Last updated: June 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology.
QUICK VERDICT
Bottom line: PHP still powers most of the web — WordPress, Laravel and a huge share of back-end jobs — so it is a practical language to learn. For a modern, up-to-date course, Modern PHP: The Complete Guide on Udemy is the best pick. Once you know the basics, learn Laravel, the framework most PHP jobs actually use. Beginners on a budget can start with free resources and lose nothing.
- Best overall: Modern PHP: The Complete Guide (Udemy, 4.7)
- Most popular: PHP for Beginners – Become a PHP Master (Udemy)
- Best for the framework: Laravel & PHP Mastery (Udemy)
- Skip if: you are starting web development from zero with no language in mind — JavaScript may be a better first step
PHP gets dismissed in some circles, but the numbers tell a different story: it runs a large majority of the world’s websites, WordPress alone powers a huge slice of the internet, and Laravel has made modern PHP genuinely pleasant to write. For back-end and full-stack work it remains a reliable, employable skill. The courses below were chosen for current, practical teaching, then checked individually — every featured course was loaded and verified live in June 2026 with its rating, enrolment and last-updated date.
We are an independent reviewer. Where a free resource is the right call, we say so — and a commission never changes the ranking.
The best PHP courses in 2026 at a glance
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| Course | Best for | Rating | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modern PHP: The Complete Guide | Best overall | 4.7 · 1,479 ratings | Udemy |
| PHP for Beginners – Become a PHP Master | Most popular | 4.3 · 25,318 ratings | Udemy |
| Laravel & PHP Mastery | The framework | 4.4 · 6,409 ratings | Udemy |
| freeCodeCamp & PHP docs | Best free | Free | Free |
1. Modern PHP: The Complete Guide — best overall
This is the course to take if you want to learn PHP the way it is actually written today. It holds a 4.7 rating from 1,479 reviews and a current January 2026 update, and it takes you from the basics through to advanced, modern features — object-oriented PHP, namespaces, Composer, error handling and the practices that separate hobby code from professional code. Many popular PHP courses are years old; this one teaches current PHP, which matters more than it sounds.
Take it on sale, as with any Udemy course. At the usual discounted price, a current, well-structured PHP course is an easy call.
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Beginner to advanced, current for 2026 — 4.7 stars. The strongest up-to-date PHP course we found.
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2. PHP for Beginners – Become a PHP Master — most popular
This is the best-known PHP course on Udemy by a distance — more than 128,000 students and 25,318 reviews, recently refreshed (May 2026). It is a sprawling, project-based course that builds a content-management system as you learn, covering PHP, MySQL and object-oriented basics. The honest flag is the rating: at 4.3, it is good but not elite, and the sheer length can feel padded. We list it because it is comprehensive and current — but for tighter, higher-rated teaching, start with pick #1.
3. Laravel & PHP Mastery — best for the framework
Once you know core PHP, Laravel is what most modern PHP jobs actually use — and this is the pick to learn it. A 4.4 rating from 6,409 reviews, 34,000+ students and a recent August 2025 update, it teaches Laravel by building five real-world projects, which is exactly how the framework sticks. If your goal is employability, do a core-PHP course first, then this. The portfolio projects double as samples for job applications.
4. Free PHP resources — best on a budget
You can learn a lot of PHP without paying. freeCodeCamp has long, free PHP video courses on YouTube; the official PHP documentation at php.net is genuinely good and includes a tutorial; and channels like The Net Ninja offer well-structured free PHP and Laravel series. There is no affiliate link here — free is a perfectly good way to start, and a paid course mainly adds structure, projects and a certificate. A sensible plan: confirm you like PHP with free material, then buy one current course for depth.
PHP, Laravel, WordPress — what should you learn?
These three names come up constantly and confuse beginners. Here is how they fit together:
- PHP is the language itself — the foundation everything else sits on. Learn this first.
- Laravel is the dominant PHP framework, used to build modern web applications faster and more cleanly. Most professional PHP roles expect it. Learn it after core PHP.
- WordPress is a PHP-based content platform. If your goal is to build or customise WordPress sites and themes, that is a related but distinct path — you still benefit from knowing PHP underneath.
The standard route to a PHP job: core PHP → object-oriented PHP → Laravel → a couple of portfolio projects. The courses above line up with exactly that sequence.
Is PHP still worth learning in 2026?
Yes, with eyes open. PHP is not the trendiest language, and if you are choosing a first language purely for the hottest job market, JavaScript or Python may edge it. But PHP runs an enormous share of existing websites, those sites need maintaining and building, and Laravel work in particular is well-paid and in steady demand. There is also less competition than in the crowded JavaScript space.
The honest summary: PHP is a pragmatic, employable choice, especially if you pair it with Laravel — just do not expect it to be the language everyone is talking about. For getting paid to build web apps, it remains a solid bet.
What a good PHP course should cover
Use this as a checklist when comparing courses — a complete one should hit all of these:
- Core syntax and logic — variables, control flow, functions, arrays and working with forms and request data.
- Object-oriented PHP — classes, interfaces, traits and namespaces; the foundation of all modern PHP and Laravel.
- Databases with MySQL — connecting to a database, PDO, and writing safe queries.
- Security fundamentals — SQL injection, input validation, password hashing and protecting against common web attacks. This is non-negotiable for real-world PHP.
- Composer and the ecosystem — using PHP’s package manager and third-party libraries the way professionals do.
- A real project — building something end-to-end (a CMS, a store, an API) so the pieces connect.
If a course skips security or never builds a complete application, treat it as an introduction rather than a full education — you will need to fill those gaps before you are job-ready.
What can you build with PHP?
PHP is a server-side language, so it shines at anything that runs on a web server: dynamic websites, content-management systems (WordPress is the obvious one), e-commerce stores, REST APIs that power mobile and front-end apps, membership and login systems, and full web applications via Laravel. It is the back-end glue between a browser and a database. If your goal is to build or maintain the kind of database-driven website most businesses run, PHP is squarely the right tool — which is exactly why the demand for it persists.
How to choose the right PHP course
- Check the update date. PHP and especially Laravel move quickly — a 2026 course will teach current syntax and tooling; a 2019 one will not.
- Core PHP before frameworks. Learn the language properly before jumping into Laravel, or the framework will feel like magic you cannot debug.
- Look for projects. The best courses have you build real applications, which both cements the learning and gives you portfolio pieces.
- Start free if unsure. Confirm you enjoy PHP with free material before committing money.
Frequently asked questions
Is PHP hard to learn?
PHP is one of the more beginner-friendly back-end languages — forgiving syntax, immediate results in the browser, and enormous amounts of learning material. You can build a working dynamic page within days. The harder part is writing clean, secure, object-oriented PHP, which the better courses focus on.
Should I learn Laravel or plain PHP first?
Plain PHP first. Laravel is built on PHP, and trying to learn the framework without understanding the language underneath leads to code you cannot debug. Get comfortable with core and object-oriented PHP, then move to Laravel.
How long does it take to learn PHP?
You can grasp the basics in a few weeks of consistent practice. Reaching job-ready level — comfortable with object-oriented PHP, Laravel and a couple of real projects — typically takes a few months.
Which PHP course is best for beginners?
Modern PHP: The Complete Guide is the best beginner-to-advanced pick because it teaches current PHP and is highly rated. If you prefer free, start with freeCodeCamp’s PHP course, then move to a paid course for depth and projects.