Introduction
The battle between the two most important backend development technologies – Node.js vs. PHP – continues. Node.js brings an event-driven, non-blocking architecture and excels in real-time applications, while PHP shines in traditional web development, content management systems, and e-commerce platforms. Choosing between them can seem overwhelming. This blog will put an end to the Node.js vs. PHP debate and help you choose the right language for your project.
Do you know what happens in classic Hollywood movies?
The climax always involves two old friends going their separate ways. Generally, bitterness occurs when one friend becomes interested in what has always been the other's unspoken territory.
Let's consider the same thing in programming language – the movie. Introducing Node.js turns the movie Friends into a battle between PHP and JavaScript, two companions who once ruled the internet together but are now fighting for the developer mindshare.
If we go back to the old days, friendship was effortless. JavaScript took care of all the little details of the browser, while PHP took care of everything between port 80 and MySQL on the server side. It was a nice union that helped keep many important aspects of the internet alive. With websites as diverse as Facebook, Drupal, and WordPress, users can’t spend more than a minute on the internet without having to experiment with PHP.
Then a clever friend figured out a way to run JavaScript on the server. And suddenly, PHP wasn't needed to develop the next generation of server stacks. All that was needed was a language to create NodeJs and frameworks that ran on the client side. And then, "JavaScript for everything, everywhere" became the motto for development.
An Overview: Node JS vs. PHP
JavaScript has grown in popularity since its invention. Node.js developers can now choose from an amazing array of frameworks and scaffolding, including Vue, Meteor, Angular, React, Express, Vue, and more.
The list goes on and on, and the hardest part is choosing the perfect option for the project.
While talking about Node JS and PHP, both are powerful options for backend development services. However, the developer community is divided on whether to choose PHP or Node JS for Backend.
It is PHP that remains one of the most widely used technologies in history. On the other hand, we now have NodeJS – the latest technology that allows us to use JavaScript for back-end programming as well.
So, what is the difference between PHP and NodeJS? How do you decide when to use Node development services or PHP technology for server-side development of your project? Well, evaluating the merits of Node.js versus other backend technologies like PHP has become a dilemma for businesses and the developer community around the world.
What is PHP?
PHP (Hypertext Processor) is an open source server-side programming language used by giants like Wikipedia, Tumblr, and Facebook. Rasmus Lerdorf developed the language in 1994, and there has been no looking back since.
According to Web Technology Survey, PHP is used by 76.1% of all websites as a server-side language. In addition, PHP has spread its wings in CMS (Content Management Systems) such as Shopify, WordPress, Drupal, and WooCommerce.
It includes various built-in features and packages that make developing e-commerce and CMS websites very easy, despite being synced and working with just one central server on-premises.
PHP is a multi-threaded, synchronous, blocking I/O programming language. On the server side, PHP is executed by an interpreter – Zend Engine, which works with Nginx and Apache servers. Without access to the main code, the client side waits to receive the results of a script being processed, and no other line of code is executed until the previous result is received.
PHP is a very flexible language because you can easily integrate its code into HTML or HTML5. Also, you can easily connect to different SQL databases like MariaDB, MySQL or PostgreSQL.
If you hire PHP developers, they will bring various benefits to your business. However, you need to know and understand some tips for hiring PHP developers for your project. Let's review a few of them here.
Multiple database options
PHP has the ability to connect to any type of database. But MySQL is the most common and preferred database because it is free and popular. Moreover, PHP is also compatible with other database management systems like MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MS SQL, etc.
On the other hand, PHP is also compatible with and used with non-relational databases like MongoDB, ElasticSearch, and Redis. This way, developers have the freedom to choose any database for their future applications.
Faster page loading speed
Compared to other web development technologies, PHP allows website pages to load faster. For example, in most cases, PHP is about three times faster than Python.
On the other hand, faster loading times are a major SEO ranking factor that helps promote a website by providing a competitive advantage. A faster app keeps consumers happy and, when combined with additional benefits, helps grow and retain a customer base.
