Laravel framework provides a lot of useful functionality out of the box. Due to specific requirements in a project, we can take advantage of the already built package instead of building a new package from scratch. These packages save development time, reduce bugs, and offer community-tested solutions that integrate seamlessly with Laravel.

Here are our list of 5 Best Laravel Packages:

1. barryvdh/laravel-debugbar

2. spatie/laravel-permission

3. lazychaser/laravel-nestedset

4. spatie/laravel-backup

5. Intervention/image

We recommend these packages because we have integrated these in our many Laravel projects. These essential Laravel tools are known for their powerful functionalities that can help you extend your project’s features.

1. barryvdh/laravel-debugbar

This is by far the best Laravel package out there. If you are someone constantly working with database queries Debugbar for Laravel package is going to save you tons of time. We personally recommend this package to everyone. This package makes application optimization and debugging much easier.

Once installed, the Debug bar will appear at the bottom of your page. It provides several useful tabs such as Messages, Timeline, Views, Route, Queries, and more — as shown in the image below.

Here’s what this package offers:

• Messages tab: See all the facades logged messages
• Views tab: See all the included views for according request with passed parameters
• Route tab: Know all the information about the current route.
• Queries tab: Display all executed queries along with their execution time on the particular page

You can read more about this package from here: barryvdh/laravel-debugbar

2. spatie/laravel-permission

Spatie offers a wide range of high-quality Laravel and PHP packages, and one of its most popular is the Spatie Laravel Permission package. While Laravel has built-in permission management features since version 5.1.11, including:

• Gates and Policies
• Blade directives like @can and @cannot
• The $this->authorize() method

…the native tools can become difficult to manage when dealing with multiple roles and complex permission sets.

That’s where the Spatie Permission package comes in. Built on top of Laravel’s authorization system, this package simplifies permission handling. It’s well-documented, actively maintained, and supports Blade directives, middleware, multiple guards, and more — making it a powerful choice for role and permission management in Laravel applications.

You can read more about this package from here: spatie/laravel-permission

3. lazychaser/laravel-nestedset

Creating tree-structured relationships using Laravel’s core functions can be challenging and often requires handling a lot of complexity manually.

The Laravel Nestedset package simplifies the process by using the Nested Set Model algorithm, which makes node traversal and manipulation much more straightforward.

All relationships are stored in a single database table, eliminating the need for managing multiple tables or complex joins. You can also add custom fields to the same table if needed, making it flexible for various use cases.

However, one limitation of the Nested Set Model is that it can be slower during insert and update operations, as it needs to manage the left and right indexes each time a node is modified. For applications with frequent write operations, this approach may not be the most efficient.

You can read more about this package from here: lazychaser/laravel-nestedset

4. spatie/laravel-backup

Another excellent package from the Spatie team is Laravel Backup. It allows you to create backups of your entire application, including the database and file system.

In addition to its core backup functionality, the package supports multiple notification channels (such as email or Slack) to alert you about backup events. It also fires custom events, giving you the flexibility to define your own listeners and perform additional actions when backups are created, cleaned, or fail.

Here’s what this package offers:

• Backup: Full or partial backup
• Notifications: To alert you about backup events
• Custom events: Create custom events with own listeners
• Storage: Allows you to store your backups locally or on cloud servers
• Backup cleanup: Allows you to automatically delete the old backups

To take a full backup(database + file system), use below artisan command:

php artisan backup:run

If you only need to backup the database, use below command:

php artisan backup:run --only-db

Likewise, to take files backup, use the below command:

php artisan backup:run --only-files

To execute artisan commands from your controller, use the “call” method of Artisan facades as shown below:

Artisan::call('backup:run');
Artisan::call('backup:run', ['--only-files' => true]);

One of the standout features of Laravel Backup is its support for multiple storage destinations. You can store your backups locally, on cloud storage services like Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, or even on remote servers via FTP/SFTP.

The package also includes built-in support for backup cleanup, allowing you to define how long backups should be retained and automatically removing old ones — helping you manage disk space efficiently. With simple configuration and powerful customization options, it’s an essential tool for any Laravel application that prioritizes data security and disaster recovery.

You can read more about this package from here: spatie/laravel-backup

5. Intervention/image

Intervention Image has clean syntax and powerful features, saves you time and effort when working with images in Laravel. Whether you’re building a CMS, handling user profile pictures, or generating thumbnails, this library makes image processing simple and reliable.

If your application requires image manipulation, the Intervention Image library is one of the best tools available. It supports both GD Library and Imagick drivers and works seamlessly with Laravel as well as plain PHP projects.

You can install it based on your project type and start using its wide range of features, including cropping, resizing, rotating, merging, and more. The library also makes it easy to extract EXIF data from images, which is especially useful when working with photos from mobile devices or cameras.

You can read more about this package from here: Intervention/image

Feel free to share your unique packages in the comments. We would love to explore.

Hope this was helpful.

checkout our how to post tweets & images on a twitter account with PHP.