I built a lightweight AJAX-first PHP framework for shared hosting

Vercy Dev — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:25:42 +0000

If you've ever tried to use Laravel or Symfony on a shared hosting
account, you know the pain. No terminal access, no Composer on the
server, no Docker — just FTP and cPanel.

That's exactly why I built Zieex.

What is Zieex?

Zieex is a lightweight PHP 8.2+ framework with zero runtime
dependencies. You can literally FTP the files into your public_html
folder and it works.

No terminal. No SSH. No Docker. Just PHP.

Key Features

AJAX-first by default — links, forms and buttons never reload the page unless you want them to
Zero runtime dependencies — no third-party packages required
Web-based installer — like WordPress, runs in the browser
Blade-like templating — familiar .ze.php syntax
Built-in Auth — session-based with BCRYPT hashing
JWT support — for REST APIs and mobile apps
CSRF protection — automatic on all POST requests
Rate limiting — per route, out of the box
Raw SMTP socket — sends emails without any library
MVC + REST API — separate web and API route files
Query Builder — clean database API without an ORM
PHP 8.2+ only — modern PHP, no legacy baggage

Install It

composer create-project vercy/zieex my-app

Then open your browser — the installer runs automatically.

How It Works

Routes

// routes/web/index.php
Router::get('/', [HomeController::class, 'index']);

Router::post('/login', [AuthController::class, 'login'])
    ->rateLimit(5, 60);

Router::group(['prefix' => '/admin', 'middleware' => ['auth', 'role:admin']], function () {
    Router::get('/dashboard', [AdminController::class, 'index']);
});

// Registers GET, POST, PUT, DELETE automatically
Router::resource('/api/posts', PostController::class);

Controllers

class PostController extends Controller
{
    public function store(Request $request): Response
    {
        $data = $this->validate($request, [
            'title'   => 'required|max:255',
            'content' => 'required',
        ]);

        $post = Post::create($data);

        return $this->success($post, 'Post created.', 201);
    }
}

Templates (.ze.php)

@extends('layouts.app')

@section('content')
  <h1>{{ $title }}</h1>

  @foreach($posts as $post)
    <p>{{ $post['title'] }}</p>
  @endforeach

  @auth
    <a href="/dashboard">Dashboard</a>
  @endauth
@endsection

Auth

Auth::attempt($email, $password);
Auth::check();
Auth::user();
Auth::hash($password);
Auth::verify($password, $hash);

Query Builder

DB::table('posts')
    ->where('status', 'published')
    ->orderBy('created_at', 'DESC')
    ->paginate(15, $page);

DB::transaction(function () {
    // multiple queries here
});

Mail — multiple drivers

// Use Resend for auth emails
Mail::driver('resend')
    ->to($user['email'])
    ->subject('Verify your email')
    ->view('emails.verify', ['code' => $code])
    ->send();

// Use SMTP for bulk emails
Mail::driver('smtp')
    ->to($email)
    ->subject('Newsletter')
    ->html($content)
    ->send();

Logging

Log::info('User logged in', ['user_id' => $id]);
Log::error('Payment failed', ['order' => $orderId]);
Log::warning('Rate limit approaching', ['ip' => $ip]);

The AJAX Layer — interaction.js

This is one of my favourite parts of Zieex.

Every link, form and button is AJAX-enabled by default. No page
reloads. No extra code. It just works.

<!-- Normal link — no reload -->
<a href="/dashboard">Dashboard</a>

<!-- Normal form — submitted via AJAX -->
<form method="POST" action="/posts">
  <input name="title">
  <button type="submit">Save</button>
</form>

<!-- Opt out if you need a hard reload -->
<a href="/download" data-no-ajax>Download</a>

It also handles JSON responses, flash messages, form errors and
browser back/forward navigation automatically.

There's also a LiveComponent system for reactive UI without
any JavaScript framework:

LiveComponent.register('counter', {
  data: () => ({ count: 0 }),
  methods: {
    increment() { this.count++; }
  },
  render() {
    return `
      <p>${this.count}</p>
      <button data-on="click:increment">+</button>
    `;
  }
});

<div data-live="counter"></div>

Shared Hosting Deployment

Run composer create-project vercy/zieex my-app locally
FTP all files to your public_html
Visit your domain
Fill in the installer form
Done

No terminal access needed on the server at all.

Why Not Just Use Laravel?

Laravel is amazing. But it is also:

100MB+ with dependencies
Requires terminal access to install
Requires terminal access to deploy
Overkill for small to medium projects

Zieex is under 3MB, has zero runtime dependencies, and installs
through a browser form just like WordPress.

DEV Community: Vercy Dev