# How to Deploy a Laravel App to Production With AI in 2026
> Step-by-step Laravel deployment in 2026. Artisan commands, queue workers, env setup, and scheduler all covered. No Dockerfile, no Nginx, no VPS configuration.
- **Author**: parth-kanpariya
- **Published**: 2025-11-17
- **Modified**: 2026-07-10
- **Category**: Deployment Guides
- **URL**: https://kuberns.com/blogs/deploy-laravel-app/
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Deploying a Laravel app to production in 2026 means running Artisan commands in the right order, managing queue workers as persistent processes, keeping the scheduler running, and configuring environment variables securely - all without breaking on the first push. This guide covers every step: from preparing your repository and environment variables to going live with HTTPS, CI/CD, and automatic queue worker management in under 10 minutes.
Laravel is one of the most complete PHP frameworks available, but that completeness comes with a production deployment checklist that can take hours to get right manually.
You need PHP with specific extensions, Nginx or Apache configured for Laravel's directory structure, Artisan optimisation commands run in the correct order, queue workers managed by Supervisor, a scheduler cron entry, storage directory permissions, and environment variables injected securely across environments. Each of these breaks silently if misconfigured.
As the [Laravel official deployment documentation](https://laravel.com/docs/13.x/deployment) states, these steps are what separate a development server from a production-ready application.
But now you have an Agentic AI alternative with which you can deploy any Laravel projects in just one click. Kuberns is an agentic AI cloud platform that reads your Laravel project, runs composer install, executes php artisan optimize, runs php artisan migrate --force, manages your queue workers as persistent processes without Supervisor, and keeps your scheduler running without a cron entry, automatically, on every deploy, without any configuration files from your side.
This guide covers the step-by-step Kuberns deployment walkthrough and how Kuberns eliminates the pain of manual configuration, and a comparison table built around what Laravel specifically needs.
[See the Laravel one-click deployment template to experience the Agentic AI deployment](https://kuberns.com/services/laravel)
## TL;DR
- **Stack**: Laravel auto-detected from composer.json - no Dockerfile, no Nginx config, no Supervisor needed
- **Artisan commands**: composer install, config:cache, route:cache, migrate --force, storage:link all run automatically on every deploy
- **Queue workers**: managed as persistent processes with automatic restarts - no Supervisor config required
- **Scheduler**: php artisan schedule:run runs automatically with no cron entry needed
- **CI/CD**: every GitHub push triggers a full redeploy with all Artisan commands re-running
- **Live in**: under 10 minutes from signup to a production HTTPS URL on AWS
## Prerequisites (What Your Laravel Project Needs before Deployment)
Just two things. No Dockerfile. No Nginx config. No supervisor.conf.
### 1. composer.json and composer.lock committed to GitHub
Kuberns reads these to install your exact dependency versions. Never add vendor/ to your repository, always commit the lock file:
### 2. Your environment variables ready
Collect your production .env values before deploying. You'll paste them into Kuberns's environment dashboard. Don't paste your local .env values; production needs different database hosts, APP\_DEBUG=false, a production APP\_URL, and production Redis/mail credentials.
> **💡 On other platforms, you'd also install PHP 8.3+ with 12+ required extensions, configure Nginx with a Laravel-specific server block, set storage/ and bootstrap/cache/ permissions to 775, create a Supervisor config for queue workers, add a cron entry for the scheduler, install Certbot, and configure SSL renewal. On Kuberns, none of these steps apply. All of it is automated by Agentic AI.**
> **💡 If your Laravel app uses a React or Vue.js frontend, see our [React deployment guide](https://kuberns.com/blogs/deploying-react-app/). Kuberns handles both the Laravel backend and the JavaScript frontend as separate services from the same project.**
## How to Deploy a Laravel App on Kuberns
Before the steps, here is the full deployment happening in real time. The agentic AI detects a Laravel project, runs Artisan commands, and delivers a live HTTPS URL:
[Kuberns](https://kuberns.com/) is an agentic AI cloud platform built on AWS infrastructure. For Laravel apps, the AI detects your stack to find your project configuration, sets the build command and correct output directory automatically, configures SPA routing, issues SSL, and deploys with CI/CD with zero configuration files from your side.
### Step 1: Create Your Account and Project
Go to [Kuberns](https://kuberns.com) and click "Deploy with AI". Create your account and add your basic project details.
Kuberns has a free tier to start. After that, $7 gets you $14 in compute credits, 2X value to apply toward your deployment. [See what each tier includes](https://kuberns.com/pricing/)
### Step 2: Connect GitHub
On the "Creating a Service" page, just connect your GitHub account, add the project name and region.
