Laravel 13 Upgrade Guide for Australian Businesses: Laravel 11 Is Out of Support, So What Now?
Quick answer: Laravel 11 stopped receiving security fixes on 12 March 2026, and Laravel 10 and earlier are older still, so any application on those versions is running without official patches. Laravel 12 has already moved past its bug-fix period and receives security fixes only until February 2027. Laravel 13, released on 17 March 2026, is the version to target. It requires PHP 8.3 or higher and was designed to be an easy upgrade with minimal breaking changes. The practical plan is: check your versions, move PHP to a supported release first, upgrade one Laravel version at a time, test thoroughly, and deploy with a rollback plan.
Why this matters now
Many Australian businesses run their customer portals, internal systems, booking platforms and APIs on Laravel. Because Laravel applications often sit quietly in the background for years, it is easy to miss that the framework underneath has gone out of support.
Three dates matter right now:
- Laravel 11: final security date passed on 12 March 2026. It no longer receives fixes of any kind.
- Laravel 12: bug fixes ended in August 2026, with security fixes continuing until February 2027.
- PHP 8.2: reaches end of life on 31 December 2026. If your application runs on PHP 8.2, you cannot move to Laravel 13 until PHP is upgraded, and you will lose PHP security fixes at the end of the year anyway. Read our guide to PHP 8.2 end of life and what Australian businesses need to do for the PHP side of this upgrade.
Taken together, this is the ideal moment to plan a single, well-organised upgrade rather than a series of emergency patches.
Laravel support at a glance
Support windows follow Laravel’s official support policy, so always confirm the latest dates on the Laravel documentation site before you commit to a plan. At the time of writing:
| Laravel version | PHP versions | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Laravel 10 and older | Various | Out of support, no fixes |
| Laravel 11 | 8.2 to 8.4 | Out of support since 12 March 2026 |
| Laravel 12 | 8.2 to 8.5 | Security fixes only, until February 2027 |
| Laravel 13 | 8.3 to 8.5 | Current release, supported into 2028 |
If you run a version that is out of support, treat the upgrade as a priority. If you run Laravel 12, you have a little more time, but there is no reason to wait for the deadline.
What is new in Laravel 13?
Laravel 13 is less about disruptive change and more about making modern features first-class. The headline items for businesses are:
- A first-party AI SDK. Laravel now ships an official, provider-agnostic way to work with text generation, tool-calling agents, embeddings and vector search, so AI features no longer have to be stitched together from several third-party packages. We will cover this in more detail in a separate article.
- Passkey (WebAuthn) support. Passwordless sign-in is a better experience for customers and removes a major phishing risk.
- Native JSON:API support. Building standards-based APIs is easier, which helps with mobile apps and integrations. See our API development and third-party integration services.
- Better observability and developer tools, including improved real-time log tailing and debugging.
- PHP 8.3 and newer. You get the performance and language improvements of modern PHP.
- Minimal breaking changes. Laravel’s release notes describe Laravel 13 as an upgrade that most applications can make without major code changes. Plenty of the work lies in PHP, packages and testing rather than rewriting your application.
The key point for decision-makers is that the upgrade is not only a compliance exercise. It also gives you access to modern security features, better performance and a platform ready for AI-powered functionality.
Is your application affected? A quick check
You should plan an upgrade if any of these are true:
- Your composer.json requires laravel/framework version 10 or older, or version 11.
- Your server runs PHP 8.2 or older.
- You inherited the application from a previous developer or agency and are unsure of its version.
- Your Composer dependencies have not been updated in more than a year.
To find out quickly:
- Open composer.json and check the laravel/framework constraint, or run php artisan –version.
- Run php -v on your server to see the PHP version in use.
- Run composer outdated to see how far behind your packages are.
- Run composer audit to check installed packages for known security advisories.
| Application type | What it looks like | Typical effort |
|---|---|---|
| Small and well-maintained | One or two versions behind, good tests, few packages | Days to a couple of weeks |
| Medium | Several versions behind, some custom packages | A few weeks |
| Large or neglected | Many versions behind, little testing, abandoned packages, custom hacks | Several weeks to months, often done in stages |
These are general estimates only. A proper assessment gives you a real figure for your own application. For help budgeting, see our guide on how much a PHP development company charges in Australia.
