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⚙️ PHP Development

Freelance PHP
Development Services

PHP has a reputation problem mostly earned from code that should have been rewritten years ago but wasn't, because nobody wanted to touch it. That code is my specialty. I either fix it carefully or replace it cleanly. I also build new PHP 8 applications for companies who want things done right the first time.

12+
Years in PHP
170+
Projects Delivered
5.0★
Upwork Rating
$25
Starting /hr
What I Do

What Does PHP Development Actually Cover?

The pattern I see over and over: a PHP application built in 2016, extended in 2018, patched twice since, now running PHP 7.4 on end-of-life hosting because nobody's confident enough to upgrade it. Security holes that haven't been exploited yet. A schema that worked at 10,000 records and crawls at 500,000. I don't inherit these projects and rewrite everything I read the code first, map what's actually broken versus what's just old, and fix the things that need fixing without disrupting what's working.

New builds are PHP 8 OOP from the first line: namespacing, Composer, PSR-12, service layer separated from controllers, full unit test coverage, OpenAPI documentation for any endpoints. I've delivered this for HIPAA-regulated healthcare platforms, high-volume SaaS companies that can't tolerate downtime, and Magento 2 stores with complex custom modules that need to survive upgrade day.

If you have a PHP codebase causing problems, I'll read it and tell you what's wrong before we talk about fixing it. Starting from scratch, I'll scope it and send a proposal before touching the keyboard. PHP 5 or 7 to PHP 8 migrations done live, zero downtime. Magento 2 extensions built to Magento's architecture not around it. I also integrate OpenAI and Claude API into PHP applications adding AI capabilities to existing systems without rebuilding them in a different language.

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Custom PHP 8 Applications
Bespoke backends built with OOP principles, PSR standards and Composer clean from day one
⚙️
Legacy Code Modernisation
PHP 5 to PHP 8 migrations with zero downtime refactored, documented and properly tested
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Magento 2 Development
Custom modules, plugins, checkout flows and third-party integrations for Magento stores
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REST API & Integrations
Well-structured APIs with authentication, versioning, rate limiting and full OpenAPI documentation
What You Get

What a Freelance PHP Developer Can Do for Your Project

Whether you're building from scratch or rescuing a struggling codebase, the right PHP expertise makes an immediate difference.

✓
Greenfield PHP 8 Applications
Architecture design, database schema, MVC structure and complete backend development for new PHP projects built to scale from the first commit.
✓
Legacy PHP Migration
Migrate ageing PHP 5 or PHP 7 codebases to PHP 8 with modern OOP patterns, type safety and comprehensive test coverage without breaking production.
✓
REST API Development
Design and build robust REST APIs with JWT/OAuth authentication, request validation, rate limiting and clear documentation your frontend team can work with immediately.
✓
Magento 2 Custom Modules
Purpose-built Magento 2 extensions custom checkout flows, payment gateways, third-party ERP integrations and admin grid customisations.
✓
Database Optimisation
Audit and fix slow queries, add proper indexing, normalise schema design and implement caching strategies measurable performance improvements without a rewrite.
✓
Bug Fixing & Code Review
Diagnose and fix security vulnerabilities, logic errors, memory leaks and performance bottlenecks in existing PHP applications with a written summary of everything changed.
✨
AI Integration OpenAI & Claude API in Your PHP Application
PHP is the language powering the majority of AI integrations I build OpenAI and Claude API calls, streaming responses, vector search with embeddings, function calling and AI-driven automation pipelines. If you want AI capabilities added to an existing PHP system, or built into a new one from the start, that's work I do regularly. No need to rebuild in Python just to use an AI API.
The Language

Why PHP 8 Is Still the Right Choice

PHP powers over 75% of websites with a known server-side language and PHP 8 is a genuinely modern platform.

