Laravel deployment requires more steps than most PHP frameworks. Getting all of them right consistently across environments is where teams tend to lose time. Here is a clear breakdown of your options in 2026.
What Laravel Deployment Actually Involves
A complete Laravel production deployment requires handling several things correctly every time you deploy. Running database migrations. Clearing and rebuilding the cache. Linking the storage directory. Restarting queue workers. Setting environment variables correctly. Missing any of these steps causes production issues that can be hard to diagnose quickly.
Option 1: Traditional VPS with PHP-FPM and Nginx
The classic approach. Provision a Linux server, install PHP-FPM, configure Nginx, set up a database, configure Supervisor for queue workers, and write deployment scripts to handle the post-deploy steps. This works reliably and gives you full control. It also requires meaningful setup time and ongoing server maintenance.
Option 2: Laravel Forge
Forge automates server provisioning and deployment scripts for Laravel applications. It handles PHP-FPM and Nginx configuration and makes the deployment process significantly more repeatable. You still manage a server but Forge reduces the expertise required to do it correctly.
Option 3: Managed PaaS
Platforms like Render support PHP applications with less server management than a VPS. Requires specifying your build and deploy commands correctly for Laravel but removes the server maintenance overhead.
Option 4: Agentic Deployment with Kuberns
Kuberns uses an AI agent that reads your Laravel repository and handles the full deployment pipeline automatically. Migration running, cache clearing, queue worker setup, environment configuration: all handled without manual configuration. The fastest path from GitHub to production for Laravel applications.
Full guide here: How to Deploy a Laravel App
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