring.
This hiring advantage is a key reason why companies still use PHP—practical talent acquisition beats theoretical language debates. Now let’s see these principles in production environments.
Why Partner with Full Scale for PHP Development
Most companies discover offshore PHP development after local hiring fails. They’ve spent 90+ days searching. They’ve lost candidates to salary competition.
Full Scale solves this specifically. Understanding why companies still use PHP helps us build better teams.
What makes our approach different:
- Pre-Vetted PHP Talent Pool: Access 350,000+ Philippines-based developers maintained through Laravel and Symfony specialist relationships
- 14-21 Day Hiring Timeline: Not 90 days. Two to three weeks from requirements to onboarded developer
- Direct Integration Model: Your developers work directly with your team. No project manager middlemen. Daily standups, Slack access, full integration
- 95% Retention Rate: Our developers stay because we treat them as team members. Competitive salaries in the local market. Career development paths
- Month-to-Month Flexibility: No long-term contracts. Scale up during launches. Scale down between initiatives
- Cost Efficiency Without Quality Trade-Offs: Senior PHP developers at $35K-$55K annually. Same capabilities as $120K-$150K US developers
We’ve placed 500+ developers since 2017. We understand why companies still use PHP—and how to build teams that leverage this advantage.
Ready to Build Your PHP Team?
Get vetted PHP developers integrated into your team within 2-3 weeks. No lengthy recruitment process. No hiring risks.
Start Hiring PHP DevelopersPHP Isn't Dead—It's Just Unfashionable (And That's a Feature)
PHP “died” on Hacker News, not in production. Understanding why companies still use PHP reveals the gap between developer sentiment and business reality.
The core thesis: 77% of websites, 5.2M developers, enterprise scale across billions of requests. Modern PHP 8.3 rivals Node/Python in features and performance. Business case (talent, maturity, cost) beats developer sentiment.
The Real Competitive Advantage
Why companies still use PHP creates actual business advantages:
✅ Filters out resume-driven developers
✅ Larger talent pool means better selection
✅ Faster hiring timelines save quarters
✅ Lower costs without quality compromise
✅ Avoids rewrite trap killing companies
✅ Lets you ship products, not debate languages
Developers are dismissing PHP optimization for their next job. Developers choosing PHP optimize for shipping products.
The Contrarian Truth
The best technology decisions are boring. Boring means proven, stable, staffable, predictable. Boring means you spend time on customer problems, not framework problems.
PHP is boring. That’s exactly why companies still use PHP—and why it’s the right choice.
We’ve built 100+ development teams. Companies that succeed ship features consistently, scale teams predictably, control costs intelligently, and focus on business outcomes.
PHP checks all boxes. Especially when you hire senior PHP developers offshore in 14 days at 60% cost savings.
That’s not settling. That’s strategic. That’s why companies still use PHP.
Choose Business Outcomes Over Developer Sentiment
Great CTOs ship products, scale teams, and hit business objectives. They understand why companies still use PHP—pragmatism beats trends.
Nobody got fired for choosing PHP when it powered their successful product. They got fired for spending 18 months rewriting working applications while competitors shipped features.
Your decision framework should prioritize:
Question 1: Does this help us ship products faster?
Question 2: Can we hire and retain quality developers?
Question 3: Does it reduce operational risk?
Question 4: What’s the total cost of ownership over 3-5 years?
Question 5: Will this decision make sense in 3 years?
Why companies still use PHP answers these questions favorably. Node and Python have their place. But for web applications serving customers, PHP’s proven track record, abundant talent, and mature ecosystem create competitive advantages.
The noise about “PHP is dead” will continue. Meanwhile, you’ll be shipping features customers pay for. Using technology that works. At costs that make CFOs happy.
That’s how businesses win. That’s why companies still use PHP.
Build Your PHP Team the Smart Way
Stop debating technology stacks. Start shipping products with senior PHP developers who integrate directly into your team.
✓ Vetted senior developers in 14-21 days
✓ 60-65% cost savings vs. US hiring
✓ Direct team integration, no middlemen
✓ 95% retention rate, proven results
✓ Month-to-month flexibility
No long-term contracts. No hiring risk. Just developers who ship.
No. PHP powers 77% of websites with known server-side languages, runs platforms handling billions of daily requests, and has 5.2M+ global developers. PHP 8.3 includes modern features like JIT compilation, union types, and async capabilities. “PHP is dead” reflects developer sentiment, not usage reality. Companies still use PHP because it works at scale.
The data contradicts the narrative completely. Market share remained stable at 75-79% throughout the past decade. Major enterprises continue choosing PHP for new projects.
Only if PHP has specific technical limitations blocking critical business objectives. Most migrations fail (70% exceed budget/timeline), cost $1.5M-5M, take 12-24 months, and deliver zero customer value during rewrites. Consider modernizing PHP instead: upgrade to 8.3, adopt Laravel/Symfony, and improve architecture. Costs 80% less, ships features during the process. This is why companies still use PHP—modernization beats migration.
Calculate opportunity cost carefully. Every month, rewriting represents lost product development.
Yes. PHP has 5.2M+ developers globally—2-3X larger talent pool than Node or Python. Average US hiring timeline for PHP: 60-90 days. Offshore (Philippines, Eastern Europe): 14-30 days. PHP’s “uncoolness” filters out resume-driven developers, leaving experienced engineers who ship products. Salary advantage: 40-60% lower than equivalent Node/Python developers offshore. This abundant talent is why companies still use PHP.
Full Scale data shows consistent patterns. PHP developers pass technical assessments at a 78% rate.
Frame in business terms: “PHP offers 3X larger talent pool, faster hiring, lower costs, and proven enterprise scalability. Etsy ($2.7B revenue), Slack (10M users), and WordPress (43% of websites) run on PHP. Rewriting working code would cost $2M+ and 18 months with zero customer value delivered. Our focus should be product development, not technology fashion.” This business case explains why companies still use PHP.
Boards care about risk, staffability, and business outcomes. Technical elegance doesn’t matter.
PHP 8 is fundamentally different: 2-3X faster (JIT compiler), strong type system (union types, readonly properties), modern syntax (attributes, enums, match expressions), async capabilities (Fibers), improved error handling. If your mental model is PHP 5.6, you’re operating on decade-old information. Modern PHP rivals Node/Python in features and performance. This evolution is why companies still use PHP—it keeps improving.
The gap between PHP 5.6 and PHP 8.3 resembles jQuery-era JavaScript versus modern React.
Matt Watson is a serial tech entrepreneur who has started four companies and had a nine-figure exit. He was the founder and CTO of VinSolutions, the #1 CRM software used in today’s automotive industry. He has over twenty years of experience working as a tech CTO and building cutting-edge SaaS solutions.
As the CEO of Full Scale, he has helped over 100 tech companies build their software services and development teams. Full Scale specializes in helping tech companies grow by augmenting their in-house teams with software development talent from the Philippines.
Matt hosts Startup Hustle, a top podcast about entrepreneurship with over 6 million downloads. He has a wealth of knowledge about startups and business from his personal experience and from interviewing hundreds of other entrepreneurs.
