Highlights from JetBrains’ State of PHP 2025 Report
JetBrains has released its “State of PHP 2025” survey, drawing on feedback from 1,720 developers who use PHP as their primary language. The report reveals trends in PHP versions, tooling adoption, framework usage, and emerging workflows that shape the future of the ecosystem.
Quick Insight: PHP remains vibrant and evolving — with high adoption of modern versions, growing influence of new tooling, and adoption of AI-assisted practices signaling the language’s ongoing relevance.
1. PHP Version Adoption
• A large majority of respondents are using PHP 8.x, showing continued migration from older versions.
• This suggests long-term confidence in the 8.x series as stable and performant for production.
• Legacy versions are slowly fading, though some holdouts still exist in maintenance projects.
2. Frameworks & Tooling Trends
• Laravel continues to grow in popularity and market share among PHP frameworks.
• Testing tools like Pest also show momentum, indicating developers’ emphasis on quality and modern testing patterns.
• Tooling enhancements — code editors, static analysis, linters — are being increasingly adopted to streamline workflows and catch errors early.
3. Emerging Workflows & AI Assistance
• Developers are beginning to integrate AI-based tools and assistants into their coding workflows.
• These tools may help with autocomplete, code refactoring suggestions, documentation generation, and even bug finding.
• The report suggests that AI adoption is not yet universal but is becoming a notable trend in the PHP community.
Implications & Outlook for PHP
• Continued investment in tooling, static analysis, and modern testing could help PHP compete with newer languages.
• The rise of AI-enhanced workflows might accelerate productivity gains for PHP developers.
• Frameworks that stay up-to-date, embrace modern features, and support developer ergonomics will likely lead in adoption.
• PHP’s community, combined with strong tooling support, will be key in maintaining its relevance amid growing competition.
