A popular PHP framework for creating web apps is Laravel. It is the first choice for many developers due to its expressive syntax, robust features, and extensive package ecosystem. There are several ways to add features to Laravel’s basic functionality, with over 38,898 packages now accessible on Packagist, the official Laravel package repository. You can hire Laravel developers who are skilled at using Laravel packages in your upcoming projects to make use of the packages that are accessible.
According to this publication, here are some of the top Laravel packages you should use in your projects in 2023. With the implementation of often required features and adherence to standard practices, these packages can aid in shortening the development process.
Authentication Packages
Authentication is a common need for most web applications. Laravel comes with a simple authentication system out of the box, but packages are available for more robust authentication functionality.
Laravel Breeze
Laravel Breeze is an official Laravel starter kit that includes authentication scaffolding, registration, login, password reset, email verification and more. It uses Blade templates for the front end and provides a clean starting point for building an app with authentication. Breeze utilizes Laravel Fortify under the hood for the authentication backend implementation.
Laravel Fortify
Laravel Fortify is also an official Laravel package that provides a host of authentication features such as registration, authentication, password reset, email verification, two-factor authentication and more. Laravel Breeze uses it for the authentication system. Fortify can be used directly in projects as well for the authentication backend.
Laravel Jetstream
Laravel Jetstream is a more robust starter kit that includes authentication, registration, email verification, sessions, API support via Laravel Sanctum and frontend scaffolding with Tailwind CSS. It has a more complete user interface out of the box compared to Laravel Breeze.
Authorization Packages
Once users can authenticate, controlling access to different parts of an application is essential. Authorization packages for Laravel can handle permissions and roles.
Laravel Permission
A popular community package is Laravel Permission by Spatie. It allows adding permissions to users and roles, and then protecting routes and controllers based on the assigned permissions. Policies can also be generated to authorize CRUD operations on models.
Laravel ACL
Laravel ACL by Kodeine provides hierarchical role-based access control. It has support for creating roles, permissions, groups, etc. and a UI for managing the permissions. The authorized middleware can be used to control access to routes and controllers.
API Packages
For building JSON APIs, Laravel provides the powerful Laravel Sanctum package for API authentication. Additional packages can enhance the development experience.
Laravel API Resources
This package by Spatie transforms Eloquent models and collections into JSON responses easily. No need to manually convert models – this package handles it automatically. Pagination, filtering, relationships and more are supported out of the box.
Laravel API Doc Generator
Generating API documentation manually is time consuming. This package by mpociot autogenerates Open API documentation from your Laravel API routes, parameters and models. The docs integrate easily with popular tools like Swagger UI.
Admin Panels
For business applications, an admin panel or dashboard is commonly needed. Laravel admin panel packages can instantly provide the backend admin interface.
Voyager
Voyager by TCg/Voyager provides an admin interface with a menu builder, model CRUD, bread (browse, read, edit, add, delete) operations, media manager and more. All configurable via an intuitive GUI – no need to manually code backends.
Quick Admin Panel
This paid package by Laravel Daily generates a full admin panel with role-based access control, menu builder, themes and over 40 custom page templates like user management, eCommerce, analytics and more. Ideal for quickly scaffolding feature-rich admin backends.
Development Tools
Some useful packages exist to improve the development workflow. These tools can boost productivity when building Laravel apps.
Laravel Debug bar
The Laravel Debug bar by Barryvdh displays useful debugging data like queries, request data, logs, events, views, etc. It integrates seamlessly and provides insights for debugging and optimization.
Laravel IDE Helper Generator
This package by Barryvdh generates helper files for IDEs that allow for auto-completion on Laravel facades, models, etc. Very useful for improving workflow and efficiency in Laravel projects.
Laravel Telescope
Telescope by Laravel provides insight into requests, exceptions, logs, dumps, queries, models, mail, notifications, cache operations, scheduled tasks and more. Like a dashboard for drilling into application runtime data.
Utilities
Some general utility packages provide useful tools and extra functions to Laravel apps.
Laravel Activity Log
By Spatie, this package logs activity like created models, edited entries, and more so admins can audit user actions. Activity feeds can also be implemented.
Laravel Nova
Nova by Laravel provides a beautiful administration interface for managing Eloquent models. It features search, filtering, action events, metrics and more. An alternative to admin panels for model management.
Laravel Backup
Backup & cloud storage package by Spatie that provides easy backups, pruning old backups and sending backups to external services like S3, Dropbox, etc. Useful for app data protection.
Testing Tools
Testing is important for ensuring quality. These packages make testing Laravel applications easier.
Laravel Dusk
In order to assure accurate rendering and JavaScript capability emulation, Laravel’s Dusk feature includes browser automation and testing using real Chrome and Firefox browsers. Due to Dusk’s seamless integration with Laravel applications, adding browser tests is made more easier, making it simple to increase testing efficiency and accuracy for web interfaces inside the Laravel ecosystem.
Pest
Nuno Maduro’s Pest is a clean, simple, and Laravel application-compatible PHP testing framework. Developers can utilize this user-friendly testing solution because of its seamless integration. Notably, Pest streamlines testing by offering a condensed substitute for PHPUnit that enables faster and easier test execution, therefore improving the testing procedure for Laravel apps.
Laravel Factory Muffin
Themsaid’s Laravel Factory Muffin, which generates controlled false model instances, makes testing easier. It defines properties and associations for consistent data with a fluid syntax. The confidentiality, repeatability, and consistency of the data are all guaranteed by this package, enabling developers to design precise test scenarios without changing the actual database. Laravel Factory Muffin improves testing productivity and accuracy while ensuring dependable application functionality by effortlessly adding fictitious data into tests.
Other Helpful Packages
Some other useful packages to consider for Laravel development:
- Laravel Excel – imports and exports Excel and CSV spreadsheets
- Laravel Charts – generate charts and graphs from Laravel data
- Laravel Socialite – integrate OAuth authentication from Facebook, Twitter, Google and more
- Laravel Horizon – queue management and monitoring
- Laravel Octane – blazing fast performance for Laravel apps
- Spatie Laravel Ray – integrate Ray debug functions
Conclusion
Laravel’s large ecosystem provides a diverse set of packages, and to take advantage hire dedicated developers to accelerate development. The packages covered in this post represent some of the most useful ones that are worth considering for projects in 2023. They enable adding authentication, APIs, admin panels, utilities, testing tools, and more with minimal effort.Do explore Packagist to uncover more handy packages for your needs. Laravel continues to have new packages released frequently by the community. Existing packages also evolve to add new features and improvements over time. Consider starting interesting packages on GitHub to follow their development progress.
Which are your favorite Laravel packages? Feel free to share them in the comments!
