Key takeaways
- Look for real Laravel experience, not a general agency that also lists Laravel.
- Ask who will actually write and review your code, and how they use AI tools.
- Make sure you own the code and every account from the first day.
- A small paid first step, such as a code review or discovery phase, is the best test of a supplier.
Choosing a development partner is one of the most important decisions you will make about your software. A good one can save you months and a lot of money. A poor one can leave you with a codebase that has to be rescued, or rewritten.
This guide covers what to look for in a Laravel agency, the questions to ask and the warning signs to watch for. We are a Laravel agency ourselves, so we have tried to keep it fair: these are the questions we would want a client to ask us.
Start with specialism
Laravel is a large ecosystem, with its own tools for queues, payments, admin panels, testing and deployment. An agency that works with Laravel every day will know the right tool for each job, and the pitfalls of each.
Look for:
- A clear focus on Laravel and PHP, rather than Laravel as one of twenty listed technologies.
- Case studies with real Laravel applications, ideally ones you can visit.
- Evidence of community involvement, such as open-source packages, talks or writing.
- Certifications, such as the Laravel Certified company programme, as one signal among several.
Questions to ask before you sign
About the people
- Who will write the code, and who will review it? Ask for names and experience, not just "our team".
- Will the same people work on my project throughout? Constant changes of developer slow projects down.
- How do you use AI coding tools? Every serious agency uses them now. The important part is how changes are checked before they ship.
About the work
- How do you handle testing? Expect automated tests for the important features, not just manual checking.
- How will I see progress? Look for regular releases to a staging site you can try yourself.
- How do you estimate? Good agencies explain their assumptions and break the work into milestones.
- What happens when requirements change? They will. Ask how changes are priced and agreed.
About ownership
- Who owns the code? The answer should be you, from the first commit.
- Whose name are the accounts in? Hosting, domain, Git repository, payment and email accounts should all belong to your company.
- Could another developer take over? Ask about documentation and coding standards.
About support
- What happens after launch? Ask about support plans, response times and the cost of small changes.
- How do you handle security updates? Laravel and its packages need regular patching.
- What would you do if our project was in trouble? A good partner tells you early and honestly.
About fit
- What projects like ours have you done? Similar size, sector or technical challenge.
- Can I speak to a client? References from current clients are more useful than logos on a website.
Warning signs
- Very low prices without explanation. Ask what is excluded and who does the work.
- Reluctance to give you access to the code or hosting during the project.
- No staging environment, or no way for you to try features before launch.
- Vague answers about testing and security.
- Pressure to sign a long contract before any work has been delivered.
- A recommendation to rebuild everything before anyone has properly reviewed your existing code.
Start small
The best way to judge a supplier is to work with them on something small and paid. A code review, a short discovery phase or a single well-defined feature will tell you more about their communication, quality and honesty than any sales call.
How we answer these questions
We publish our prices, explain how we work and show our case studies. Every change we deliver is reviewed by a senior engineer, you own the code and accounts from day one, and our fixed-price reviews are a low-risk way to see how we work. If you are comparing agencies, book a free call and ask us anything on this list.