Each year we release our in-depth performance benchmarks across various platforms to see how different versions of PHP stack up against each other. This time we again went all out and benchmarked six different PHP versions across 22 different platforms/configurations; including WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, Laravel, Symfony, and many more. We also tested popular ecommerce solutions such as WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, Magento, Grav CMS, and October CMS.

We are always encouraging WordPress users to take advantage of the latest supported versions of PHP. Not only are they more secure, but they offer additional performance improvements. We aren’t talking just about WordPress either, this true for the most part across all platforms. We’ll show you today how PHP 7.4 knocks the socks off of everything we put it against! 🤘

We tested the performance of 22 platforms/configurations on 6 different PHP versions and #PHP 7.4 took the gold in 17/17 (5 N/A). 🏆🚀

Click to Tweet

The State of PHP in the Community and at Kinsta

PHP is an open-source, server-side scripting and programming language that’s primarily used for web development. The bulk of the core WordPress software is written in PHP, which makes PHP a very important language for the WordPress community. There are excellent PHP tutorials out there is you would like to learn this programming language.

Some may argue that PHP is dead. But even though developers like to state this, PHP is alive, faster, and better than ever. According to W3Techs, PHP is used by over 78.9% of all the websites that use a server-side programming language. That’s a lot of websites relying on PHP.

However, a big problem in the community is that many are still using old and unsupported versions of PHP. According to WordPress stats, only 38.3% are running on supported PHP versions (7.2 or higher). This introduces both performance and security issues.

Why is this happening? Here are a few common reasons we typically see:

Lack of educating the community on what PHP is and the important role it plays with how WordPress functions. Not everyone is tech-savvy, which is OK.

Compatibility issues with plugins and themes running on newer versions of PHP.

WordPress hosting providers being reluctant to push out new versions from a fear of creating problems.

To try and help move the community forward, Kinsta has adopted the same end-of-life (EOL) schedule as PHP. This helps to ensure sure your WordPress sites are as fast and secure as possible.

How do Kinsta clients stack up against the general WordPress community? We were curious ourselves, so we took a look at the numbers.

Here is the rundown:

25.8% of WordPress sites at Kinsta are running PHP 7.2.

68.6% of WordPress sites at Kinsta are running PHP 7.3.

4.7% of WordPress sites at Kinsta are running PHP 7.4.

We are working on that final <1%. 😉

We were proud and excited to uncover these numbers. It means the PHP adoption rate among Kinsta clients is very high! Much higher than the general WordPress population.

A whopping 73.3% of all WordPress sites hosted at Kinsta are running PHP 7.3 or higher! 💥

Click to Tweet

PHP Benchmarks (2020)

Even though PHP 5.6, 7.0, and 7.1 are no longer officially supported, there are still a lot of WordPress sites running on them. So we decided to test all six different PHP versions so that you could see just how much the newer versions can benefit you in terms of performance. As soon as PHP 8 is available for testing we will update our benchmark and include it to the test.

For each test, we used the latest version of each platform and benchmarked the home page for a minute with 15 concurrent users. Below are the details of our test environment.

Machine used: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU (30 CPU, 120 GB RAM, 1TB SSD). This is a “compute-optimized” (C2) machine powered by Google Cloud Platform and running in an isolated container. All Kinsta hosting plans have C2 machines available.

Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU (30 CPU, 120 GB RAM, 1TB SSD). This is a “compute-optimized” (C2) machine powered by Google Cloud Platform and running in an isolated container. All Kinsta hosting plans have C2 machines available. OS: Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.0.0-1026-gcp x86_64)

Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.0.0-1026-gcp x86_64) Stack: Nginx 1.17.6, MariaDB 10.4.10

Nginx 1.17.6, MariaDB 10.4.10 PHP Version: 5.6, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4.

5.6, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4. Notes: In some CMS/Frameworks we also installed additional PHP packages to meet their new requirement or their Composer dependencies requirement.

In some CMS/Frameworks we also installed additional PHP packages to meet their new requirement or their Composer dependencies requirement. Page Caching: Disabled on all configurations and platforms.

