Laravel and Zend are two of the most popular PHP frameworks, used by countless developers working on web applications. But choosing between them can be difficult — so we’ve created the following expert guide to help make it easier.

Below, we will explore Laravel and Zend in detail, compare them based on various key factors, and provide you with the information you need to make a decision.

Zend vs Laravel: What are the Advantages and Disadvantages?

Developers can use PHP, a server-side scripting language, to create web applications that are either static or dynamic. Fortunately, PHP is fairly simple to learn and understand.

Zend and Laravel are outstanding PHP frameworks, but many people will have no idea which one to use when creating a web app.

One of the first things to do before making a decision is to compare the pros and cons of both frameworks.

Using Laravel: The Benefits and Drawbacks

Laravel was created by Taylor Otwell and first launched in 2011. It is written in PHP, built on Model-view-Controller (MVC) architecture, and has an MIT license.

Two of the most important features are the simplicity and user-friendly design. It has one of the most robust MVC frameworks for developing PHP web applications, and as it is so secure, Laravel is suitable for all apps that may be vulnerable to security threats.

Advantages of Laravel

• Laravel’s documentation is of the highest standard, covering everything you need to know about every component and to create a web app.
• Laravel offers incredible support for constructing restful services. It allows you to handle CRUD processes and add APIs easily.
• It is equipped with an in-built Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) known as Eloquent ORM. This offers terrific support for connecting to MySQL, SQLite, and other databases.
• Laravel includes an in-built command-line interface (CLI), Artisan, which developers can use for executing code, migrating databases, and starting projects.
• Laravel developers can be hired as Laravel provides an authorized, authenticated framework right out of the box.
• With Laravel, learning your project is simple — and so is giving it a kickstart!
• There are no tough rules on project structure with Laravel. Instead, it gives developers flexibility with how they structure code.
• You can use Symfony components with Laravel, many of which have been tested and can be integrated with ease.
• Blade, Laravel’s template system, is incredibly strong. While it can be a challenge to write, it is compiled as PHP code and can be utilized directly within the display.
• Events can be managed well with this framework.
• Laravel Elixir is a great framework that allows you to execute Gulp tasks. It supports numerous CSS preprocessors.
• Laravel has a powerful ecosystem of tools built around it.
• This PHP framework offers outstanding community support.

Disadvantages of Laravel

• Due to some of the methods used by Laravel, debugging it is difficult, and there’s a problem with auto-completion too.
• The framework can become bloated due to the sheer number of files created by Laravel. While this doesn’t make an impact on the code’s operating speed, the deployment package size will increase.
• You will have to explicitly model each property yourself when you use the database.
• Its performance is less advanced than Lumen.
• Learning curves in various frameworks in Laravel can be steep.
• Due to the lack of standard design practice, there is no uniformity in code throughout the project.

Using Zend: The Benefits and Drawbacks

What is Zend? It is an object-oriented, open-source, MVC-based PHP framework operating under the BSD license. Zend was first launched in 2006. It incorporates a Front Controller Design Pattern that enables requests based on one controller class.

Zend dependency is on multiple packages, and the package dependency manager makes it easy to arrange and support dependencies. Additionally, the cross-platform operating system is supported, and Zend integrates smoothly with such databases as SQLite and MySQL.

Advantages of Zend

• Zend’s design and architecture follow industry standards, and it has modular code.
• Most of the industry utilizes Zend Enterprise.
• Zend has partnered with global brands such as Microsoft, Google, and IBM.
• This framework is object-oriented, enabling you to inherit predefined classes and expand their functionality.
• Zend offers support for multiple different databases including MySQL, Oracle, and SQLite.
• Components can be customized, as you can inherit them easily and add code.
• Apigility is supported inherently by Zend, which lets you make APIs, configure authentication and authorization, and parse JSON. You can also compose POST and GET calls with ease.
• Zend’s community is robust and helpful.

Disadvantages of Zend

• Zend’s documentation is less well-made and comprehensive than that of other frameworks.
• The learning curve with Zend can be steep.
• The code uniformity can be disturbed because there are so many components included.
• Performance problems arise with regards to SQL queries.
• Compared to Laravel, Zend is capable of handling fewer requests.
• Zend’s response time is fairly weak.

Comparing Zend and Laravel

In this section, we will compare Zend and Laravel’s main features to help you get a clearer idea of how different they are:

Feature	Zend	Laravel
Overview	Zend consists of a combination of several PHP packages.	Developers can use Laravel to create full-stack web applications, where several third-party PHP packages can be integrated.
Framework Configuration	Zend utilizes MVC pattern and offers support for various functions, including dependency injection and database support.	A different type of configuration is used for Laravel, which is necessary for the server to work with the app.
Integrating Packages	Zend supports database integration, covering MySQL, DB2, and more.	You can integrate Laravel with more third-party packages than with Lumen.
Query Executions	Executing SQL queries takes a long time with Zend.	With Laravel, all SQL queries are virtually executed in real time without delay.
Object-Relational Mapping Framework	Zend utilizes doctrine or propel for its ORM specification.	As standard, Laravel’s template engine is Blade.
CLI Options	Zend has the in-built “command-line tools” tool in its framework.	Laravel includes a dedicated command-line interface.
Availability of Restful APIs	Zend offers impressive support for building restful services.	Laravel also has high-quality support for making restful services.
Kickstarting Projects	Numerous languages, including Twig and Smarty, are supported by Zend.	With Laravel, there is a simple document to help you with installing and developing new projects.
Authenticating and Authorizing	Zend includes authentication support, but lacks authorization support.	Authentication and authorization are both supported well by Laravel.
Event Management	When using Zend, you will have to add an event management package yourself.	Event queuing is inherently supported by Laravel.
Template Systems	Fewer template languages are supported by Zend than Laravel.	Laravel includes its own effective template system.
Learning Curve	Zend can be difficult to learn and demands a substantial amount of time to understand it in great detail.	As Laravel also has a steep learning curve, it takes most users time to get used to all of its packages.
Components from Symfony	Zend supports a framework that is similar to Symfony’s.	Laravel includes many Symfony components, which you may use for building Symfony components.

