How to improve Laravel performance - Rocketeers app [ Rocketeers ](/) [Login](https://rocketeersapp.com/login) On this page Knowledge --------- How to improve Laravel performance ================================== ### [\#Performance](https://rocketeersapp.com/knowledge/performance) Laravel performance is mostly a configuration problem. Here are the production caches, queue offloading, and server tweaks that give you the biggest speedups for the least effort. Published by [Mark van Eijk](https://rocketeersapp.com/author/mark-van-eijk) on June 23, 2026 · 4 minute read 1. [Run the production caching commands](#content-run-the-production-caching-commands) 2. [Optimize the Composer autoloader](#content-optimize-the-composer-autoloader) 3. [Fix N+1 queries with eager loading](#content-fix-n1-queries-with-eager-loading) 4. [Offload slow work to queues](#content-offload-slow-work-to-queues) 5. [Use a fast cache and session driver](#content-use-a-fast-cache-and-session-driver) 6. [Enable OPcache on the server](#content-enable-opcache-on-the-server) 7. [Speed up the frontend](#content-speed-up-the-frontend) 8. [Conclusion](#content-conclusion) Laravel is fast out of the box, but the default development setup leaves a lot on the table. Most Laravel performance problems aren't the framework, they're a missing cache or an N+1 query. This guide walks through the changes that actually move the needle, in rough order of impact: production caching, the autoloader, query patterns, queues, drivers, and OPcache. [\#](#content-run-the-production-caching-commands "Permalink")Run the production caching commands ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In development, Laravel re-parses your config, routes, and views on every request so changes show up instantly. In production that's wasted work. The framework can compile each of these into a single cached file. ``` php artisan config:cache php artisan route:cache php artisan view:cache php artisan event:cache ``` Or run them all at once: ``` php artisan optimize ``` This is the single biggest Laravel performance win and it costs nothing. The catch: these caches are snapshots. Any change to a config, route, or `.env` value won't take effect until you rebuild them, so the caches must be cleared and rebuilt on every deploy. See [clearing Laravel caches](/clear-cache-laravel) for the full set of clear commands. One gotcha with `config:cache`: once config is cached, `env()` returns `null` outside of config files. Always read environment values through `config()` in your app code. [\#](#content-optimize-the-composer-autoloader "Permalink")Optimize the Composer autoloader ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By default Composer's autoloader maps namespaces to directories and hits the filesystem to find each class. In production you want a flat, pre-computed class map instead, and you want to skip dev dependencies entirely. ``` composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev ``` `--optimize-autoloader` builds a single classmap so every class resolves in one lookup. `--no-dev` drops packages like PHPUnit and Faker that have no business running in production. Run this as part of your deploy, not on your laptop. [\#](#content-fix-n1-queries-with-eager-loading "Permalink")Fix N+1 queries with eager loading ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After caching, the most common Laravel performance killer is the N+1 query. It happens when you loop over a collection and lazily access a relationship, firing one query per row. ``` // 1 query for posts, then 1 query per post for its author = N+1 $posts = Post::all(); foreach ($posts as $post) { echo $post->author->name; // queries the authors table every iteration } ``` Eager load the relationship with `with()` so it's fetched in a single extra query: ``` // 2 queries total, no matter how many posts $posts = Post::with('author')->get(); foreach ($posts as $post) { echo $post->author->name; // already loaded } ``` You can catch these automatically in development with `Model::preventLazyLoading()` in a service provider, which throws when a relationship is lazy-loaded. Eager loading reduces the *number* of queries. The speed of each query is a database concern: make sure the foreign-key columns you join on are indexed, or every query still does a full table scan. See [how database indexing works](/database-indexing) for the underlying DB side. [\#](#content-offload-slow-work-to-queues "Permalink")Offload slow work to queues --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sending email, processing images, calling third-party APIs, generating PDFs, none of it needs to happen inside the request. Push it onto a queue so the user gets an instant response and the work runs in the background. ``` // Instead of sending inline Mail::to($user)->send(new WelcomeEmail($user)); // Queue it Mail::to($user)->queue(new WelcomeEmail($user)); ``` Any job can be queued by dispatching it: ``` ProcessPodcast::dispatch($podcast); ``` Run a worker to process the queue, and keep it alive with a process manager like Supervisor: ``` php artisan queue:work --tries=3 ``` This moves latency out of the request path, which is often the difference between a 1.5-second page and a 150-millisecond one. [\#](#content-use-a-fast-cache-and-session-driver "Permalink")Use a fast cache and session driver ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The default `file` driver writes cache and session data to disk, which is slow and doesn't scale across multiple servers. Switch to Redis for both. ``` CACHE_STORE=redis SESSION_DRIVER=redis QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis ``` Redis is an in-memory store, so reads and writes are sub-millisecond, and it works as a shared backend when you scale to more than one app server. See [using Redis for the Laravel cache](/laravel-cache) for setup and patterns. If your worker can't reach it, check [Redis connection refused in Laravel](/redis-connection-refused-laravel). [\#](#content-enable-opcache-on-the-server "Permalink")Enable OPcache on the server ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PHP recompiles your scripts to bytecode on every request unless OPcache is enabled. OPcache keeps the compiled bytecode in memory, eliminating that work entirely. It's the highest-impact server-side change you can make and applies to any PHP app. See [enabling OPcache in PHP](/enable-opcache-php) for the recommended `php.ini` settings, and [general PHP performance tuning](/php-performance) for more. [\#](#content-speed-up-the-frontend "Permalink")Speed up the frontend --------------------------------------------------------------------- Backend speed is only half the page. Bundle and minify your assets with Vite, which ships with modern Laravel: ``` npm run build ``` This produces hashed, minified, tree-shaken bundles and lets the browser cache them aggressively. On the response side, cache rendered output for pages that don't change per-user (marketing pages, docs) and lean on HTTP caching headers so repeat visits skip the server entirely. [\#](#content-conclusion "Permalink")Conclusion ----------------------------------------------- Laravel performance comes down to a short checklist: run `php artisan optimize` and clear it on deploy, build the autoloader with `--optimize-autoloader --no-dev`, eliminate N+1 queries with `with()`, push slow work to queues, use Redis for cache and sessions, and enable OPcache. Do these and a stock Laravel app handles serious traffic before you ever need to think about the framework itself. ### Subscribe to our newsletter Do you want to receive regular updates with fresh and exclusive content to learn more about web development, hosting, security and performance? Subscribe now! Fill in your email address to receive updates Subscribe #### More in [\#Performance](https://rocketeersapp.com/knowledge/performance) - [How to optimize server performance](https://rocketeersapp.com/knowledge/optimize-server-performance) - [How to optimize website performance](https://rocketeersapp.com/knowledge/optimize-website-performance) - [How to measure TTFB (Time To First Byte)](https://rocketeersapp.com/knowledge/ttfb) - [How to enable and configure OPcache for faster PHP](https://rocketeersapp.com/knowledge/enable-opcache-php) - [A complete guide to caching in Laravel](https://rocketeersapp.com/knowledge/laravel-cache) - [How database indexing works (with MySQL examples)](https://rocketeersapp.com/knowledge/database-indexing) [View all 13 articles →](https://rocketeersapp.com/knowledge/performance)