Awesome PHP: A Curated List of PHP Libraries
/awesome-php
Awesome PHP is a single README that lists PHP frameworks, libraries, and tools by category, from Composer repositories to security scanners. It's worth bookmarking because the categories map to real decisions a PHP developer makes on a new project, not a random link dump. The entries are one-line descriptions with a link, not tutorials, so treat it as an index to search from rather than a guide to read start to finish.
What the Awesome PHP list covers
Awesome PHP is a GitHub repository that organizes PHP ecosystem tools into named categories such as Frameworks, Dependency Injection, Testing, Security, and Templating. Each entry is a short bullet: a linked project name plus a one-sentence description, covering Composer repositories, HTTP clients, CMS platforms, and CI services. There's no ranking or star count next to each entry, just the list, grouped by what problem the tool solves.
What you will find in the list
- โPackage and dependency tooling: Composer itself, Composer Installers, Phive, Pickle, and package-repository alternatives like Packagist and Packalyst
- โA dozen-plus full frameworks (Laravel, Symfony, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, Nette, Phalcon, Yii2, Laminas) plus micro-frameworks like Slim and Mezzio
- โCMS platforms from WordPress and Drupal down to flat-file options like Kirby, Grav, and Pico CMS
- โHTTP and scraping libraries: Guzzle, Symfony HTTP Client, PSR-7 implementations, and headless-Chrome wrappers like Chrome PHP
- โA testing section spanning PHPUnit, Pest, Behat, and Codeception, plus mutation testing via Infection
- โA security section listing encryption libraries like Halite, XSS filtering via AntiXSS, and vulnerability tooling like SQLMap and PHPGGC
Why PHP developers need a curated library list
PHP's package ecosystem is split across Packagist, framework-specific registries like Packalyst, and dozens of standalone GitHub repos with overlapping names: two or three competing HTTP clients, five image libraries, a dozen templating engines. Awesome PHP exists because picking among them by browsing Packagist search results alone means wading through abandoned forks and near-duplicates with no context on which one a working developer would actually reach for.
Why it's getting attention
Awesome PHP keeps circulating in PHP forums and Slack channels because it isn't a single author's snapshot from years ago: the repo has a CONTRIBUTING guide, a COLLABORATING doc, and a code of conduct, meaning entries get added by pull request. That's how newer names like Saloon, Tempest, and Scramble ended up sitting next to long-standing entries like Guzzle and PHPUnit in the same categorized list.
When to use Awesome PHP in your workflow
- โขStarting a new project and comparing framework options (Laravel vs Symfony vs Slim) before committing
- โขPicking a library for a specific need, say a CSV parser or an image-hash tool, instead of searching Packagist blind
- โขAuditing what's available for a category you don't normally touch, like mutation testing or dependency-injection containers
- โขOnboarding a developer new to PHP who needs a map of what the ecosystem actually contains
Strengths
- โCategories map to real PHP development decisions (routing, dependency injection, testing, security) instead of generic tags
- โIncludes CONTRIBUTING and COLLABORATING docs plus a code of conduct, so the submission process is documented, not ad hoc
- โLicensed under WTFPL, about as unrestricted as an open license gets, so reusing the list itself carries no friction
- โGroups niche categories (streams, URL parsing, password handling) that a general Packagist search wouldn't surface together
What Awesome PHP does not cover
- โณEntries are one-line descriptions with no comparison notes, so two competing libraries in the same category, like several HTTP clients, get equal billing with nothing to help you choose between them
- โณIt's a flat linked list, not a guide: there's no install walkthrough or code example for any entry, you follow each link to the project itself
- โณCoverage depends on pull requests, so a library's presence, or absence, reflects who bothered to submit a PR, not a systematic survey of the PHP ecosystem
- โณNo version pinning. An entry doesn't tell you which PHP version or framework version it targets, so you check compatibility yourself
Other PHP resource lists and community picks
Who should bookmark this list
PHP developers evaluating a new dependency, or scaffolding a project from scratch, get the most out of Awesome PHP: it's a fast way to see what options exist in a category before opening five browser tabs. Beginners should look elsewhere. Every entry here assumes you already know what a dependency injection container or a PSR-7 implementation is, so it works better as a reference for developers who already write PHP than as a first tutorial.
Frequently asked questions
Awesome PHP is a GitHub repository that lists PHP libraries, frameworks, and tools grouped into categories like Frameworks, Testing, Security, and Templating, with a one-line description and a link for each entry.
Awesome PHP is released under the WTFPL license, extremely permissive open-source license available, so the list itself can be reused, copied, or modified with essentially no restrictions.
Adding a library to Awesome PHP means submitting a pull request that follows the project's CONTRIBUTING guide and CODE-OF-CONDUCT, plus the COLLABORATING document covering how maintainers review submissions.
Awesome PHP is maintained through community pull requests rather than a fixed release schedule; dedicated CONTRIBUTING and COLLABORATING documents point to an active review process for new submissions, not a one-time snapshot.
Awesome PHP covers categories including Composer repositories, dependency management, frameworks, CMS platforms, HTTP clients, scraping, testing, security, dependency injection, imagery, templating, and continuous integration, among others.
Similar awesome lists exist for other programming languages as part of the same GitHub curation format Awesome PHP belongs to, including equivalents for Python, Go, and Java, among others.
Related repositories
Is awesome-php worth your time?
ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity can all read this page. Ask one of them what it makes of awesome-php.