Disabled on all configurations and platforms. OPcache: For WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, we used the official Docker image. For the rest we used the same image setup with the OPcache enabled using the following recommended php.ini settings, except for the opcache.max_accelerated_files value which was increased from 4,000 to 50,000.

opcache.memory_consumption=128 opcache.interned_strings_buffer=8 opcache.max_accelerated_files=50000 opcache.revalidate_freq=60 opcache.fast_shutdown=1 opcache.enable_cli=1

OPcache improves PHP performance by storing precompiled script bytecode in shared memory, thereby removing the need for PHP to load and parse scripts on each request.

The tests were performed by Thoriq Firdaus a WordPress contributor and web developer here at Kinsta.

Platforms and Configurations Tested

Our tests include the following 22 platforms/configurations. On some, we had to test multiple versions due to the lack of support for a specific PHP version. Click on one below to skip directly to its test notes and results. The data is measured in requests per second. The more requests the better.

Due to the fact that demo content across each platform can vary dramatically, we made the decision to test the raw performance of fresh barebone installations.

WordPress 5.3

The first platform we tested was, of course, one of our favorites: WordPress (we might be a little biased being that we live and breath this CMS on a daily basis 😉). At its core, WordPress is open-source software you can use to create a beautiful website, blog, or app. In fact, WordPress powers over 37.6% of all the websites on the internet. Yes – more than one in three websites that you visit are likely powered by WordPress.

We started with WordPress 5.3, which was the latest version at the time of writing this. We used the new Twenty Twenty theme, and benchmarked the site for a minute with 15 concurrent users.

Tested URL: /hello-world/

Note: The page contains 1 comment, a navigation bar with a few various menus. The sidebar contains a handful of default WordPress widgets.

Docker Image is derived from https://hub.docker.com/_/wordpress/.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/wordpress-5-3-php-benchmarks.png alt=WordPress 5.3 /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

WordPress 5.3 PHP 5.6 benchmark: 97.71 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 256.81 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 256.99 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 273.07 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 305.59 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 313.42 req/sec 🏆

PHP 7.4 was the winner, proving to be marginally faster than PHP 7.3. And if you compare PHP 7.4 to PHP 5.6, it can handle well over 3x as many requests (transactions) per second!

Update your PHP with one-click for greater site performance, speed, and security. Try Kinsta for Free.

WordPress 5.3 + WooCommerce 3.5.2

WooCommerce is a fully customizable, open-source ecommerce platform built for WordPress. It’s also by far, one of the most popular ecommerce solutions in the WordPress community, and currently powers over 14% of all ecommerce sites on the internet.

For this next test, we took WordPress along with WooCommerce installed. We utilized the free Storefront eCommerce theme (2.5.3).

Tested URL: /product/woo-ninja/

Note: The page contains 3 related products, 1 product review/comment, 1 product in “You May Also Like” section, and product in next and previous pagination.

Docker Image is derived from https://hub.docker.com/_/wordpress/.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/wordpress-5-3-woocommerce-php-benchmarks.png alt=WordPress 5.3 + WooCommerce PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

WordPress 5.3 + WooCommerce 3.8.1 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: 49.29 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 + WooCommerce 3.8.1 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 117.35 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 + WooCommerce 3.8.1 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 117.52 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 + WooCommerce 3.8.1 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 125.85 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 + WooCommerce 3.8.1 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 141.68 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 + WooCommerce 3.8.1 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 146.07 req/sec 🏆

When running WooCommerce, PHP 7.4 beat out PHP 7.3 by a small margin.

WordPress 5.3 + Easy Digital Downloads 2.9.20

Easy Digital Downloads (EDD), created by Pippin Williamson, is a free WordPress eCommerce plugin that focuses purely on helping creators and developers sell digital products.

After seeing how WooCommerce performed, we then took WordPress along with Easy Digital Downloads installed. We utilized the free Themedd theme (1.0.7).

Tested URL: /downloads/side-hustle/

Note: The page is a single product of EDD containing an image, a few paragraph lines, a buy button, and category links.

