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2 engineers free · available now

Hiring a PHP developer takes four months. Or two weeks.

Dedicated PHP engineers who build on PHP 8 and Laravel and modernise the legacy PHP systems your business still runs on: interviewed by you, trialled on a real ticket, released with thirty days notice.

The cost of an empty PHP seat is never on the invoice, but it is the biggest number in this comparison.

  • 48h

    To real profiles

  • 2 wks

    Paid trial sprint

  • 30 days

    Notice to stop

  • 0

    Recruiter fees

Get your free estimate

Three quick questions: scope, approach and a price range back within 48 hours. No sales call required first.

What do you need built?
When do you want to start?
Where should we send the estimate?

Answer all three questions above, then send.

NDA-friendly · IP yours from day one

Trusted by companies worldwide

  • Bloomford
  • Contractor Plus, Inc.
  • Snappy Stats
  • Ad Lunam
  • Local Buzz
  • CyberFind
  • Hellory
  • 5.0Clutch · 8 client reviews
  • 4.9Google · 18 reviews
  • Top ratedUpwork · 100+ reviews · 5K+ hours worked
  • TopTracker7K+ hours tracked with clients

How hiring works

Weeks until code is shippingSeniority

  • Post the role yourselfAdvert, screening, interviews, notice period
    16 wks
  • Freelance marketplaceFast to start, unknown until they ship
    4 wks
  • A QalbIT engineerProfiles in 48 hours, paid trial sprint
    2 wks

Mid-level PHP engineer

That is 14 weeks of an empty seat you do not pay for.

Ships features and fixes in a codebase that predates them, writes the tests it never had, and holds a module without hand-holding.

Request profiles →

In-house timings from published hiring benchmarks · QalbIT timings from our own last twelve placements

PHP 8.x & Laravel. CodeIgniter & legacy PHP. Modernisation without rewrites. Portals & internal systems. You interview every engineer

PHP overview

When hiring PHP developers with QalbIT makes sense.

We partner with teams that run critical parts of the business on PHP: customer portals, booking flows, internal systems, and need a dependable team to build, clean up and extend them. In practice that usually means adding engineers to your team rather than handing the codebase over.

  • You rely on an older PHP application

    It still runs the business, it is hard to change, and a rewrite is not an option. You need it modernised in place.

  • You are building a custom PHP platform

    A portal or business application on PHP 8 and Laravel, designed around your workflows and data.

  • You need maintenance and features from one team

    Day-to-day upkeep and a roadmap, not one-off fixes from whoever is available this month.

Your team, one shared board, developers joining
Every developer sits inside our delivery system

What our PHP developers deliver

PHP development capabilities for modern and legacy systems.

New builds and legacy modernisation alike, with stable delivery and long-term maintainability as the brief.

  1. Custom PHP web applications

    Business applications and portals on PHP 8 standards, built around your workflows, users and data model.

  2. Laravel & framework-based development

    New modules and full applications on Laravel or the framework you already run, with tests and structure.

  3. Legacy PHP modernisation

    Gradual refactoring of older PHP into cleaner, modular code: no big-bang rewrite, no downtime.

  4. APIs, integrations & background jobs

    REST APIs, third-party integrations and workers for imports, exports and recurring tasks.

  5. Security, performance & hardening

    Closing security gaps, optimising queries and caching, and tightening how the application is deployed.

  6. Support, maintenance & enhancements

    Keeping the application healthy while small features and improvements keep landing.

Want to see how these capabilities map to your product? Share a spec or a repo and we will respond with a written road map.

Talk through your PHP needs →

How it works

A practical process for hiring and working with PHP developers.

Step by step, so you always know what is happening with your PHP application and why.

  1. Share the role and the codebase

    A short call on your product, stack, timelines and the seniority mix you actually need.

    48 hours

  2. Meet shortlisted developers

    Two or three profiles with real project history. You interview them yourself, no bench-warming.

    Within a week

  3. Paid trial sprint

    The developer works a real ticket in your repo: a bug, an upgrade step, a slow report. If the fit is wrong, you stop and pay only for that sprint.

    Two weeks

  4. Scale up or down

    Add engineers as the roadmap grows, release them with 30 days notice when it does not.

    Ongoing

Our clients · reviews

Teams who trusted QalbIT

Short feedback from clients and products we work on across web, mobile, SaaS and internal tools.

  • Testimonials from long-term custom software development and SaaS product clients.
  • Covers ERP systems, B2B marketplaces, booking platforms, and web & mobile app development projects.
  • Real text and video reviews from founders, CTOs, and product teams who partnered with QalbIT for delivery.

  • Video review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “Working with QalbIT was an absolute pleasure. They understood our brand vision, delivered a WordPress site that is easy to navigate, and kept communication smooth throughout. I would absolutely recommend them to anybody.”
    Imdad Ali KadiwalaFounder, Netzur

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “QalbIT is a fantastic dev partner. They provide quality work, good communication and go above and beyond. Fantastic work delivered by QalbIT and his team. Can’t give enough credits with regards to how they work and at which speed they do it. Top team.”
    Joost HesselberthFounder of Ad Lunam Investments PTY LTD

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “I would recommend QalbIT to everybody. QalbIT has been developing all my front-end & backend systems complete to my requirements. They have excellent technical knowledge and listen very well to the needs of their customers. And above all, they are great people.”
    Wouter SantensExecutive Search Consultant at Bloomford

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “They listened to my ideas and came up with a plan for development then executed that plan to completion. I liked their attention to detail and communication skills. Very responsive.”
    Osmond MwanyikyCTO, Bocsit

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “QalbIT quickly integrated four platforms quickly. Square, Stripe, PayPal, and Coinbase were all successfully used. The vendor provided an active communication process, maintaining timely deadlines despite the research-heavy service. They also offered post-launch support.”
    Roshan SethiaCTO, Contractor Plus, Inc.
View all testimonials

Where PHP fits best

PHP use cases we most often deliver.

