Laravel is an open-source framework written in PHP, created by Taylor Otwell in 2011 and released under the MIT license, used to build web applications and APIs with a syntax known for being clear and pleasant to use.
It follows the MVC pattern and provides out of the box what an application needs: routing, authentication, queues, email sending, scheduled tasks. Its ORM, Eloquent, lets developers handle the database as objects, and its command-line tool, Artisan, automates repetitive tasks.
Laravel relies on a rich ecosystem maintained around the project: deployment tools, admin panel, payment handling, reactive interfaces. It is one of the two major PHP frameworks alongside Symfony, several of whose components it actually reuses.
It is often found in startups, agencies and SaaS products that want to ship quickly.
Why it matters when hiring
Laravel and Symfony share the same language and many principles: a good developer in one becomes productive in the other within a few weeks, so requiring one exclusively narrows the pool for no reason. Laravel's speed can also hide a lack of rigor: check in the interview how the candidate tests their code and structures an application as it grows.