PHP Not Popular: Why Developers Look Elsewhere for Web Building

You see less and less hype about PHP these days, even though it still runs a ton of the internet behind the scenes. Some folks wonder why PHP lost its cool factor, especially when it used to be everywhere. Honestly, if you’re jumping into web development right now, you probably hear more about JavaScript frameworks or Python than PHP at meetups or on Reddit.

So what happened? It’s not like legacy PHP sites just vanished. But talk to any developer who’s spent a few years with PHP, and you’ll hear about awkward syntax, inconsistent function names, and headaches from mixing business logic with HTML. Newer languages just feel smoother, don’t they?

But here’s the twist: there are still solid reasons why PHP powers major sites, and not every story about its ‘decline’ shows the full picture. As we break down the real reasons behind the shift, we’ll also check which scenarios still make PHP a good bet—and where you might want to expand your skill set. No fluff, just the facts and hard-learned tips you actually need.

• PHP: Once the King of the Web
• Why Developers Started to Move Away
• Surprising Data: PHP by the Numbers
• Modern Alternatives Taking Over
• When PHP Still Makes Perfect Sense
• Tips for Staying Competitive as a Developer

PHP: Once the King of the Web

The truth is, PHP used to be the go-to tool for building websites. Back in the early 2000s, if you wanted to set up a blog or an online shop, you probably reached for PHP. WordPress, the world’s most-used content management system, is built on PHP. To this day, over 40% of all websites still run WordPress. That’s wild if you think about it.

PHP made it stupid easy to just toss some code in a .php file, upload it to your server, and you’d have a working site. You didn’t need to know computer science or mess with complicated build tools. That ease got people building faster than any other language at the time.

Check any hosting provider from the last two decades—Bluehost, DreamHost, GoDaddy, you name it. They all offered simple “one-click installs” for popular PHP apps like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. It was cheap, fast, and reliable. For a while, if you knew PHP, you’d never run out of freelance work. Even a ton of companies today have massive codebases that started with PHP.

None of this happened by accident. Big open-source projects like WordPress, Magento, and MediaWiki all made it easy for beginners and pros to get started. Before Node.js or Python web frameworks took off, PHP development was practically the standard way to get your site online fast.

But while PHP sat on top for ages, things started to shift as the web evolved. We'll get into why, but just know: PHP paved the way for a ton of the internet we use every day.

Why Developers Started to Move Away

So, why did developers begin ditching PHP, even though it used to be the backbone for so many websites? Honestly, a lot of it came down to how the language felt to work with as stuff scaled up.

First, PHP has always had this reputation for inconsistent function names and odd quirks. For example, functions like strpos() and str_replace() flip their argument order, which gets annoying fast. That might seem nitpicky, but when you’re maintaining a huge project, little weirdness adds up to wasted time and more bugs.

Next, keeping business logic and presentation separate is a best practice now. With PHP, older codebases often tangled HTML right inside the PHP files. That mix makes things messy and harder to test. Modern frameworks for other languages make it easier to keep code organized from the start, which developers really like.

Security was a headache, too. For years, websites built with PHP got a bad rap for being vulnerable to attacks like SQL injection. Sure, you can build secure PHP apps if you know what you’re doing, but the language didn’t force you to follow best practices. As soon as alternatives like Ruby on Rails or Django made security built-in, it was a no-brainer for many devs to switch.

Then there’s the tooling. Compare PHP’s package manager (Composer) to Node’s npm or Python’s pip, and PHP honestly felt late to the party. Setting up a modern workflow just took more manual steps, which slowed teams down. Today, devs expect fast setup, automated testing, and easy deployment as standard—not as something you hack together yourself.

Let’s look at some numbers that tell the story. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2024, only 20% of professional developers said they regularly used PHP, compared to 65% for JavaScript and 44% for Python. That drop isn’t an accident—it follows exactly when companies started needing big, maintainable, scalable apps, not just simple blogs and forums.

All this adds up. Developers moved away from PHP because they wanted languages and frameworks that save time, make code safer, and just feel better to use. It’s not that PHP is dead—it just lost the popularity contest as projects and teams demanded more.

Surprising Data: PHP by the Numbers

Let’s check some real numbers to see where PHP actually stands in the web world. For a language with a shaky reputation lately, it’s wild how much of the internet still relies on it. According to W3Techs, as of early 2025, about 75% of all websites using a server-side language are running PHP somewhere behind the scenes. That includes big hitters like WordPress, which powers over 40% of all websites by itself.

The story shifts when you look at developer preference. The 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Survey ranks PHP as just the 14th most popular language overall, a slide from its pervious top-10 days. The same survey reports that less than 20% of developers say they "love" working with PHP, marking it as one of the less loved options compared to JavaScript, Python, and Go.

Here’s a quick breakdown of PHP’s real-world impact versus reputation:

One tech commentator at Hackernoon summed it up best:

“PHP keeps the web running but it’s the Rodney Dangerfield of programming languages—it gets no respect.”

