Draft:FrankenPHP
| FrankenPHP | |
|---|---|
| Original author | Kévin Dunglas |
| Developers | Les-Tilleuls.coop, The PHP Foundation |
| Initial release | December 7, 2023 |
| Stable release | 1.9.1
/ August 29, 2025 |
| Repository | https://github.com/php/frankenphp |
| Written in | Go, C |
| Type | Application server |
| License | MIT License |
| Website | https://frankenphp.dev |
FrankenPHP is an open-source PHP application server built in the Go programming language and built on the Caddy web server, released under the terms of the MIT Licence. The software was created by Kévin Dunglas and publicly released in December 2023.[1] It is supported by the PHP Foundation.[2] It is designed to be a faster alternative to the traditional Nginx/Apache and PHP-FPM methods of serving PHP web applications.[3]
History
[edit]FrankenPHP was created by Kévin Dunglas, a member of the Caddy core team, to revolutionize how PHP applications are deployed and executed. Recognizing the inefficiencies of traditional PHP servers like Apache and PHP-FPM, Dunglas developed FrankenPHP as a modern, high-performance alternative.
Launched in 2023, FrankenPHP integrates directly with Caddy, leveraging its automatic HTTPS, easy configuration, and robust architecture. The project enables Worker mode, enabling PHP applications to run persistently in memory. This eliminates the overhead of process spawning and significantly boosts performance, making it ideal for microservices and real-time applications.
By combining the strengths of Caddy and modern PHP features, FrankenPHP offers developers a lightweight, scalable, and efficient way to deploy PHP applications. Its open-source nature and active community continue to drive innovation, making it a popular choice for modern PHP development.
Features
[edit]FrankenPHP revolutionizes PHP deployment with its cutting-edge architecture, optimized for performance and developer experience. By leveraging PHP’s Worker mode, it keeps applications running persistently in memory, eliminating process startup overhead and delivering ultra-low latency for requests. Tightly integrated with Caddy, it provides automatic HTTPS, HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 support, and a user-friendly Caddyfile configuration.
One of FrankenPHP’s standout features is its Go extension generator, which allows developers to create custom PHP extensions written in Go. This unique capability bridges the performance and concurrency strengths of Go with the flexibility of PHP, enabling high-performance integrations and optimizations tailored to specific use cases.
FrankenPHP also excels in real-time communication with built-in support for Mercure and asynchronous processing, making it perfect for microservices, APIs, and event-driven applications. It supports hot reloading for rapid development, is Docker-ready for easy deployment, and maintains compatibility with popular PHP frameworks. This blend of innovation and practicality makes FrankenPHP a powerful, future-proof choice for modern PHP development.
References
[edit]- ^ Anderson, Tim (30 May 2024). "FrankenPHP and Caddy: Double performance, claims Caddy creator but only some apps benefit". DevClass. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
- ^ Pronskiy, Roman (15 May 2025). "FrankenPHP Is Now Officially Supported by The PHP Foundation". The PHP Foundation. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
- ^ "FrankenPHP for Modern PHP Development – Now with the support of The PHP Foundation". Macronimous. 22 May 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.