Docker Image is derived from https://hub.docker.com/_/wordpress/.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/wordpress-5-3-easy-digital-downloads-php-benchmarks.png alt=WordPress 5.3 + Easy Digital Downloads PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

WordPress 5.3 + EDD 2.9.20 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: 136.73 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 + EDD 2.9.20 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 323.84 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 + EDD 2.9.20 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 326.32 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 + EDD 2.9.20 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 346.51 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 + EDD 2.9.20 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 390.85 req/sec

WordPress 5.3 + EDD 2.9.20 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 400.78 req/sec 🏆

PHP 7.4 was also the fastest with WordPress and Easy Digital Downloads.

When it comes to WordPress, WooCommerce, and Easy Digital Downloads, PHP 7.4 has proven to be marginally faster across the board!

Info All benchmark data is measured in requests per second. The more requests the better.

Drupal 8.8.0

Drupal is an open-source CMS popular for its modular system and strong developer community. It was originally launched in 2000 and according to W3Techs, powers 1.7% of all websites with a 3.0% share of the content management system market.

For the Drupal benchmark, we utilized the free Umami default theme (8.8.0).

Tested URL: /en/articles/dairy-free-and-delicious-milk-chocolate

Note: Drupal is installed with dummy data “Umami Food Magazine (Experimental)” that comes built-in.

Drupal 8.8 no longer supports PHP 5.6 and isn’t compatible with PHP 7.4 yet (https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/3086374).

(https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/3086374). Docker Image is derived from https://hub.docker.com/_/drupal/.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/drupal-php-benchmarks.png alt=Joomla! PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

Drupal 8.8.0 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

Drupal 8.8.0 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 18.47 req/sec

Drupal 8.8.0 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 18.81 req/sec

Drupal 8.8.0 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 19.38 req/sec

Drupal 8.8.0 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 21.56 req/sec 🏆

Drupal 8.8.0 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: not supported

When running Drupal, PHP 7.3 showed great improvement in performance. It was a much bigger leap than the previous PHP versions.

Joomla! 3.9.13

Joomla! is a free and open-source CMS for publishing web content, originally released on August 17, 2005. It’s built on a model–view–controller web application framework and according to W3Techs is used by 2.6% of all websites on the internet.

For the Joomla! benchmark, we utilized the free Protostar (1.0) template which is included in the Joomla! 3.x distribution package.

Tested URL: / (homepage)

(homepage) Note: Joomla! is installed with “default English (GB) sample data.” It provides basic dummy content on the homepage. The homepage contains a few paragraphs of content, a search input form, and a number of basic widgets on the sidebar.

Docker Image is derived from https://hub.docker.com/_/joomla/.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/joomla-php-benchmarks.png alt=Joomla! PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

Joomla! 3.9.13 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: 48.40 req/sec

Joomla! 3.9.13 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 67.80 req/sec

Joomla! 3.9.13 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 67.37 req/sec

Joomla! 3.9.13 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 68.53 req/sec

Joomla! 3.9.13 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 71.63 req/sec

Joomla! 3.9.13 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 76.31 req/sec 🏆

On Joomla! we can see that performance was a little all over the board. There was a huge performance increase from PHP 5.6 to 7.0+. And fast-forwarding to PHP 7.4, it was without a doubt a winner for Joomla!

Magento 2 (CE) 2.2.10 + 2.3.3

Magento is a popular open-source ecommerce platform written in PHP and was released on March 31, 2008. As of 2018, Magento is now an Adobe company. According to W3Techs, it powers 0.8% of all websites on the internet.

For the Magento 2 benchmark, we utilized the free Luma theme. We used two versions due to the fact that 2.2.10 only supported up to PHP 7.2. For the additional tests, we used 2.3.3.

Tested URL: /lifelong-fitness-iv.html

Note: Page caching which generates a static HTML page is disabled. The tested URL is a single product. It contains one image product, a navigation bar, breadcrumb navigation, and no reviews.

Magento 2 no longer supports PHP 5.6 and isn’t compatible with PHP 7.4 yet .