Our PHP work centres on applications too important to fail: internal tools, customer portals and platforms that run real operations.

  • Customer & partner portals

    Secure portals where customers, partners or vendors manage requests, orders, accounts and documents.

  • Operational tools & internal systems

    Approvals, tracking, inventory, scheduling and reporting built around how your operation works.

  • Extending & cleaning legacy PHP

    Careful improvement of older applications while they keep running, then structure and tests introduced gradually.

  • PHP & CodeIgniter upgrades

    Version upgrades and framework migrations planned so nothing stops on the way.

Tech stack & platforms

The stack our PHP developers typically use.

Modern PHP 8, frameworks and tooling that keep an application fast, secure and maintainable.

  • Core PHP & frameworks

    • PHP 8.x with strict types and modern language features
    • Laravel for new applications and selected refactors
    • CodeIgniter and Symfony components where they already run
    • PSR-compliant, Composer-managed libraries

  • Front end & interfaces

    • Blade and Tailwind CSS for server-rendered UIs
    • Livewire, Inertia or a decoupled React front end
    • Responsive layouts and accessibility-aware components
    • Progressive migration of legacy templates

  • Data, caching & hosting

    • MySQL and PostgreSQL with migrations, indexing and backups
    • Redis for caching, queues and sessions
    • Docker-based deployments or managed hosting
    • CI/CD pipelines with automated tests before release

  • Quality, security & operations

    • PHPUnit and Pest on business-critical paths
    • PHPStan, Rector and code review as routine
    • OWASP-aware validation, sanitisation and access control
    • Monitoring, logging and alerting tied to your SLAs

If you are on an older PHP version, we plan the upgrade so the system keeps running while we improve it. A precise stack is agreed per project.

How we work

A product engineering culture built on ownership and clarity.

The habits that decide whether software still works in year three. Here is the honest comparison: what most outsourced engagements look like, and what changes when you work with us.

How an engagement with QalbIT compares
The questionThe usual answerAt QalbIT
Who scopes itA salesperson, then a handover docThe founder and the engineer who will build it
Who writes the codeWhoever is on the bench that monthNamed senior engineers, in our office, no subcontractors
What you see weeklyA status deck and a percentageA working demo and the board it came from
When something breaksA ticket queue and an account managerThe engineer who wrote it, in your timezone overlap
If you want to leaveA migration project and a licence conversationThirty days notice · repos and IP were always yours

  • Principle 01

    Ownership over ticket-taking

    Engineers who ask why before they ask which framework. Scope questions come back before code goes out.

  • Principle 02

    Written over remembered

    Scope, estimates and architecture decisions are written down with the trade-off stated. Nobody relies on what was said on a call.

  • Principle 03

    Small over staffed

    Senior pods that hold the whole system in their heads beat large mixed teams that need a coordinator to function.

Engagement models

Three simple ways to work together.

Not sure which fits? Adding engineers to a team you already run is staff augmentation; handing a whole roadmap to a dedicated product team sits at the other end of the same scale. Tell us the roadmap and we will recommend one honestly, including when hiring in-house is the better answer.

  • Model 01

    Dedicated developer

    One or more engineers full-time on your product, managed by you day to day with QalbIT quality oversight.

    Best for · ongoing roadmaps with a product owner

  • Most chosen

    Dedicated squad

    A cross-functional team, developers, QA and a technical lead, owning your delivery end to end.

    Best for · products with no in-house engineering yet

  • Model 03

    Fixed-scope pilot

    A clearly bounded module or audit with agreed cost and timeline: the lowest-risk way to start.

    Best for · testing us before a longer commitment

Built for reliability

Freelancer flexibility. Company-level accountability.

Every dedicated developer works inside QalbIT delivery: the same system behind our own SaaS products and 120+ client projects.

More developer profiles

Pick the expertise your roadmap needs.

Every hire is a senior, product-minded engineer backed by our delivery team, not a solo contractor. Start with one developer or assemble a full squad.

Keep exploring

FAQs · hiring PHP developers

Frequently asked questions about hiring PHP developers

These are the questions founders, CTOs and operations teams usually ask when they consider hiring PHP developers or a PHP squad with QalbIT.

Ask us directly →
Most engagements start within one to two weeks of the first call. The developer spends the paid trial sprint inside your actual repository, coding standards, deploy process and the module nobody wants to touch, before any restructuring is proposed.
Yes. That is the usual brief. Tests go around the parts that matter first, then the code is upgraded and restructured module by module while the application keeps running. No big-bang rewrite, no downtime.
Yes. CodeIgniter, bespoke PHP 5 and 7 codebases and early Laravel are all familiar ground, and the upgrade path to PHP 8 is planned so nothing stops on the way.
We start with a short audit of what the application actually does and where the risk sits, then put tests around the paths that matter most before touching anything else. Documentation catches up as we go, not as a separate phase.
Yes. The first two weeks are a paid trial sprint on a real ticket in your repository, a bug, an upgrade step or a slow report, not a take-home exercise. If the fit is wrong you stop there and pay only for that sprint.
Dedicated PHP engineers are billed monthly by seniority, with a written rate before you commit. Repositories, hosting accounts and IP are in your name from day one under NDA.
Yes. Add engineers as the roadmap grows, release them with 30 days notice when it does not. No annual lock-in.

Next step

Let’s stabilise and grow your PHP application.

Share your current PHP setup, the problems you are facing and what success looks like. We will propose a practical team setup and next steps with indicative timelines and budgets.

Book a PHP discovery call

Further reading