Dear friends,

Over the years, I've been extremely critical of PHP framework makers who charge for paid framework certification. There are a variety of reasons why I have a problem with paid framework certification. The main reason is that paid framework certification incentivizes framework makers to break their own intellectual assets frequently.

Examples of PHP frameworks that have gone down this road are:

  • Laravel
  • Symfony
  • The Zend Framework

The last time I spoke about this subject in any depth was about three or four months ago. At that time, I insisted that the Laravel ecosystem was strong enough to thrive and survive without the paid certification business model. By the way, I don't think that the same could be said for Symfony. Unlike Laravel, Symfony doesn't really have an ecosystem. Instead of building an ecosystem, the makers of Symfony used their resources to organise events in Disneyland and they pressed forward with initiatives like this. Having educated us about the value of inclusion, the makers of Symfony now find themselves in what appears to be a slightly precarious position. Put simply, if they stop their paid certification program it's a struggle to see how they'll be able to generate any significant revenue.

Laravel is a different story.

Unlike with Symfony, the makers of Laravel have invested their time into building a strong, deep and diverse ecosystem. There was never any question about that - even from me.

Anyway, it turns out the Laravel certification program is no longer official. It has been that way since early 2023, and I had no idea. I apologize. As far as I can tell, 'no longer official' means that the makers of Laravel are not in any way associated with the current Laravel certification program. It would appear that the Laravel certification program is still active. The website is still up, and at the time of writing, the fee for Laravel certification is being advertised at 249 Euros. That is ridiculous, and it's very annoying to see Laravel's name getting dragged through the mud by third-party opportunists.

Nevertheless, the makers of Laravel did the right thing. They disassociated themselves from the paid certification program. I think it's important to give framework makers credit when things like that happen.

Therefore, I apologise for getting my wires crossed in this instance. I wish the maker(s) of Laravel well.

DC