What PHP does

PHP is an open-source, general-purpose scripting language primarily used for server-side web development. Originally created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1995 as a set of CGI binaries, PHP has evolved through multiple major releases (PHP 3 in 1997, 4 in 2000, 5 in 2004, 7 in 2015, 8 in 2020, 8.5 in 2025) into one of the most widely deployed server-side languages on the web, powering major platforms including WordPress, Wikipedia, and historically Facebook. The language is fast, flexible, and pragmatic, with native HTML embedding, broad database connectivity, and extensive platform support across Linux, macOS, and Windows.

The core product portfolio consists of multiple concurrently supported major versions (PHP 8.1 through 8.5), each receiving ongoing bug fix and security updates, plus comprehensive official documentation, distribution packages, and a large library of extensions covering database access, cryptography, image processing, and web services. The project is governed by The PHP Group (copyright holder) with development coordinated by The PHP Foundation, a non-profit established in 2021 to ensure long-term sustainability through corporate and individual donations.

PHP has no commercial revenue model. The software is distributed free of charge under the PHP License v3.01 via direct downloads from php.net, package managers (Chocolatey, Scoop, Winget, Docker, Linux distributions), and pre-installation on virtually all web hosting providers. The project's customer base is the global developer community, served through community-led motion including official documentation, social channels, PHP conferences worldwide, and The PHP Foundation's governance and funding infrastructure. A formal security audit was completed by Quarkslab in April 2025, reinforcing institutional-grade quality assurance.

Name

PHP

Legal name

The PHP Group

Website

https://php.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Server-Side Scripting Language

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Developer Tools & DevOps Platform Services (CI/CD, Artifacts, IaC) (HDABAAAI)

Keywords

• Server-side scripting
• Open source language
• Web development language
• Scripting interpreter
• Dynamic web programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Little Rock

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Open Source Distribution: PHP is free, open-source software distributed at no cost. Revenue is not generated through the language itself. The PHP Foundation is a non-profit collective that ensures long-term prosperity of the PHP language through donations and sponsorships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

PHP is a popular general-purpose server-side scripting language especially suited to web development, distributed as free, open-source software under the PHP License v3.01. The language powers websites, blogs, content management systems, and web applications, and is maintained by The PHP Group with governance and funding support from The PHP Foundation. The offering includes the core language across multiple major versions (8.5, 8.4, 8.3, 8.2, 8.1), official documentation, downloadable distributions for major operating systems, and an extensive library of extensions for database, cryptography, image processing, and web services.

Product overview

PHP is a popular open-source general-purpose scripting language primarily used for web development. The product portfolio consists of the core PHP language distributed across multiple major versions (8.5, 8.4, 8.3, 8.2, 8.1), each receiving ongoing maintenance, bug fixes, and security updates. Supporting offerings include comprehensive official documentation, downloadable distributions for Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms with multiple build configurations, and an extensive ecosystem of extensions for database connectivity, encryption, image processing, and other specialized functions. The language is fast, flexible, and pragmatic, powering everything from personal blogs to enterprise websites.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PHP (Scripting Language) A popular general-purpose scripting language especially suited to web development. Fast, flexible, and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from personal blogs to the most popular websites in the world. Distributed as free, open-source software under the PHP License v3.01 for use in commercial and non-commercial applications. Current supported major versions include PHP 8.5, 8.4, 8.3, 8.2, and 8.1.
• PHP Documentation The official comprehensive documentation resource for PHP, covering getting started guides, language reference, tutorials, security best practices, function references, and feature documentation. Available free of charge on php.net.
• PHP Extensions An extensive library of extensions distributed as part of PHP covering database access (mysqli, PDO), compression and archive handling, cryptography, image processing and generation, mail, mathematics, XML manipulation, GUI development, authentication services, and web services. These extensions enable specialized functionality beyond the core language.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Apache Software Foundation: Apache Software Foundation stewards numerous open-source projects critical to web infrastructure. While not a language itself, it represents a comparable non-profit foundation governance model for stewarding foundational open-source technology relied upon by enterprise and developers globally.
• Mozilla Foundation: Mozilla Foundation stewards Firefox and other open-source web technologies, sharing the non-profit foundation model for sustaining critical internet infrastructure. Comparable in its role as a foundation-backed steward of foundational web technology, though Mozilla's commercial revenue (Firefox search deals) differs from PHP's donation model.
• Eclipse Foundation: Eclipse Foundation stewards Java and other enterprise open-source technologies. While Java competes with PHP in enterprise web backends, the Eclipse Foundation is most relevant as a comparable non-profit foundation governance model for sustaining a major open-source language ecosystem with corporate sponsorship.

Broad incumbents

• .NET Foundation: .NET is a Microsoft-backed open-source development framework with ASP.NET competing with PHP for web application development. The .NET Foundation provides governance structure similar to the PHP Foundation, and the platform targets the same enterprise and SMB web development market with overlapping use cases.

Emerging players

• Rust Foundation: Rust is an open-source systems language governed by the Rust Foundation, with a comparable non-profit foundation governance structure to the PHP Foundation. While it targets a different use case (systems programming), the foundation-driven governance model and language stewardship approach are directly comparable.
• Go (Golang): Go is an open-source programming language increasingly used for backend web services, competing with PHP for new server-side projects. While backed by Google rather than a foundation, it shares the open-source distribution model and targets the same developer persona building web infrastructure.

Direct peers

• Python Software Foundation: Python is an open-source general-purpose scripting language with similar foundation-driven governance. It is the most direct comparable to PHP in terms of language category, open-source distribution model, foundation stewardship, and use cases spanning web development (Django/Flask) and general scripting.
• Perl Foundation: Perl is the predecessor language to PHP and shares a nearly identical distribution model (free open-source, foundation-governed, scripting language origin for web CGI). It is the most direct historical and structural peer, including comparable language heritage, foundation governance, and web development roots.
• Ruby Central: Ruby is an open-source scripting language with comparable foundation-driven governance and a similar web development origin (Rails). Comparable in language paradigm (dynamic, scripting), ecosystem model (framework-centric — Rails like Laravel), and historical positioning in the web dev stack.
• OpenJS Foundation (Node.js): Node.js is the most direct competitor to PHP for server-side web development. Both are open-source, foundation-governed, and serve the same primary use case of web application backends. Comparable in distribution model (free downloads), ecosystem maturity, and target developer persona.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/php_net
• GitHubgithub.com/php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/phpnet
• Facebookfacebook.com/PHP

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PHP