. http://pubfiles.nexcess.net/magento/ce-packages/

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/magento-2-php-benchmarks.png alt=Magento 2 PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

Magento 2 (CE) 2.2.10 PHP 5.7 benchmark results: not supported

Magento 2 (CE) 2.2.10 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 28.33 req/sec

Magento 2 (CE) 2.2.10 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 28.51 req/sec

Magento 2 (CE) 2.2.10 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 29.58 req/sec

Magento 2 (CE) 2.2.10 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: not supported

Magento 2 (CE) 2.2.10 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: not supported

Magento 2 (CE) 2.3.0 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

Magento 2 (CE) 2.3.0 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: not supported

Magento 2 (CE) 2.3.0 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 25.33 req/sec

Magento 2 (CE) 2.3.0 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 27.01 req/sec

Magento 2 (CE) 2.3.0 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 29.97 req/sec 🏆

Magento 2 (CE) 2.3.0 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: not supported

Magento 2 PHP benchmarks don’t vary too much. But great news is that the latest version of Magento along with the latest supported PHP version (7.3) is the fastest.

Grav CMS 1.6.19

Grav is an easy to use, yet powerful, open-source CMS that requires no database. This is also sometimes referred to as a flat-file CMS.

For the Grav CMS benchmark, we utilized the free Clean Blog skeleton package.

Tested URL: /home/the-urban-jungle

Grav CMS no longer supports PHP 5.6 and 7.0.

Note: Content is a simple one-column blog post with no sidebar. Core GravCMS caching is disabled.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/grav-cms-php-benchmarks.png alt=Grav CMS PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

Grav CMS 1.6.19 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

Grav CMS 1.6.19 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: not supported

Grav CMS 1.6.19 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 62.25 req/sec

Grav CMS 1.6.19 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 64.69 req/sec

Grav CMS 1.6.19 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 69.07 req/sec

Grav CMS 1.6.19 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 75.04 req/sec 🏆

We can see with Grav CMS that the latest version of PHP 7.4 is the winner.

It’s also nice to see these smaller content management systems dropping support for older versions of PHP. Although that is one advantage of not being quite as big either. Unfortunately, when it comes to WordPress and other platforms with a large portion of the market share, things progress more slowly due to compatibility issues.

October CMS 1.0.458

October CMS is a free, open-source, self-hosted and modular CMS platform based on the Laravel PHP Framework. It was originally released on May 15, 2014.

For the October CMS benchmark, we utilized the free Clean Blog theme.

Tested URL: /blog/post/first-blog-post

October CMS no longer supports PHP 5.6 and isn’t compatible with PHP 7.4 yet (https://github.com/octobercms/october/issues/4381).

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/october-cms-php-benchmarks.png alt=October CMS PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

October CMS 1.0.458 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

October CMS 1.0.458 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 44.83 req/sec

October CMS 1.0.458 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 45.21 req/sec

October CMS 1.0.458 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 46.71 req/sec

October CMS 1.0.458 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 49.26 req/sec 🏆

October CMS 1.0.458 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: not supported

PHP 7.3 is the winner, if only by a slight margin. PHP 7.4 once it’s supported will most likely show improvements as well.

Laravel 5.8.35 + 6.7.0

Laravel is a very popular open-source PHP framework used to develop web applications. It was created by Taylor Otwell and was released in June 2011.

For the Laravel benchmark, we used a plain HTML theme.

Tested URL: / (homepage)

(homepage) The post contains, title, author name, and main content. The database contains 1 table “posts”. The table contains 6 columns “post_title”, “post_content”, “post_author”, “created_at” and “updated_at.”

The tested URL connected to the database and showing all the posts on the table. Furthermore, the Laravel app contains 1 route and 1 controller to display these content.

