Less Cloud, More Control: PHP Moves Back to Own Data Center

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Companies are increasingly developing their web applications on-premises rather than in the cloud, with PHP 8.5 being the main migration target for 2026 and nginx the most popular web server. These are the findings of the current PHP Landscape Report, published annually by Zend.

Currently, 58 percent of PHP survey participants rely on their server infrastructure instead of hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services (AWS). In the last PHP survey, this figure was 55.7 percent. In contrast, 31 percent stick with AWS, 15 percent with Microsoft Azure, 11 percent with DigitalOcean, and 10 percent with Google Cloud Platform (multiple answers were allowed here). Zend attributes the increasing shift towards in-house infrastructure primarily to the fact that it allows companies more effective cost control in the long term. At the same time, factors such as data protection, compliance, and security can be more easily managed on premises.

PHP 8.3 is the most used PHP version

The majority of PHP developers use PHP 8, with PHP 8.3 at 57 percent ahead of PHP 8.4 (53 percent). This is followed by PHP 8.2 with 41 percent, PHP 7.4 with 32 percent, and PHP 8.1 with 28 percent. Multiple answers were also permitted here. Overall, PHP 8.x accounts for 77 percent. PHP 7.x has a share of 18 percent, and PHP 5.x has 5 percent.

68 percent of participants carried out a PHP migration within the last 12 months. Of these, 39 percent moved from PHP 7.4, 29 percent migrated from PHP 8.0, 30 percent from PHP 8.1, 27 percent from PHP 8.2, and 22 percent from PHP 8.3. PHP 8.4, the latest PHP version at the time the survey began, was the most popular migration target (57 percent). Testing (42 percent) and refactoring (36 percent) are considered the most time-consuming factors in migration.

Quick migration to PHP 8.5 desired

With 67 percent, the majority of surveyed developers plan to carry out a PHP migration within the next 12 months. At 62 percent, PHP 8.5 is the main migration target, which Zend considers unusual: “Many teams view the latest PHP version as potentially unstable for at least a year, as new features have not yet been extensively tested in production.”

On the other hand, increasing operational requirements, such as the modernization of pipelines and platforms, are pushing many teams to switch directly to the latest supported version, which promotes the rapid adoption of PHP 8.5. For context: PHP 8.5 was released on November 20, 2025, and is now stable in version 8.5.5.

PHP does not need to shy away from comparison with other open-source languages and runtime environments. Together with JavaScript, it shares the title of the most used language in the survey (72 percent). Python with 49 percent, Node.js with 46 percent, and Java with 35 percent are also in the top 5.

Windows experiences a comeback

As in previous years, Debian-based platforms lead in operating systems. With 61 percent, most PHP applications run on Ubuntu and 40 percent directly on Debian (multiple answers were allowed). The previously third-placed CentOS is losing popularity due to discontinued support, while Windows is experiencing a small renaissance. The Microsoft OS has increased its share from 13 to 31 percent of the votes. Zend cannot clearly derive from its data whether this is due to specific workloads, tools, or hybrid operating procedures. Alpine Linux has also significantly increased from 18 to 31 percent.

nginx beats Apache HTTP

For the first time, a majority of participants indicate that nginx is used as the web server in their company (69 percent). Apache HTTP thus only takes second place in the current PHP Landscape Report (58 percent). This development may be related to broader container usage, suspects the Zend team.

The web server Caddy improved from 11 to 21 percent, taking third place. This is not surprising for Zend, as the PHP Foundation has officially supported FrankenPHP, based on Caddy, since 2025.

Many custom container developments

With 57 percent, the majority of developers create their PHP environments using containers. Another 27 percent currently do not use containers but plan to do so within a year. Docker leads significantly in container platforms with 88 percent. Kubernetes follows far behind with 31 percent, Prometheus (monitoring) with 17 percent, and Containerd with 15 percent. Container technologies are most frequently used in Europe (61 percent), less so in North and South America with 55 percent and Asia with 48 percent, respectively.

PHP developers primarily obtain container images from Docker (78 percent). Again, 52 percent rely on their developments, and container images from third-party providers or the PHP community are used in only about one in four cases.

The PHP survey was conducted by the software provider Zend, part of Perforce, between October 2025 and January 2026, together with OpenLogic, the Eclipse Foundation, and the Open-Source Initiative (OSI), among a total of 712 participants. Of these, 51 percent classify themselves as developers, and 85 percent state that they have been using PHP for five years or longer. For 53 percent, the usage duration is 15 years or longer. Zend offers the complete survey results with many further details for free download on its website upon registration.

(mro)