 

What are the Key Differences Between Zend and Laravel?

In this section, we will explore the major differences between Zend and Laravel:

Factor 1: Defining the Framework

Zend

Zend is a strong PHP framework that can be used to build web apps. It includes packages suitable for creating web applications, and is purely object-oriented.

Laravel

Laravel is an impressive MVC-based PHP framework enabling developers to build sophisticated web apps with the Laravel Helper Functions and toolkit. This open-source framework is packed with functionalities.

Factor 2: Functionalities

Zend

This framework is, essentially, a comprehensive, object-oriented set of PHP packages. As it’s open-source, Zend’s community is incredibly active. Its composer is used as the dependency package manager.

Laravel

Laravel has minimum functionalities integrated in the framework directly. It gives you code for various functionalities, including routing, caching, and authentication. It can make developing simple and quick.

Factor 3: Integrating Packages

Zend

Zend is a collection of numerous packages, so if you want to introduce a specific functionality into your configuration, simply add that package. You can integrate PHP packages into Zend quickly and easily.

Laravel

With Laravel, you can add new functionalities by integrating third-party packages into the framework. Just execute the necessary command to integrate a specific functionality into your setup.

Factor 4: Platform Support

Zend

As Zend is cross-platform, it is supported by all available operating systems. Additionally, Zend PHP enterprise software complies with various standards including HIPAA.

Laravel

All platforms support Laravel, and due to its server-side operation, it is simple to communicate with via APIs.

Factor 5: Handling Requests

Zend

Zend is a little slower than Laravel, so it handles less requests per second. As your throughput will be smaller than when using Laravel, web apps can slow down at times.

Laravel

When comparing Laravel to Lumen, the latter can handle more requests. However, you can tweak requests in Laravel easily, as it supports an in-built authorization framework to handle requests as they come in. Requests can be filtered for added convenience.

Factor 6: User Community

Zend

Zend’s community is extremely active: this project is driven by the community and fresh packages are released regularly. If you have any questions you need to be answered, the community forum should be your first port of call. You can also make a contribution to the project if you want to flex your creative muscles.

Laravel

The user community is smaller with Laravel, and support tends to be slower. The community could take some time to provide a fix if you run into a problem.

However, Laravel offers solid support in Stack Overflow, and your questions will typically be answered there.

Factor 7: Licensing

Zend

Zend’s source code has been licensed under MIT, and it is open source. It has been revealed that the project will be shifting to open source under the ‘Laminas’ name.

Laravel

Taylor Otwell built and released Laravel in 2011. It is also licensed by MIT and is open-source.

Factor 8: Speed of Response

Zend

Zend takes longer than Laravel to process requests and loads more slowly. Another reason why Zend’s response time is longer is that you have to integrate several packages before you can run the code.

Laravel

Laravel is capable of processing more requests per second than Zend, so you can expect an impressive response time. Still, when compared to Lumen, Laravel’s response time is somewhat lacking. As web apps created with Laravel are modular, response time is incredibly high too.

Factor 9: General Speed

Zend

When compared to Laravel, Zend is slower: requests are handled less efficiently and pages can take a long time to load fully.

Laravel

This framework processes requests significantly faster than Zend, so it is far more responsive overall. Still, when compared to Lumen, Laravel is a little on the slow side.

Factor 10: Value for Money

Zend

Zend 2 has made writing code for PHP apps easier, and as it is OOP-based, code is both simple to write and maintain. This is particularly helpful when a new development team comes onto a project, as they can get started and underway with ease.

Laravel

Laravel is simple to pick up and start using, so a developer with some experience can become adept at it in just a week or so. You don’t have to learn any specific tools to begin coding with Laravel either.

Key Questions About Zend and Laravel

Here are three common questions about Zend and Laravel:

Is Zend Server a Free Service?

Zend Server is not a free service, though you can take advantage of a 30-day free trial to discover how it works without charge. If you want to keep using Zend Server after the trial ends, you will have to purchase it.

What Number of Requests Can Zend and Laravel Handle Per Second?

With Zend, 559.1 requests can be handled per second.

With Laravel, 609.93 requests can be handled per second.

Can You Learn to Use Laravel Without Knowing About PHP?

Some PHP skill is necessary to learn Laravel and any of the other PHP frameworks available today, including Symfony.

Conclusion

Zend and Laravel are both incredible PHP frameworks that can be used to create a web app. They’re amazingly popular and used by many businesses worldwide, from smaller companies to huge corporations. But Zend and Laravel have their fair share of benefits and drawbacks.

In this guide, we have compared Zend and Laravel in depth, exploring the major differences between them. We have also highlighted the various features included in both PHP frameworks to help you understand what you can expect, whatever your decision.

We hope that our Zend vs Laravel comparison guide has provided you with the information you need to make a concrete decision and choose the right framework for your projects.