Laravel 5.8.35 no longer supports PHP 5.6 or PHP 7.0. Laravel 6.7.0 no longer supports PHP 5.6, 7.0, or 7.1.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/laravel-php-benchmarks.png alt=Laravel PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

Laravel 5.8.35 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

Laravel 5.8.35 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: not supported

Laravel 5.8.35 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 380.52 req/sec

Laravel 5.8.35 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 382.80 req/sec

Laravel 5.8.35 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 400.22 req/sec

Laravel 5.8.35 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 402.39 req/sec 🏆

Laravel 6.7.0 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

Laravel 6.7.0 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: not supported

Laravel 6.7.0 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: not supported

Laravel 6.7.0 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 383.21 req/sec

Laravel 6.7.0 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 392.74 req/sec

Laravel 6.7.0 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 394.96 req/sec

PHP 7.4 is the clear winner here on both versions. However, what’s interesting is that Laravel 5.8.35 with PHP 7.4 appears to be faster than Laravel 6.7.0.

Symfony 4.4.2 + 5.0.1

Symfony is a set of reusable PHP components and a PHP framework to build web applications, APIs, microservices and web services. It was released on October 22, 2005.

For the Symfony benchmark, we used the Symfony Demo with MySQL (they default to SQLite).

Tested URL: /en/blog/posts/hello-world

The post contains title, date, author name, 2 tags, and 5 comments.

Symfony 4.4.2 no longer supports PHP 5.6 or PHP 7.0. Symfony 5.0.1 no longer supports PHP 5.6, 7.0, or 7.1.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/symfony-php-benchmarks.png alt=Symfony PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

Symfony 4.4.2 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

Symfony 4.4.2 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: not supported

Symfony 4.4.2 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 295.84 req/sec

Symfony 4.4.2 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 309.26 req/sec

Symfony 4.4.2 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 327.61 req/sec

Symfony 4.4.2 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 338.18 req/sec 🏆

Symfony 5.0.1 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

Symfony 5.0.1 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: not supported

Symfony 5.0.1 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: not supported

Symfony 5.0.1 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 229.09 req/sec

Symfony 5.0.1 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 239.96 req/sec

Symfony 5.0.1 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 252.22 req/sec

We can see with Symfony, version 4.4.2 and PHP 7.4 was the fastest.

Update your PHP with one-click for greater site performance, speed, and security. Try Kinsta for Free.

CodeIgniter 3.1.11 + 4.0-rc.3

CodeIgniter is a powerful PHP framework with a very small footprint, built for developers who need a simple and elegant toolkit to create full-featured web applications.

Tested URL: / (homepage)

(homepage) Note: The post contains, title, author name, and main content. The database contains 1 table “posts”. The table contains 6 columns “post_title”, “post_content”, “post_author”, “created_at” and “updated_at.”

The tested URL connected to the database and showing all the posts on the table. Furthermore, the CodeIgniter app contains 1 route and 1 controller to display these content.

CodeIgniter 4.0-rc.3 doesn’t support PHP 5.6, 7.0, or 7.1.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/codeigniter-php-benchmarks.png alt=CodeIgniter PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

CodeIgniter 3.1.11 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: 292.81 req/sec

CodeIgniter 3.1.11 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 358.40 req/sec

CodeIgniter 3.1.11 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 369.93 req/sec

CodeIgniter 3.1.11 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 383.24 req/sec

CodeIgniter 3.1.11 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 392.28 req/sec

CodeIgniter 3.1.11 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 394.96 req/sec 🏆

CodeIgniter 4.0-rc.3 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

CodeIgniter 4.0-rc.3 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: not supported

CodeIgniter 4.0-rc.3 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: not supported

CodeIgniter 4.0-rc.3 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 319.68 req/sec

CodeIgniter 4.0-rc.3 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 322.90 req/sec

CodeIgniter 4.0-rc.3 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 333.08 req/sec

As with Laravel and Symfony, PHP 7.4 was the fastest when running CodeIgniter. What was interesting is that CodeIgniter 3.1.11 was significantly faster than 4.0-rc.3. However, bear in mind that it is a release candidate.

CakePHP 3.8.7 + 4.0.0

CakePHP is an open-source web, rapid development framework that makes building web applications simpler, faster and require less code. It was released in April 2005.

Tested URL: / (homepage)

(homepage) Note: The post contains, title, author name, and main content. The database contains 1 table “posts”. The table contains 6 columns “post_title”, “post_content”, “post_author”, “created_at” and “updated_at.”

