Lumen vs Laravel is a straight comparison that often fogs your mind when you want the best framework for your web application. Well, quite evidently businesses need websites to march their way into the global realm. Also, choosing the right framework can be the easiest way for building a successful, scalable, secure and traffic-pulling web application. However, with the many choices available in the software market, one gets overwhelmed and perplexed about which one is the best for their business. To simplify things for you, we are going to discuss and compare two of the most revered PHP frameworks – Lumen and Laravel today.
Read on to find the finer details.
Lumen is a lightweight, micro-framework developed by Taylor Otwell. It offers the finest base for building websites and applications for comparatively smaller projects. It offers leaner, faster microservices that can be used to create quick, small applications by a relatively small team without losing extra time and resources. Lumen is often called a subset of Laravel as it is derived from it. It uses the same middleware, Artisan CLI, validation and authentication features as Laravel does.
Laravel is an MVC architecture-based PHP framework used for developing feature-rich web applications. It offers security, scalability, and a solid backend for medium to enterprise-level web application development. With easy-to-understand syntax, technically advanced coding standards, and support for third-party tools, Laravel is currently one of the best web development frameworks for developing web solutions.
Laravel is ideal for building small to medium-scale and even enterprise applications. With an in-built authentication system, ORM system, and features like a modular packaging system that simplifies the development of complex applications. It makes the work of developers effortless.
Lumen on the other hand offers a routing system, easy-to-understand syntax, and in-built caching required for developing diverse and comprehensive microservices.
As Lumen is technically derived from Laravel, there must be similarities between both. In fact, both are developed by Taylor Otwell and are licensed under the MIT license. While Laravel has its own syntax, Lumen used the syntax of Laravel and eventually upgraded for the microservices. Laravel is flexible enough to accommodate third-party tools while Lumen is limited in this context.
As a matter of fact, now we know that both Lumen and Laravel are PHP frameworks used for developing web applications. While Lumen is meant for building lighter, tinier applications, the other one works best for full-blown web solutions.
To understand the difference between Laravel and Lumen, we need to dig deeper into the pros and cons of each.
There are many advantages of using Laravel as a web development framework.
Lumen has its own advantages and disadvantages which companies should know before zeroing down on the light framework.
Let us glance through some of the best features that both of these frameworks offer, in different scales and contexts. This will help businesses figure out which one to choose out of the two.
Lumen beats Laravel in terms of performance, the lightweight, rapid framework can handle 100 requests per second. So, it is the fastest performing framework as opposed to Laravel which can be slow.
Secondly, Laravel is meant for big-scale web solutions, unlike Lumen which serves the purpose of building small applications and APIs.
Both frameworks share the same core architecture, with the MVC model and Artisan CLI, ORM and other features. However, Lumen is light and faster due to the use of cookies and CSRF protection.
Laravel has been in use longer than Lumen. It has proved itself as a versatile framework for fully-fledged applications. With very many features, it is a reliable source for building web solutions. On the other hand, Lumen has arrived much later but proves excellent in terms of speed and performance.
Laravel can handle complex SQL queries while Lumen can only manage simple SQL queries. However, it can execute custom queries at a fast rate, which sorts out the development process.
Laravel supports several features to build big web applications. On the other hand, Lumen supports a few of them and focuses on developing high-traffic-oriented, smaller applications.
Both frameworks offer an in-built caching mechanism that can be implemented in the websites. Laravel has a better caching system than Lumen which leaves room only for smaller cache. Laravel offers file-based caching and supports various data types as well.
Since both frameworks have different architectures, they handle requests differently. While Laravel can handle numerous requests including complex ones, Lumen only handles lightweight requests.
Being a micro framework Lumen is definitely faster than Laravel. It paces up processes and implements features at a higher speed. On the contrary, Laravel is a full-stack framework, that takes time to implement a wide range of features in a big-scale web application.
Both are suitable to be deployed on traditional or cloud-based platforms. The scale of Laravel is definitely wider than Lumen. While the micro-framework facilitates developers with the flexibility to choose any database, Laravel is more extensible.
Let us take a look at the companies that trust both these or one of the two frameworks to build their web applications and the reasons for doing so.
Laravel is used for content management and distribution across websites, mobile apps and social media accounts of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The media giant leverages the features of Laravel for streamlining traffic across all channels.
The global financial company utilizes the benefits of Laravel to build strong, uncompromising payment gateways. The framework offers solid security and prevents cyber threats from reaching the MasterCard web application.
The automobile giant makes use of Laravel for developing customer-oriented websites. By simplifying HTML rendering, Laravel enhances the overall performance of Toyota’s websites.
Laravel’s absolute security system including role-based authorized access, helps build secure money transactions through RazorPay. The online payment solution enjoys huge success due to Laravel’s rugged security features.
The hotel search engine enjoys a seamless customer experience through Lumen, which handles huge traffic in timely manner. Features like algorithms, user profiling, APIs, etc. create matchless user experiences.
Lumen with its backend APIs proves successful in managing real-time locations, payment details, ride requests, cancellations and other functions of Uber.
The job searching platform is powered by Lumen, which manages the entire backend including job-matching algorithms, candidate updates, company details and more. It has a very high success ratio of engaging customers.
The clothing brand uses Lumen in the backend to manage product catalogues, customer experience generation, order management, payment transactions, inventory management and more.
Choosing between Laravel and Lumen is easy if you have a crystal clear idea about the kind of web application to make. Once that is decided, compare and contrast both frameworks to see which one proves beneficial in the long run. Laravel is a trusted option when you want a large-scale enterprise web application. Otherwise, for small applications using microservices, Lumen will prove enough.
KrishaWeb is a Laravel development company specializing in enterprise web development. We offer affordable services to our global clients. We convert any concept into a fully-fledged web solution. Feel free to connect with us for personalized websites and applications.
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