What to check before hiring a Laravel developer

Before you hire a Laravel developer, check four things: that their Laravel experience matches your kind of project, that they write automated tests and keep code tidy, that they communicate clearly and hand over properly, and that they can show all of this in a small paid trial. A portfolio of finished screens tells you little about how an application is built underneath, and that is what decides how easy it will be to maintain for years.

Laravel is an open-source framework for building web applications in PHP, providing ready-made building blocks for databases, user accounts, background jobs and more. This guide is for founders, managers and technical leads choosing a developer or team for a Laravel project. If you would like to see how we work, our custom software service page explains our approach.

Hiring a Laravel developer: freelancer, agency or in-house

The first decision is what kind of help you need. Each option suits different situations.

Freelancer

• Good for: smaller projects, clearly defined tasks and ongoing maintenance of a modest application.
• Watch for: availability, holidays and illness, since one person is a single point of failure. Ask who covers when they are away.

Agency or development company

• Good for: larger projects that need design, development, testing and project management together, and for continuity over time.
• Watch for: who actually does the work. Ask to meet the developers, not only sales staff.

In-house developer

• Good for: businesses where software is central and changes are constant, with enough work to keep a developer busy.
• Watch for: the need for technical leadership, code reviews and cover. One in-house developer without support can struggle, and knowledge leaves when they do.

Many businesses combine these, for example an agency for the main build and an in-house developer who takes over day-to-day changes later.

If you are unsure whether PHP is a sound choice at all, our guide on whether PHP is still used covers the language today.

Checking real Laravel experience

Many developers list Laravel on their profile. These questions show whether their experience matches your project.

1. "Which Laravel applications have you built that are similar to ours?" Look for similar types of projects, such as portals, booking systems, integrations or APIs for mobile apps.
2. "Which parts of Laravel did you use, and why?" Good developers explain choices around queues for background work, scheduled tasks, authentication and database design in plain language.
3. "Have you upgraded an application between major Laravel versions?" Laravel releases a new major version each year and publishes a support policy for bug and security fixes. Upgrade experience matters for any application you plan to keep.
4. "Have you worked on someone else's Laravel code?" Taking over existing code is a different skill from starting fresh, and often more relevant.
5. "How do you handle integrations with other systems?" Ask about timeouts, retries, logging and what happens when a third-party service fails.
6. "How do you approach security?" Listen for authorisation checks on every action, validation of all input, safe handling of file uploads and keeping dependencies updated.

You do not need to judge every technical detail. Notice whether answers are specific, based on real examples, and honest about trade-offs.

Testing and code quality habits

Code quality is invisible at launch and very visible a year later, when changes become slow and risky. These habits are good signs that code will stay maintainable.

1. Automated tests. Ask whether they write feature tests for important journeys, such as logins, bookings and payments. Laravel supports testing with Pest and PHPUnit. Ask to see an example.
2. Code reviews. In a team, another developer should review changes before they are merged. Freelancers can still review their own work against a checklist, or arrange occasional reviews.
3. Consistent style. Consistent formatting and naming make code easier for others to read. Many Laravel teams use automated formatting tools.
4. Version control. All code should live in a repository with a clear history of changes. You should own that repository.
5. Separate environments. Changes should be tested on a staging copy before reaching the live application.
6. Documentation. Setup instructions, deployment steps and notes on integrations should exist and be kept up to date.

Ask how they would handle a bug found in production. A calm answer that mentions reproducing it, writing a test, fixing it and deploying safely is a good sign.

Our Laravel security checklist gives you specific points to discuss when you ask about security.

Communication and handover

Even excellent code causes problems if nobody understands what was built or why.

1. Regular updates. Agree how often you will see progress, ideally through demos on a staging site.
2. Plain language. A good developer explains trade-offs without hiding behind jargon, and tells you early when something will take longer.
3. Clear estimates. Ask how they estimate work and what happens when requirements change.
4. Ownership. The contract should confirm you own the code once paid for, and that the repository, hosting, domains and third-party accounts are in your name.
5. Handover plan. Ask what you will receive if the relationship ends: code, database access, documentation and credentials, with a short handover period.
6. Response times. For live applications, agree how quickly urgent problems will be handled.

If you already have an application, our guide on how to upgrade an old Laravel application safely shows the kind of planning to expect from an experienced developer. For a broader view of the framework, see what Laravel is and why businesses choose it.

A small paid trial project

The most reliable way to judge a developer is to work with them on something real but limited.

1. Choose a small, useful task. For example, a new report, a small feature or fixing a known bug in your application.
2. Define it clearly. Describe what should happen and how you will know it is done.
3. Pay for it. Paid trials attract serious candidates and create a fair working relationship.
4. Review the result together. Look at whether it works, whether tests were added, how the code was explained and how communication went.
5. Ask a second opinion if you can. If you have access to another developer, ask them to review the trial code.

A trial of this kind costs little compared with the full project, and it shows how a developer works in practice rather than in an interview.

What a good trial looks like

At the end of a good trial, you should have:

1. Working code that does what was agreed, deployed to a test environment you can use.
2. Tests that cover the new behaviour, which the developer can run and explain.
3. A short written summary of what changed, any decisions made and anything left unfinished.
4. Clear communication along the way, including questions asked early rather than assumptions made silently.
5. A realistic view of the full project, such as risks the developer noticed while working in your code.

If the trial went well on all of these, you have far better evidence for your decision than any interview could provide.

Warning signs

Be careful if a developer cannot show any tests, keeps code or accounts under their own name, avoids giving estimates or assumptions, or promises an unusually short timeline for a complex project.

Summary

• Decide whether a freelancer, agency or in-house developer fits your project and long-term needs.
• Check real Laravel experience with similar projects, upgrades, existing code, integrations and security.
• Look for automated tests, code reviews, version control, staging environments and documentation.
• Agree communication, ownership, handover and response times before work begins.
• Use a small paid trial to see how a developer works before committing to the full project.

The right developer makes an application easier to run and change for years. If you're looking for help with a Laravel project, you can tell us about it here.