How much does a Laravel upgrade cost?+
$8,000–$25,000 on a fixed price, depending on size band. Small apps (under about 25,000 lines, one or two version hops) start at $8,000; large apps with five or more hops, payments or a Mix-to-Vite migration run to $25,000. The exact figure comes from the Assessment ($750–$1,500), which is credited to the upgrade if you sign within 30 days.
How long does a PHP and Laravel upgrade take?+
3–8 weeks for the upgrade itself, after a 3–5 working-day Assessment. One hop (Laravel 12 → 13) sits at the short end; Laravel 5.x → 13 with PHP 7.x → 8.3 sits at the long end. Cutover happens in your low-traffic window, followed by a 30-day warranty.
Will the upgrade break our app?+
Some behaviour will change between major versions — that is why we record characterisation tests on your five critical paths before touching anything, run the whole upgrade on a staging copy that mirrors production, and ask you to sign off staging before cutover. Regressions found in the 30 days after launch are fixed free.
Why do you charge for the Assessment?+
Because a read-only review of your code, dependencies and hosting takes 3–5 working days of senior time and produces a 6–10 page report you can hand to any other supplier. A free audit would be a sales call with a guess at the end. The fee ($750–$1,500) is credited to the upgrade if you proceed within 30 days.
Can you upgrade an app that has no tests?+
Yes — most of the apps we see have none. We write characterisation tests (tests that record what the app does today) on the paths you tell us must never break: sign-in, the main booking or order flow, invoicing, exports. They are the safety net for the upgrade and stay in your repo afterwards.
Do you need production access?+
Not for the Assessment — it is read-only and works from a repository or zip plus a description of the environment. For the upgrade we work on staging under least-privilege access you grant; production access is used only at cutover, is logged, and is revoked at handover. The full policy is on the security page.
Our developer left with no documentation. Can you still do it?+
Yes. The Assessment starts from the code itself: we inventory versions, packages, jobs, integrations and environment variables, then reconstruct how the app is deployed. The report is the documentation you didn't have. If you don't hold the repo or server access yet, the developer-left guide lists what to recover first.
Can we upgrade PHP but stay on an old Laravel version?+
Rarely, and we'll tell you when. Each Laravel major supports a narrow PHP range (Laravel 8 runs on PHP 7.3–8.1; Laravel 13 needs 8.3+), so a supported PHP usually forces the framework hop anyway. Where a short PHP-only step buys you time before an insurer deadline, we scope it as a first milestone, not a separate project.
Should we rewrite instead of upgrading?+
If the app does its job and the pain is versions, packages and hosting, an upgrade keeps the business logic and costs a fraction of a rewrite. If the data model no longer fits the business or you plan to replace it within a year, a rewrite may be right — and the Assessment says so in writing. We do not sell upgrades to apps that should be replaced. Read our upgrade-vs-rewrite guide for the decision criteria.
What happens after the 30-day warranty?+
You own everything — repo, servers, tests, documentation and the handover pack. From there you can run it yourself, hand it to another supplier, or take a care plan (from $300/month, 12-month term) that keeps PHP, Laravel and packages current every month and includes the next major Laravel version.
Do you work with US and UK time zones?+
Yes. We are in India (IST, UTC+5:30). Calls are scheduled in windows that overlap US Eastern mornings and UK afternoons, and cutovers are planned in your low-traffic window, whatever time that is for us. Written updates arrive before your working day starts.
How do you invoice?+
Invoices are issued by Techimpace Innovations Pvt. Ltd. in USD or GBP. The upgrade is paid in three milestones: 40% on signing, 40% at your staging sign-off, 20% at cutover. The Assessment is invoiced after the 20-minute call and paid before we receive access.