The tested URL connected to the database and showing all the posts on the table. Furthermore, the CodeIgniter app contains 1 route and 1 controller to display these content.

CakePHP 4.0.0 doesn’t support PHP 5.6, 7.0, or 7.1.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/cakephp-php-benchmarks.png alt=CakePHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

CakePHP 3.8.7 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: 134.09 req/sec

CakePHP 3.8.7 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 254.58 req/sec

CakePHP 3.8.7 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 267.29 req/sec

CakePHP 3.8.7 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 270.94 req/sec

CakePHP 3.8.7 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 290.25 req/sec

CakePHP 3.8.7 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 294.06 req/sec 🏆

CakePHP 4.0.0 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

CakePHP 4.0.0 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: not supported

CakePHP 4.0.0 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: not supported

CakePHP 4.0.0 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 245.49 req/sec

CakePHP 4.0.0 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 260.84 req/sec

CakePHP 4.0.0 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 259.58 req/sec

With CakePHP, version 3.8.7 running PHP 7.4 was the winner.

PyroCMS 3.7

PyroCMS is an open source and essentially an extension of Laravel which allows you to build websites and applications on the framework faster.

For the PyroCMS benchmark, we used the free starter theme.

Tested URL: /posts/welcome-to-pyrocms

PyroCMS 3.7 doesn’t support PHP 5.6 or 7.0.

Note: We encountered an error when running on PHP 7.4. Most likely because it isn’t supported yet. Therefore, we weren’t able to include it in the benchmarks.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pyrocms-php-benchmarks.png alt=PyroCMS PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

PyroCMS 3.5.3 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

PyroCMS 3.5.3 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: not supported

PyroCMS 3.5.3 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 91.45 req/sec

PyroCMS 3.5.3 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 94.77 req/sec

PyroCMS 3.5.3 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 103.35 req/sec 🏆

PyroCMS 3.5.3 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: not supported

Due to the fact that PHP 7.4 isn’t working yet with PyroCMS, PHP 7.3 won the tests here by a small margin.

Pagekit 1.0.17

Pagekit is an open-source modular and lightweight CMS founded by YOOtheme. It gives you the tools to create beautiful websites. It was released in the Spring of 2016.

For the Pagekit benchmark, we used the free One theme (default Pagekit theme).

Tested URL: /blog/1

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pagekit-php-benchmarks.png alt=Pagekit PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

Pagekit 1.0.17 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: 249.48 req/sec

Pagekit 1.0.17 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 401.77 req/sec

Pagekit 1.0.17 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 406.99 req/sec

Pagekit 1.0.17 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 419.56 req/sec

Pagekit 1.0.17 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 431.21 req/sec

Pagekit 1.0.17 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 438.39 req/sec 🏆

PHP 7.4 took the gold when testing it with Pagekit.

Bolt CMS 3.7.0

Bolt CMS, or Bolt, is an open-source content management tool, which strives to be as simple and straightforward as possible. It is based on Silex and Symfony components, uses Twig and either SQLite, MySQL or PostgreSQL.

For the Bolt CMS benchmark, we used the free Bolt Base 2018 theme.

Tested URL: /entry/hello-world

Note: Content generated with the built-in dummy content generator.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/bolt-cms-php-benchmarks.png alt=Bolt CMS PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

Bolt CMS 3.7.0 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: 50.91 req/sec

Bolt CMS 3.7.0 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 132.49 req/sec

Bolt CMS 3.7.0 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 134.55 req/sec

Bolt CMS 3.7.0 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 139.02 req/sec

Bolt CMS 3.7.0 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 147.03 req/sec

Bolt CMS 3.7.0 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 162.77 req/sec 🏆

PHP 7.4 took the gold when testing it with Bolt CMS. It’s also amazing to see the performance improvements its had since PHP 5.6.

Craft CMS 3.4.0-beta.4

Craft CMS is a focused content management system for developers, designers, and web professionals that blends flexibility, power, and ease of use for clients.

Tested URL: /news/barrel-aged-digital-natives

Craft CMS does not support PHP 5.6.