🚀
JIT Compilation & Speed
PHP 8's JIT compiler delivers significantly better CPU performance for complex computations, making it a genuinely fast choice for high-throughput backends.
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Modern OOP Features
Named arguments, match expressions, union types, enums and fibers make PHP 8 code expressive, type-safe and easy to reason about a major step forward from PHP 5 era code.
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Massive Hosting Support
PHP runs on virtually every web host on the planet. Deployment is straightforward, infrastructure costs are low, and scaling options are abundant across all cloud providers.
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Huge Talent Pool & Community
Millions of PHP developers worldwide, extensive documentation, active frameworks like Laravel and Symfony, and decades of production-tested libraries available via Composer.
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Built-In Security Features
PHP 8 includes built-in functions for password hashing, CSRF protection, prepared statements and input sanitisation the fundamentals of secure web development are native to the language.
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Seamless CMS Integration
PHP underpins WordPress, Magento, Drupal and Joomla letting you extend and customise these platforms with custom modules, hooks and APIs without leaving the PHP ecosystem.
Why Harwinder

Why Hire Me as Your Freelance PHP Developer?

12 years of production PHP work new builds and legacy rescues. The experience to tell you what's actually wrong before quoting to fix it.

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12+ Years of Production PHP
I started writing PHP before Composer existed. I've worked across every generation of it procedural code from the early 2000s, half-converted OOP, and properly architected PHP 8. That range means I can read almost any codebase quickly, understand why it was built the way it was, and know what to change without breaking what's working.
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PSR Standards Because Future Developers Matter
PSR-1, PSR-4 and PSR-12 compliance, full Composer autoloading, proper namespacing and dependency injection. Not because they're fashionable, but because code maintained by a stranger two years from now needs to make sense immediately. I write code the way I'd want to inherit it.
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Magento & eCommerce Depth
I have deep Magento 2 experience custom modules, multi-store setups, complex payment and shipping integrations and performance optimisation for large product catalogues.
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API Design & Integration
I've designed and consumed dozens of REST APIs from simple CRUD endpoints to complex webhook pipelines involving Stripe, Twilio, healthcare APIs and government data sources.
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Security Is Structural, Not Optional
SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, broken object-level authorisation these are the vulnerabilities that compromise PHP applications in production. I've audited real codebases with real breaches. I know what gets missed and I write defensively from the first line. Security review is included in every project, not sold separately.
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Performance Work That Actually Sticks
Redis caching, OPcache configuration, query analysis and proper indexing. I've taken PHP applications from timing out under moderate load to handling thousands of concurrent requests usually without touching the infrastructure, just the code.
💰
$25/hr. Senior Engineering. No Team Tax.
PHP development starts at $25/hr. Fixed-price quotes for scoped projects. As a solo developer you're paying for the work, not the account manager, the project coordinator and the junior who writes the first draft.
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You'll Always Know Where Things Stand
Same-day replies. Daily updates to staging during active development. If a timeline shifts I tell you before it becomes a problem, not after. IST overlaps with US mornings and UK afternoons the time zone has never been an issue.
How It Works

My Process for Your PHP Project

A structured, transparent process so you always know exactly where the project stands and what comes next.

01
Consultation
A free 30-minute call to understand your goals, current infrastructure, technical constraints and budget. No sales pitch just a direct conversation to establish exactly what you need.
02
Architecture Review
For new projects: schema design, tech stack selection and system architecture. For existing codebases: a written audit identifying security issues, bottlenecks and technical debt before any code changes.
03
Proposal & Scope
A detailed written proposal covering scope, milestones, cost and timeline. All dependencies, third-party integrations and edge cases are identified before development starts.
04
Development
Incremental development with regular staging deployments. Each feature is reviewed before the next begins. Git version control throughout so you always have a clean rollback point.
05
Testing & QA
Unit tests, integration tests, security scanning and performance profiling. No feature is considered done until it passes automated tests and a manual QA review on staging.
06
Code Review
A final pass for code quality, security, documentation and performance before delivery. You receive clean, commented, fully documented code not a black box.
07
Deployment
Production deployment, database migrations, environment configuration and server optimisation. Zero-downtime deployments wherever possible your users should never notice the cutover.
08
Handover
Full codebase and credential handover with written documentation. The first 30 days of questions and minor tweaks are covered at no extra charge.
09
Ongoing Support
Retainer-based maintenance covering security patches, dependency updates, performance monitoring and feature additions so your application keeps running cleanly long after launch.
Available for new projects

Ready to Fix or Build Your PHP Application?

Describe what you're dealing with a codebase that's become too risky to touch, a new backend to spec and build, a Magento extension, a security concern, or a performance problem. I'll look at it, ask what I need to know, and send back a written proposal and price within 24 hours.

📅 Book a Free 30-Min Call Send a Message

No commitment needed · Same-day reply · Fixed price guaranteed