* Click "Connect & Configure" and authorise Kuberns access to your repositories
* Select your Laravel repository and the branch you're deploying from (main)
* The AI scans your project, identifies laravel stack, and configures the build command and output directory, you confirm, not configure
### Step 3: Set Environment Variables
Navigate to the Environment section before deploying:
* Click "Add Env Vars" and input key-value pairs manually, or
* Click "Upload .env file" to import all variables at once
Upload your .env file directly or add key-value pairs manually. Kuberns encrypts all values at rest, they never appear in build logs.
### Step 4: Deploy - The AI Takes Over
Click Deploy. From here, you watch rather than configure. The agentic AI:
* Runs composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
* Executes php artisan config\:cache, route\:cache, view\:cache, and php artisan optimize
* Runs php artisan migrate --force, your database tables are created
* Runs php artisan storage\:link, storage symlink is created
* Starts your Laravel app on the PHP runtime
* Provisions AWS compute in your chosen region
* Issues an SSL certificate, HTTPS from the first request
* Configures CI/CD, every GitHub push triggers an automatic redeploy with all Artisan commands re-running
Your Laravel app is live within minutes.
## What Kuberns Handles vs What You Handle Elsewhere
| Laravel production requirement | Manual VPS | Render / Railway | Kuberns |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------ | ----------------------- |
| composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader | SSH + manual | Procfile / start command | Automated by Agentic AI |
| php artisan optimize | Manual after every deploy | Build command config | Automated by Agentic AI |
| php artisan migrate --force | Manual or deploy script | Pre-deploy command | Automated by Agentic AI |
| php artisan storage\:link | Manual | Manual | Automated by Agentic AI |
| Laravel Scheduler (cron) | Write a cron entry | No native support | Automated by Agentic AI |
| PHP extensions (12+ required) | Install manually | Platform-managed | Automated by Agentic AI |
| SSL certificate | Certbot + renewal cron | Automatic | Automatic |
| Monitoring + logs | Prometheus / Datadog | Basic | Built-in |
[Deploy your Laravel app on Kuberns now using the one-click Laravel template](https://kuberns.com/services/laravel)
> **💡 For teams wanting to understand what automated deployment looks like at a deeper level, staging environments, zero-downtime strategies, and rollback configuration, see our guide on [automated software deployment](https://kuberns.com/blogs/how-to-implement-one-click-automated-software-deployment/)**
## What Developers Say About Laravel Deployment (Community Pain Points)
The [r/laravel community on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/laravel/comments/1e3jib4/deploying_a_laravel_application/) and LaravelDaily consistently document the same deployment friction patterns. These are real production experiences.
### Laravel Cloud
Laravel Cloud (cloud.laravel.com) launched in 2025 as the first-party Laravel hosting platform. It has the deepest Laravel integration of any platform; the build process, deploy commands, queue workers, and scheduler are all purpose-built for Laravel. Laravel Cloud's own documentation confirms automatic queue worker management: "php artisan queue\:restart, Queue workers are automatically restarted after each deployment."
The trade-off: Laravel Cloud is PHP/Laravel-only. If your stack includes a Node.js API, a Python microservice, a React SPA, or non-PHP workers, you need additional platforms. Kuberns handles polyglot stacks, Laravel backend, React or Vue frontend, Node.js services from a single project with unified CI/CD and environment management. [See the Kuberns services page](https://kuberns.com/services)
### Heroku
Heroku was the default Laravel PaaS for years and the reference point that other platforms are measured against. The community pain points are well-documented: [no free tier](https://kuberns.com/blogs/heroku-pricing-explained/) since 2022, Procfile-based deployment that requires explicit queue worker configuration, and dyno-based pricing that compounds quickly once you add a PostgreSQL add-on, Redis add-on, and SSL. Queue workers require separate dyno definitions in the Procfile, each one billed separately.
### Render
Clean Git-based deployments and genuine full-stack support. [The community pain point](https://kuberns.com/blogs/render-deployment-to-one-click-ai-deployment/) is the free tier sleep mode, services spin down after 15 minutes of inactivity, causing a cold start delay on the first request.
For Laravel apps where users expect immediate responses, the free tier is a non-starter for production. On paid tiers, you write a render.yaml or configure start commands manually, and queue workers require a separate Worker service definition.
### Railway
Good developer experience, usage-based billing that sounds attractive. The recurring [community complaint](https://kuberns.com/blogs/railway-hosting-explained/) is billing predictability, Railway's $0.0002/CPU-sec billing can surprise teams when queue workers or scheduled jobs run more frequently than expected. For Laravel apps that dispatch background jobs heavily (email processing, report generation, image optimisation), this can push monthly bills unpredictably. Good for prototypes; requires active cost monitoring in production.
