When should I pick Laravel over AdonisJS?

Pick Laravel if: The backend is the product — many models, an admin, jobs and emails.

Which do more makers use for backend framework?

Among makers' products we track: AdonisJS 3, Laravel 72.

AdonisJS vs Laravel

Two batteries included options for backend framework. When each fits, what it costs, who moves from one to the other, and what makers who chose it say.

AdonisJSBatteries includedllms.txt CLI

LaravelBatteries included

Ask your AI about this, with this page as the source:ChatGPT ↗Claude ↗Perplexity ↗

Which fits you

Choose AdonisJS if

TypeScript apps that want Rails- or Laravel-style conventions — ORM, migrations, auth, validation and mail — in Node.js.

Use it whenYou want a batteries-included backend without leaving TypeScript.

Trade-offA much smaller community and fewer tutorials than Express, NestJS or Laravel.

Choose Laravel if

The backend is the product — many models, an admin, jobs and emails

Use it whenYou want first-party tools for deploying and running the app, not just the framework.

Trade-offThe smoothest path runs through Laravel's paid add-ons.

At a glance

	AdonisJS	Laravel
Used by	3 makers' products · 4 open-source projects	72 makers' products
Downloads	149.2k/wk−11% vs npm	★ 34.9k
Pricing	Free (open source).	Framework is free (open source); paid add-ons exist (Forge, Vapor, Nova, Cloud). · paid from $5/mo (Laravel Cloud)
Free tier	Yes	Yes
Open source	Yes · self-hostable	Yes · self-hostable

What makers say

Makers on using it for backend framework, from Product Hunt and Starter Story interviews, each linked to the source. Products with a page of their own and fuller notes first.

On AdonisJS

I chose AdonisJS because it gives me a full-stack Node.js framework with everything built-in, so I can ship faster with less glue code. It feels structured like Laravel, but stays modern, TypeScript-friendly, and perfect for building a solid SaaS backend quickly.

Adoptly, the makerSep 2026 ↗

I chose AdonisJS because it gives me a full-stack Node.js framework with everything built-in, so I can ship faster with less glue code. It feels structured like Laravel, but stays modern, TypeScript-friendly, and perfect for building a solid SaaS backend quickly.

Adoptly, the makerApr 2026 ↗

I want to learn a new backend framework and I heard about AdonisJS from Romain Lanz (@romainlanz on Twitter/X) and I really enjoy developing using this easy-to-learn framework AdonisJS

Ubestory, the makerSep 2026 ↗

1 more on the AdonisJS page →

On Laravel

I use Bitbucket to manage my git repository and have Laravel Homestead running locally so I can test and work on my code in an environment that matches my production servers.

ClearCheckbook Money Management, the makerSep 2021 ↗

So, here’s what we use; Gmail (obvious) AWS as our cloud of choice Laravel Forge to deploy our product on servers Webflow to power our landing page Ghost to power our blog Transistor.fm to

Mailman, the makerDec 2021 ↗

We use Laravel as the backbone of our app. Thanks to it, we've been able to built this from the ground up in record time, and have it super easy to run and maintain.

Recurrr, the makerSep 2026 ↗

43 more on the Laravel page →

Loved and watch-outs

Themes that recur in makers' words and Hacker News comments, each linked to what it summarises.

AdonisJSNothing that recurs in what we collected yet.

Laravel

Most loved

First-party packages for billing, queues, WebSockets and UI let one developer build and run a large product from one codebase. PH PH 2 PH 3 HN
Eloquent ORM, authentication, rate limiting and protection against SQL injection and CSRF come built in instead of from scattered packages. PH PH 2 HN HN 2
Its documentation and community are strong enough that makers get an MVP running in days. PH PH 2 PH 3 PH 4

Watch-outs

The framework is a huge codebase on a dynamic language, which some see as a maintenance and type-safety risk next to Go. HN HN 2
PHP's shared-nothing runtime makes worker concurrency, memory use and real-time workloads harder to tune. HN HN 2

On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 65 reviews · mentioned most: fast development, robust ecosystem, strong community support

Who uses each

AdonisJS3 makers' products

Adoptly Ubestory YouTube Playlist Calculator

Laravel72 makers' products

Agiled

Amploo

Built for Devs ClearCheckbook Money Management DGLegacy Engine Room Media Hi.Events Imagined with AI

Invite.social IPRoyal Launch Cart, Inc.Live helper chat +60 more

What makers pair each with

With AdonisJS

Frontend Framework

Database

With Laravel

Neither quite right?

See the whole backend framework decision →

HonoMinimal routerSmall TypeScript APIs that run on Node, Bun, Deno or edge platforms like Cloudflare Workers.

ExpressMinimal routerNode.js servers where you want a widely documented default and a huge middleware catalog.

FastifyMinimal routerNode.js APIs that want low overhead, JSON-schema request validation and a structured plugin system.

FastAPIMinimal routerPython APIs with request validation and interactive docs generated from type hints.

DjangoBatteries includedPython apps that want an ORM, migrations, auth and an admin panel on day one.vs Laravel →

Ruby on RailsBatteries includedFull-stack Ruby apps where one developer builds models, views, jobs and emails with strong conventions.vs Laravel →

NestJSStructured TypeScriptLarger TypeScript backends organized into modules, with dependency injection and decorators.