How to Improve Laravel App Performance Beyond Query Optimization?

There are many ways to improve Laravel performance that go beyond query optimization. Laravel apps can be tweaked for speed, scalability and efficiency.

Here’s a breakdown of practical strategies, with clear examples and detailed descriptions.

Use Laravel Octane for High-Speed Applications

It is a Laravel tool that speeds up your Laravel app by running it on high-performance servers like RoadRunner or Swoole. It keeps your app loaded in memory between requests, avoiding repeated bootstrapping.

Why use it?

• Ideal for real-time apps, APIs, or high-traffic systems.
• Greatly reduces response times and memory usage.

How to use it?

Bash:

composer require laravel/octane
php artisan octane:install
php artisan octane:start

Real-world impact: You can see up to 5x to 10x speed improvements depending on the use case.

Cache Configuration, Routes, and Views

Laravel can pre-compile and cache config, routes, and views to avoid re-processing them on every request.

Why use it?

• Reduces processing time
• Faster boot for every request

How to use it?

Bash:

php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

Make sure to run these during deployment, especially on production servers.

Use Composer’s Optimized Autoloader

By default, Composer generates a flexible but slower autoloader. In production, use an optimized one.

Why use it?

• Faster class loading
• Less file system access

How to use it?

Bash:

composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev

This is especially useful when your app has lots of classes or packages.

Implement Redis or Memcached for In-Memory Caching

Instead of querying the database each time, cache frequently accessed data using in-memory stores.

Why use it?

• Caching user sessions
• Storing computed statistics
• Speeding up permission or settings checks

How to use it?

PHP:

$users = Cache::remember('active_users', 300, function () { return User::where('active', 1)->get();
});

Tip: Use Redis with Laravel’s built-in cache, session, and queue systems for best performance.

Offload Heavy Work Using Queues

Laravel queues allow you to delay heavy or time-consuming operations by processing them in the background.

Why use it?

• Keeps your app responsive
• Reduces user wait time during requests

How to use it?

PHP:

ProcessOrder::dispatch($order);

Behind the scenes:

Bash:

php artisan queue:work

Queue drivers include database, Redis, SQS, Beanstalkd, etc.

Optimize Front-End Assets with Laravel Mix

Laravel Mix compiles, minifies, and versions your CSS/JS assets, improving load times.

Why use it?

• Faster page load
• Browser caching through versioning

How to use it?

Javascript:

mix.js('resources/js/app.js', 'public/js') .sass('resources/sass/app.scss', 'public/css') .version();

Then run:

Bash:

npm run production

Tip: Host static files on a CDN for even better results.

Enable HTTP/2 and Gzip on the Server

Why does it matter?

• HTTP/2 allows multiple parallel file downloads over a single connection
• Gzip compresses your HTML, CSS, and JS, reducing size

How to enable it?

• On Nginx: Add gzip on; in the config
• On Apache: Enable mod_deflate and mod_http2

These are web server level optimizations and don’t require Laravel changes.

Profile and Debug Performance Bottlenecks

What to use?

• Laravel Telescope: Debug queries, requests, jobs, and more
• Laravel Debugbar: Add-on panel for real-time performance tracking
• Blackfire.io: Deep performance profiling and recommendations

Why does it help?

Helps find slow queries, N+1 issues, or inefficient code blocks
Example: Use Debugbar in dev to trace what happens when a page loads, including DB queries and load time.

Reduce Memory Usage with Chunking

Instead of loading 10,000 rows at once, load smaller chunks to prevent memory overflows.
Example:

PHP:

User::chunk(100, function ($users) { foreach ($users as $user) { // process }
});

Especially useful for batch processes or data exports.

Disable Unused Service Providers

Laravel loads many services by default. If you’re not using some features (e.g., broadcasting, email, etc.), disabling related providers in config/app.php speeds up your boot process.

Summary of Key Techniques

Final Tip:

Performance is an ongoing process. You need a team of dedicated Laravel developers that regularly profile, optimize, and test your app under load. Start with what matters most—speed, user experience, and scalability.