Laravel vs Symfony - Comparison Table
Philosophy Developer-friendly, batteries included Configurable, flexible, reusable components
Learning Curve Easier for beginners Steeper, more advanced concepts
Structure Convention over configuration Configuration over convention
Routing Simple and concise (via route files) Powerful, uses annotations, YAML, or PHP config
Templating Engine Blade Twig
ORM Eloquent (active record pattern) Doctrine (data mapper pattern)
Dependency Injection Simplified, auto-injected Very robust DI container, more manual setup
Speed & Performance Slightly slower in large-scale apps Optimized for performance and scalability
Community Huge, more beginner-focused Strong, more enterprise-level
Default Features Many pre-built tools (Auth, Queues, Mail, etc.)
Minimal by default, install what you need
Flexibility Less flexible, more opinionated Highly flexible, build exactly what you need
Modularity Monolithic with optional packages Component-based, can use standalone Symfony
Command Line Tool Artisan Symfony CLI
Testing PHPUnit + Laravel helpers Built-in PHPUnit + very advanced testing support
Best For Rapid development, startups, smaller to midComplex,
apps large-scale, enterprise-level application
Documentation Beginner-friendly, lots of tutorials Professional, detailed but can be dense