Tested the demo app with https://github.com/craftcms/demo

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/craft-cms-php-benchmarks.png alt=Craft CMS PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

Craft CMS 3.4.0-beta.4 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

Craft CMS 3.4.0-beta.4 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 140.81 req/sec

Craft CMS 3.4.0-beta.4 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 145.75 req/sec

Craft CMS 3.4.0-beta.4 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 151.15 req/sec

Craft CMS 3.4.0-beta.4 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 163.95 req/sec

Craft CMS 3.4.0-beta.4 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 169.11 req/sec 🏆

PHP 7.4 took the gold when testing it with Craft CMS.

ExpressionEngine 5.3.0

ExpressionEngine is a flexible, feature-rich content management platform that empowers hundreds of thousands of individuals and organizations around the world to easily manage their web site.

For the ExpressionEngine benchmark, we used the default theme.

Tested URL: /blog/entry/super-old-entry

ExpressionEngine does not support PHP 5.6.

Note: The page contains a sidebar with 3 widgets (search, category list, and RSS feed link. The page also contains a breadcrumb navigation.

Embed on your site:

<img src=https://kinsta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/expressionengine-php-benchmarks.png alt=ExpressionEngine PHP benchmarks /><br />Img src: <a href=https://kinsta.com/blog/php-benchmarks/>Kinsta</a>

Benchmark Results

ExpressionEngine 5.3.0 PHP 5.6 benchmark results: not supported

ExpressionEngine 5.3.0 PHP 7.0 benchmark results: 101.32 req/sec

ExpressionEngine 5.3.0 PHP 7.1 benchmark results: 103.54 req/sec

ExpressionEngine 5.3.0 PHP 7.2 benchmark results: 107.79 req/sec

ExpressionEngine 5.3.0 PHP 7.3 benchmark results: 108.35 req/sec

ExpressionEngine 5.3.0 PHP 7.4 benchmark results: 110.56 req/sec 🏆

PHP 7.4 took the gold when testing it with ExpressionEngine.

Update to PHP 7.4 at Kinsta

If the results above don’t convince you, we aren’t sure what will! Just a friendly reminder. If you’re a Kinsta client, PHP 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4 with our custom self-healing configuration are available for you to use.

If you’re wanting to see performance improvements, you can easily change to a newer version with a single click in your MyKinsta dashboard.

If you are worried about it being incompatible with a third-party plugin (which can happen), this is exactly why we have staging sites. 👍 You can test away without worrying about breaking your production site.

Takeaway From Benchmark Results

As you can clearly see from the tests above, PHP 7.4 is leading the pack when it comes to performance across all platforms.

We tested performance of 22 platforms/configurations on 6 different PHP versions and #PHP 7.4 took the gold in 17/17 (5 N/A)! 🏆

Click to Tweet

PHP 7.4 was the fastest engine in 17 out of the 22 configurations tested above. And one reason isn’t wasn’t the winner across the board is simply because Drupal, Magento 2, October CMS, PyroCMS don’t fully support PHP 7.4 yet or have a compatibility issue.

As far as WordPress is concerned, PHP 7.4 was the fastest in all tests (stock WordPress site with 5.3, WooCommerce, and Easy Digital Downloads).

(stock WordPress site with 5.3, WooCommerce, and Easy Digital Downloads). In many of the benchmark results, you can easily spot a pattern of increased performance with each new version of PHP that is released. This is why it’s so important to test your site, plugins, etc. and stick to a regular upgrade schedule. Your visitors and customers will thank you as they expect speed!

We didn’t even test preloading, which is a new feature introduced in PHP 7.4. This means 7.4 might even be slightly faster.

If your hosting provider doesn’t offer newer versions of PHP, perhaps it’s time you think about moving.

For WordPress users, besides upgrading to the latest PHP version, we’ve collected a lot more techniques that can help you to further improve website performance. See the details in our ultimate guide on how to speed up your WordPress site.

We are super excited about PHP 7.4, and hope you are too! We would love to hear your thoughts regarding our benchmarks or even experiences you’ve had once upgrading. Drop them below in the comments.