Laravel Version Migration: The Complete Guide for Australian Businesses (2026)

Upgrading a Laravel application is one of the most common reasons Australian businesses call us. The original developer is gone. The version is years out of date. And nobody wants to be the one who breaks production.

This guide explains what's actually involved in a Laravel version migration — honestly, without sugarcoating the hard parts.

Why version migrations get delayed

Most Laravel version migrations get delayed for the same reasons:

• The original developer who knew the codebase is gone
• There are no tests, so every change carries risk
• The business can't afford downtime
• Nobody knows how much it will cost
• There are deprecated packages with no clear replacement

All of these are real concerns. None of them make the migration optional — they just make it scarier to start.

The Laravel version support timeline

Here's where the major Laravel versions currently stand:

• Laravel 5.x, 6.x, 7.x: End of life. No security patches. No official support.
• Laravel 8.x: End of life as of September 2023.
• Laravel 9.x: End of life as of February 2024.
• Laravel 10.x: Security fixes only until February 2025.
• Laravel 11.x: Active support. Current recommended version.

If you're on anything below Laravel 10, you are running unsupported software in production.

What a migration actually involves

A Laravel version migration is not just changing a number in composer.json. Depending on how far back your version is, a migration can involve:

1. PHP version upgrade

Laravel 11 requires PHP 8.2 or higher. If you're on Laravel 7 or earlier, you're almost certainly on PHP 7.x — which means the server itself needs to be upgraded first. This is a separate piece of work that affects your entire hosting environment.

2. Deprecated feature removal

Each Laravel version deprecates and removes features from the previous version. Helper functions, facades, authentication systems, and routing syntax can all change between major versions. A migration requires finding every deprecated usage in your codebase and replacing it.

3. Package replacement

Many third-party packages don't maintain support across all Laravel versions. A package that worked on Laravel 6 may have been abandoned by Laravel 9. Each abandoned package needs a replacement — or the functionality needs to be rebuilt.

4. Database migration review

Laravel's database layer also evolves. Eloquent model changes, relationship syntax updates, and query builder differences can all introduce subtle bugs that only appear with live data.

5. Testing

Without automated tests, every change in a migration needs to be manually verified. This adds significant time and introduces human error. With tests, you can run the full test suite after each upgrade step and know immediately what broke.

How long does a Laravel migration take?

Honestly — it depends on the application. Here are rough ranges based on our experience:

• Small application, 1–2 version jumps: 1–2 weeks
• Medium application, 3–4 version jumps: 3–6 weeks
• Large or complex application, 5+ version jumps: 2–4 months

These estimates assume the codebase is in reasonable condition. Projects with no tests, poorly structured code, or heavy reliance on abandoned packages take longer.

The right way to do a Laravel migration

We always approach version migrations the same way:

1. Audit first. Understand what version you're on, what dependencies exist, what's deprecated, and what needs replacing.
2. Add test coverage to critical paths. Before changing anything structural, write tests that verify your application's core behaviour works correctly.
3. Upgrade one major version at a time. Don't jump from Laravel 6 to 11 in one step. Go 6 → 7 → 8 → 9 → 10 → 11, running tests at each step.
4. Upgrade PHP separately. Get the application stable on the new Laravel version before upgrading the PHP runtime.
5. Deploy to staging first. Always verify the full migration on a staging environment before touching production.

Can you do it yourself?

If you have a senior Laravel developer on staff who knows the codebase — yes. The Laravel documentation covers each upgrade path clearly, and the process is well-understood.

If you're working with an inherited codebase, no tests, and a developer who is no longer available — this is not the place to learn on the job. A failed migration in production can take a business offline for days.

If you're in that second situation, that's what we do. Get in touch →