### Cloudways
Popular with PHP/WordPress developers for its managed VPS experience. For Laravel specifically, Cloudways gives you more control than pure PaaS but still requires configuring Supervisor for queue workers and manually running Artisan commands after each deploy. The community often describes it as "half managed" - better than a raw VPS, but more work than a fully managed platform like Kuberns.
### VPS (Nginx + PHP-FPM + Supervisor)
As one developer described in the [r/laravel deployment thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/laravel/comments/1e3jib4/deploying_a_laravel_application/): "DigitalOcean isn't shared hosting, it's a VPS. As easy as pie if you're using Laravel Forge." Laravel Forge is a first-party tool that automates VPS configuration for Laravel. It's a legitimate option for teams with dedicated server needs. Without Forge, the manual VPS path involves writing Nginx configuration, installing PHP-FPM with all required extensions, configuring Supervisor, setting storage permissions, and managing SSL renewals, a significant ongoing maintenance commitment.
> **💡 Want to understand how cloud costs compound as your Laravel app scales? See our guide on [cloud cost optimization](https://kuberns.com/blogs/cloud-cost-optimisation/). Practical strategies for keeping Laravel hosting predictable on AWS infrastructure.**
## Conclusion
Laravel is a production-grade framework that demands a production-grade deployment setup. Manual VPS deployments give you full control and full responsibility for Supervisor configs, cron entries, Nginx configurations, SSL renewals, and Artisan command sequences that need to run in the exact right order on every deploy. Laravel Cloud handles this beautifully for PHP-only stacks. Cloudways, Railway, and Render each handle part of it with varying degrees of manual configuration.
Kuberns handles all of it automatically, for your entire stack. The agentic AI runs php artisan optimize, migrate --force, storage\:link, manages queue workers as persistent processes, keeps the scheduler running, provisions AWS infrastructure, and wires up CI/CD on every GitHub push, without a single configuration file from your side.
Your Laravel app is on GitHub. Your .env values are ready. You're ten minutes from a live, production-optimised deployment with automatic deployment on every push.
[Deploy with Agentic AI on Kuberns](https://dashboard.kuberns.com)
## Frequently Asked Questions on Laravel Deployment
### Can I deploy any Laravel version on Kuberns?
Yes. Kuberns supports Laravel apps running on modern PHP versions. The platform automatically selects the correct runtime and installs dependencies during deployment.
### Do I need to write a Dockerfile to deploy Laravel?
No. Kuberns detects Laravel automatically and configures the runtime, web server, and build steps without requiring you to write a Dockerfile.
### How do I add database credentials on Kuberns?
Go to the Environment section in the dashboard and enter your variables there. They are stored securely and injected into the application during runtime.
### Does Kuberns support Redis for queues and caching?
Yes. You can connect your Redis instance or external provider. Once you add REDIS_HOST, REDIS_PORT, and credentials, Redis will work for cache, sessions, and queues.
### Can I run Laravel queue workers on Kuberns?
Yes. You can enable a dedicated worker process from the dashboard and provide the worker command. The worker will auto restart if it stops.
### How does Laravel scheduling work on Kuberns?
You do not need cron. Enable the scheduler in your service settings and Kuberns handles running php artisan schedule:run automatically at the correct interval.
### Can I store user-uploaded files using Kuberns?
Yes. You can attach persistent storage or use S3-compatible storage by setting FILESYSTEM_DISK=s3 and adding your storage credentials to environment variables.
### Does Kuberns provide free SSL for custom domains?
Yes. Add your domain in the dashboard, point DNS to Kuberns, and enable SSL with a single click. Certificates renew automatically.
### How do I scale my Laravel app on Kuberns?
You can scale vertically by increasing resources, or horizontally by enabling auto scaling. Both options require no code changes or server configuration.
### Can I deploy Laravel on Vercel in 2026?
Vercel does not support PHP natively, so deploying a full Laravel app on Vercel requires workarounds like serverless PHP adapters or separating the frontend and backend. For most Laravel apps, a platform like Kuberns that natively supports PHP, runs Artisan commands, and manages queue workers is a simpler and more reliable choice.
### What is the best Laravel hosting with queue workers in 2026?
The best options for Laravel hosting with queue workers in 2026 are Kuberns, which manages workers as persistent processes with automatic restarts and no Supervisor config, Laravel Cloud for PHP-only stacks, and Laravel Forge for teams that want to manage their own VPS. Avoid platforms where queue workers require separate paid dynos or manual Supervisor configuration.
### How does the Laravel scheduler work without a cron entry on Kuberns?
On Kuberns, you enable the scheduler toggle in your service settings. Kuberns runs php artisan schedule:run at the correct interval automatically without you writing a cron entry or editing a crontab. The scheduler restarts automatically
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