So, while PHP isn’t making the trending lists anymore, it’s still baked into a jaw-dropping chunk of the world’s websites. If you want to work on legacy systems or with content management giants like WordPress or Drupal, knowing PHP still pays the bills. But if you want to join teams shifting to newer technologies, those numbers show why many devs are deciding to pivot elsewhere.

Modern Alternatives Taking Over

Let’s be real—when people say PHP isn’t their favorite, they’re usually comparing it to the fresh competition. Over the past decade, newer web development tools have shown up with cleaner syntax, faster learning curves, or simply trendier job opportunities. The big names to watch? Think Node.js, Python with Django or Flask, Ruby on Rails, and even ASP.NET for those deep into the Microsoft crowd.

JavaScript pretty much took over because of Node.js. Now you can use the same language on the client and server, which cuts down the mental overhead. Frameworks like Express (for Node), Next.js, and the rise of React or Vue mean JavaScript devs feel right at home building full-stack apps. A lot of startups don’t even consider PHP for new projects anymore—they jump into the JavaScript ecosystem since there’s so much support and tooling.

Python’s a big deal too. Developers like Django and Flask for their readability and batteries-included mindset. As a bonus, Python keeps getting more popular thanks to data science and machine learning trends. So plenty of new devs start with Python for those side benefits and never bother to look at PHP.

Ruby on Rails burst onto the scene with convention-over-configuration, making it fast to build projects from scratch. While Rails doesn’t get the headlines it used to, there’s still a steady fanbase. Meanwhile, ASP.NET keeps Microsoft shops happy, especially for big enterprise setups.

And let’s not forget performance and scalability. Node.js and some of the others make it easier to go asynchronous right out of the gate. That means you can handle thousands of concurrent users without hacking your way through spaghetti code.

Here’s a quick look at recent usage trends:

What does this mean in practice? More code samples, more hiring pipelines, and tons of open source libraries for these alternatives. When you weigh the momentum, it’s easy to see why PHP struggles to attract folks starting new web development projects today.

When PHP Still Makes Perfect Sense

So despite all the buzz about modern frameworks and up-and-coming languages, PHP is still a solid choice for plenty of real-world jobs. Here’s where PHP just works, no spin:

• WordPress rules the web. Over 40% of all websites run on WordPress, and guess what? It’s built entirely with PHP. If you build or manage sites in WordPress, you need to know your PHP basics.
• Legacy systems and ongoing support. Tons of businesses depend on websites and internal tools made with PHP. No one’s rewriting a giant intranet from scratch just to say they’re “modern.” That makes PHP developers super valuable for maintenance or upgrades.
• Cheap and easy hosting. Just about every shared web host supports PHP out of the box, and it’s usually more affordable than Node or Python hosting. If you’re spinning up small projects for friends or small businesses, PHP saves cash and hassle.
• Quick, simple backend APIs. Need to whip up a small REST API or process a form submission? Doctrine and Laravel make it easier than ever, and you can get a backend running in minutes—no messing around with huge JavaScript bundles or Docker.

There are a lot of big players using PHP in 2025, from Facebook’s early days (they built Hack on top of it to make it scale) to platforms like MediaWiki (powers Wikipedia) and Drupal. Even sites with massive daily visitors still run smoothly on well-optimized PHP code.

Bottom line: If you’re aiming for quick launches, low hosting costs, or you’re working with the massive ecosystem around WordPress, using PHP makes a ton of sense even in 2025. Don’t shy away just because it isn’t the “cool” stack—it still pays the bills for a lot of devs out there.

Tips for Staying Competitive as a Developer

If you're still working with PHP, or even if you’ve moved to other stacks, staying sharp is what keeps you in the game. The web development world doesn’t wait around for anyone. Here’s what really moves the needle.

• Learn a Modern Framework: Don’t just stick to raw PHP. Tools like Laravel or Symfony can seriously step up your workflow and help you write cleaner code. Knowing these frameworks looks way better on your resume, too.
• Keep Up With New Languages: The market is asking for JavaScript (Node.js, React, Vue), Python (especially Django and Flask), and even Go and Rust. A Stack Overflow Developer Survey in 2024 showed that only 19% of professional developers said they like working with PHP, compared to over 65% for JavaScript.
• Understand DevOps Basics: Employers love when you can do more than code. Get comfortable with Docker, CI/CD pipelines, and deployment. You’ll be way more valuable if you can launch and maintain your builds without always waiting on another team.
• Contribute to Open Source: This shows both skill and initiative. You can also learn better practices from other developers and maybe even get noticed by companies looking for contributors.
• Focus on Security: Sites get hacked all the time, and PHP apps don’t have the greatest track record when it comes to security. Learning current best practices (think input validation, prepared statements, and password hashing) sets you apart from the crowd.

Here’s a quick look at popular web development technology use in 2024, from the same Stack Overflow survey:

Just because PHP development is less trendy doesn’t mean you can’t build a solid career. But adding more skills gives you flexibility for whatever the industry throws at you next. Companies love web developers who aren’t stuck in the past.