Higher customer retention rate
PHP has fast data processing features that reduce page loading time. Users usually don't like to wait for a website to load. However, if a website doesn't reload in less than three seconds, they tend to leave it.
PHP-based applications load pages quickly, increase user retention, and make your product more intuitive to use.
Rich Codebase
PHP has a large and robust code base that includes popular web development stacks and platforms. Plus, it's so easy to use that even people who aren't tech-savvy can use it.
PHP has a large code base for all kinds of solutions, from content management systems to amazing frameworks like Symfony and Laravel. For example, you can set up a blog in minutes with WordPress, a PHP-based content management system.
Disadvantages of PHP
Let's explore the disadvantages of PHP development services that sometimes turn developers away from this technology.
Poor code management:
PHP allows developers to integrate HTML with the language syntax, making it more difficult to add new functionality to PHP applications. Furthermore, code management has become much more difficult with such a large code base that JavaScript frameworks rarely encounter.
Slow testing process:
The most significant drawback of PHP, especially compared to Node, is its poor error handling. PHP does not have many debugging tools that can detect errors and notify the programmer in real time. This feature of PHP makes it error-prone and slows down the quality assurance process. Therefore, it increases the number of errors in the final result.
Security vulnerabilities:
The low barrier to entry for beginners is one of the reasons why PHP has a negative reputation for security. As a result, unskilled coders, interns, or even amateurs create many websites and applications. The low quality of their work adds to the rumors and facts about PHP's security and overall performance.
What is NodeJS?
Node.js is an open source runtime environment that provides everything needed to run a JavaScript application. It enables the use of JavaScript on the server side and helps you build fast and scalable applications. The Node.js architecture supports an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model.
Previously, JavaScript was a specialized front-end giant designed to run in a web browser environment and never interacted with PHP. Now Node.js has turned the tables. Using Google's V8 JS engine (especially the V8 JavaScript engine updated to 11.3 in Node.js 20), it enables asynchronous JavaScript development and takes JavaScript to the next level in more powerful programming languages like Python.
Well, with the help of JavaScript development, you can create many amazing and visual websites. Like other programming languages – Python and JavaScript can now do many other things.
Moreover, another thing that we can consider is its amazing support for JSON. In fact, JSON is used when data is sent from the server to the web page. This allows you to communicate with NoSQL databases. Microsoft, LinkedIn, and PayPal are among the companies that use NodeJS development services. In fact, these companies have taken the most advantage of Node.js enterprise product development to simplify resource usage, achieve scalability, and increase revenue streams.
Advantages of NodeJS
If you hire Node JS developers, you can enjoy certain benefits for your future projects. Let's review a few of them here.
Easy to learn:
As we know JavaScript has been the most popular and widely used programming language. Therefore, many front-end developers have a better understanding and knowledge about it. Hence, it becomes much easier for them to learn and use Node.js for Backend.
Real-time experience:
Another advantage your business can take advantage of is that you can have a real-time and live streaming experience with Node JS application development services. Node.js allows you to build high-performance applications with advanced features like streaming services, real-time chat, and transactions using an event-driven JavaScript environment.
Faster connection to server:
Node.js enables you to create non-blocking I/O JavaScript applications using an event queue that can handle multiple requests simultaneously. You can build a highly scalable server application by leveraging JavaScript's built-in asynchrony, maximizing your server's CPU and memory while simultaneously handling more requests than traditional multi-threaded servers. This makes Node.js well-suited for real-time applications that require a lot of I/O operations.
While talking about PHP vs NodeJS, Node.js is an asynchronous, event-driven, and non-blocking programming language, while PHP is a synchronous programming language. This means that Node.js is a better option than PHP to speed up the development process.
Flexibility:
Node.js is flexible enough to allow you to develop an application with any technology. It does not follow any strict rules for project development. Moreover, NPM allows you to develop an application slowly and quickly.
Since Node.js has no strict rules for developers, they have the space to build applications.
Scalability:
When comparing Node.js to PHP, the features of Node.js – non-blocking and asynchronous – increase the speed of application development and allow you to handle multiple requests simultaneously. Node.js is the primary technology used to create SPAs and data-driven applications.
