Upgrade PHP and your framework, at a fixed price.
PHP 8.2 gets no security fixes after 31 December 2026. We move your app to a supported PHP and framework version, with tests in place first. You know the price before we start.
When an upgrade is due
Your PHP version is past or near end of life
PHP 8.1 lost security support on 31 December 2025. PHP 8.2 follows on 31 December 2026.
Your framework is out of support
Laravel 11 security fixes ended on 12 March 2026. Symfony 6.4 stops getting bug fixes in November 2026.
Composer won't cooperate
The packages you need require a newer PHP, and some of the ones you have are abandoned.
Your host charges extra
Some hosting providers bill a monthly fee for old PHP versions. The upgrade ends that cost.
Typical upgrade paths
| From | To | How |
|---|---|---|
| PHP 7.x, 8.0–8.2 | PHP 8.4 or 8.5 | Rector for the mechanical changes, PHPStan to find what is left, an engineer for the rest. |
| Laravel 5–11 | current Laravel | One major version at a time, with the tests run after each step. |
| Symfony 3–7.3 | Symfony 7.4 LTS | Deprecation log cleared first, then one LTS at a time (6.4 as a stepping stone). |
| Zend Framework 1 | zf1-future on a newer PHP, or a staged move to Symfony | zf1-future is a community fork, tested up to PHP 8.2, which ends 31 December 2026. A staged move is often the safer path. |
| Laminas MVC | Mezzio or Symfony | Laminas MVC gets security fixes only until 31 December 2028 and no PHP 8.5 support. |
| CodeIgniter 3 | CodeIgniter 4 | Closer to a rewrite than an upgrade, so we move it in stages. |
| CakePHP 2–4 | CakePHP 5 | CakePHP's own upgrade tooling first, then manual fixes. |
How an upgrade runs
01
Code Audit
We measure the gap: PHPStan, a Rector dry run,
composer outdatedandcomposer audit, plus reading the code.02
Fixed price
You get the scope, the steps, the schedule and one price. Anything outside the scope we quote separately, before doing it.
03
Safety net
Characterization tests on the critical paths, from the Takeover or added now, and CI that runs them on every change.
04
Small steps
One version at a time. Each step is a merge request you can review, and the tests must pass before it moves on.
05
Release and watch
We deploy with a rollback plan and watch monitoring closely in the days after the release.
What you get
Upgraded code
In your repository, on a supported PHP and framework version.
Upgrade report
What changed, what was replaced or removed, and what to watch.
Dependency report
Every Composer package: updated, replaced or kept, and why.
Tests and CI
The tests we relied on, running in your pipeline.
PHPStan baseline
The level the code reaches now, so it doesn't slip back.
Updated runbook
New versions, new commands, same steps for your team.
Time and price
| S | M | L | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | from €3,000 | from €6,000 | quoted after the Code Audit |
Isn't Rector enough?
Rector and Laravel Shift do much of the mechanical work, and we use Rector on every upgrade.
What a tool doesn't do: find out which page your biggest customer uses every Monday, test it before and after, and still be there when something odd shows up two weeks later. That part is our job, and Care keeps the app current after the upgrade, so the debt doesn't come back.
Upgrade questions
PHP 8.2 end of life: what actually happens on 31 December 2026?
Nothing visible. The app keeps running. From then on, newly found security issues in PHP 8.2 are not fixed by the PHP project, and security scanners and questionnaires flag the version as unsupported. If the upgrade cannot be done by then, extended support can patch PHP itself for a while.
Can we jump from Laravel 8 straight to the current version?
In the code, we go through each major version, because each upgrade guide assumes the previous one. For you it is one project with one price.
Will the app be offline?
No planned downtime beyond a normal deploy. We prepare the upgrade on a branch and release it like any other change.
Do you upgrade the server too?
If it is in scope and we have access, yes: PHP-FPM, extensions, Docker images. If your host manages the server, we coordinate the switch with them.
PHP 8.4 or PHP 8.5?
PHP 8.5 gets security fixes until 31 December 2029, PHP 8.4 until 31 December 2028. We usually recommend the newest version that all your dependencies support.
Find out what your upgrade involves
Send us your composer.lock and your PHP version: a link to the repository, or the file as an email attachment. We reply with the next step and, where we can, a price range.