Australian security and compliance considerations
Running an unsupported framework is more than a technical problem for Australian organisations:
- The Privacy Act 1988. Organisations covered by the Act must take reasonable steps to protect personal information. Knowingly running unpatched software that handles customer data makes that difficult to defend.
- The ACSC Essential Eight. Patching applications and avoiding unsupported software are core parts of the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s recommended mitigation strategies.
- Cyber insurance. Insurers increasingly ask about patching and software lifecycles, and unsupported systems can complicate a renewal or a claim.
- Customer and supplier requirements. Enterprise and government customers often require suppliers to run supported software.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check your specific obligations with your compliance or legal advisers.
Common upgrade mistakes to avoid
- Upgrading Laravel before PHP. Laravel 13 needs PHP 8.3 or newer, so start with PHP.
- Skipping major versions. It looks faster, but it makes debugging much harder.
- Ignoring abandoned packages. One unmaintained package can block the whole upgrade.
- Testing only on a developer’s laptop. Staging should match production.
- Having no tests. Without tests, you are relying on luck.
- Upgrading code but not infrastructure. Servers, containers, queues and CI pipelines need updating too.
- Leaving it until the last minute. Rushed upgrades create new bugs.
Should you upgrade in-house or hire a specialist?
If your team knows the codebase, has good tests and has the time, an in-house upgrade can work well. Specialist help makes sense when you have several applications to upgrade, when the system is several versions behind, when the original developers have left, or when you simply cannot spare the time. A good partner will start with an assessment, give you a prioritised plan and fixed milestones, and make the changes without disrupting your business. If you are comparing providers, our guide on how to choose the right PHP development company in Australia is a useful starting point.
You can learn more about our PHP migration and upgrade services and custom PHP web application development.
Frequently asked questions
Is Laravel 11 still supported?
No. Laravel 11 reached the end of its security support on 12 March 2026. It no longer receives bug fixes or security patches, so you should plan an upgrade.
Is Laravel 12 still safe to use?
Laravel 12 stopped receiving bug fixes in August 2026 but continues to receive security fixes until February 2027. It is not urgent in the way Laravel 11 is, but you should still plan your move to Laravel 13 well before the security window closes.
What PHP version does Laravel 13 need?
Laravel 13 requires PHP 8.3 or higher and supports PHP 8.3 to 8.5. If your application runs on PHP 8.2 or older, upgrade PHP first.
Do I have to rebuild my application to use Laravel 13?
No. Laravel 13 is designed to keep breaking changes to a minimum, so most applications need a PHP upgrade, package updates and testing rather than a rebuild. Older applications that are several versions behind will need more work because they must pass through the intermediate versions.
Can I upgrade straight from Laravel 10 to Laravel 13?
It is technically possible for some applications, but the recommended approach is to upgrade one major version at a time, testing at each stage. This makes problems far easier to identify and fix.
What are the risks of staying on an unsupported Laravel version?
The main risks are unpatched security vulnerabilities, incompatibility with newer packages and PHP versions, difficulty hiring developers who want to work on outdated code, and potential problems with compliance, insurance and customer audits.
How much does it cost to upgrade Laravel?
Costs depend on how far behind the application is, how large it is and how good its test coverage is. A small, well-kept app can be quick and affordable, while a large legacy system takes longer. An assessment will give you a fixed estimate.
Will the upgrade cause downtime?
With a staging environment, good testing and a planned release, downtime can usually be kept to a few minutes or avoided altogether. Your developer should agree a deployment and rollback plan with you in advance.
Need a hand with your Laravel upgrade?
PHP Professionals helps Australian businesses upgrade, secure and modernise their PHP and Laravel applications. We can assess your current version, check your PHP and package compatibility, and give you a clear, prioritised upgrade plan.
Contact us to book a Laravel upgrade assessment before your application falls further behind.