Disadvantages of NodeJS
Let's find out the dark sides of Node.js development services that make developers not choose this technology.
Hosting:
Node.js can be run on the server side without disrupting connectivity. You can do this yourself or use hosting services, such as virtual cloud (VDS/VPS, a fully-accessible server environment) from service providers. Unfortunately, not all hosts can afford it, so the costs reflect this.
Immature environment:
One of the factors that makes NodeJS boring for people is the use of complex coding structures.
Not suitable for intensive applications:
This framework is not capable of performing CPU-intensive tasks such as audio and video generation, graphic editing, etc. Node.js-based applications are more responsive, which makes developing graphics-centric applications more difficult.
NodeJS vs. PHP: The Popularity Contest
While talking about the popularity of Node JS and PHP, PHP-based websites are far ahead of NodeJS websites. PHP is used to power around 80% of all websites on the internet, and around 40% of them are developed by PHP-based WordPress.
On the other hand, slowly and gradually, Node.js has gained popularity in the market and has become the most widely used programming language in 2020. Of course, only 1-2% of websites are developed by Node.js. And Netflix and LinkedIn are among the examples of enterprise applications of Node.js.
Having been in the market for the past two decades, we can certainly say that the presence and usage of NodeJS development services is increasing due to its approach – JavaScript is everywhere. And many organizations are choosing Node JS development companies to implement their projects using the Node ecosystem. As we know, JavaScript has been the most in-demand and convenient language for several years now, while PHP developers are significantly less in demand.
A Stack Overflow survey shows that around 41.6% of developers “Loved” and 58.4% of developers “Afraid” of PHP. Furthermore, Node.js has secured its place in the most popular category of frameworks, libraries, and tools with around 66.4% of developers «Loved» Node JS.
Also, according to the report, NodeJS's market share in the programming language is around 1.24 percent while PHP is 34.34 percent.
It's worth noting that while PHP has long been the more popular technology, Node.js is gaining popularity among professional developers.
PHP vs. NodeJS: An Ultimate Comparison
Now, we will discuss the difference between PHP and NodeJs, where we will look at different aspects of the backend technologies and determine the winner.
Coding:
PHP It has been around for a long time and has flourished over the years. From a distance, it may seem like PHP requires fewer lines of code to complete a function, making it easier to do.
But after that, you need to have a good understanding of operators and generators and how they work in LAMP (Linux, Apache HTTP Server, MySQL, and PHP).
Node.js It requires more lines of code to perform the same tasks as PHP. Since the entire development environment is written in JavaScript, you don't have to memorize the syntax of other languages when coding. So, while Node.js may require longer lines of code, it works with only one language.
Winner: Well, while we declare the winner for the coding parameter, Node.js is at the top of our book market. However, both languages are easy to understand.
Performance:
PHP It is an old technology. Hence, it has a different concept for handling requests which is slower. Also, it has a synchronous code execution procedure which processes each module in the specified order of the code. It blocks a process until it finishes all the execution steps and as a result, loading is done with delay and there is no concurrency.
However, if you still want to use PHP, you can pair it with the HHVM virtual machine. This virtual machine is used to run PHP web projects. This can increase the performance of your PHP web application by more than 75%. Despite this, Node.js is still the faster option.
Node.js It is asynchronous in nature. It uses the V8 JavaScript engine which helps in increasing the execution speed and fast startup time. Since Node.js is event-driven, it does not block new requests until the old requests are completed.
Well, this independent execution of the command is known as “concurrency.” When combined with Node’s concurrency, JS provides a great environment for developing high-performance applications.
Winner: Both technologies are winners here. Just-in-time compilation is used by both PHP and Node.js. However, if performance is your main priority, Node.js will be your choice.
Functionality:
When it comes to backend programming languages, PHP It is pure. Therefore, its scope of development is limited. Technologically it belongs to LAMP Stack. Hence, a developer must have good knowledge of various technologies along with CSS and HTML to create and maintain a PHP based project.
Of course, the ability to deal with multiple technologies makes the learning curve more complex. Despite the problems mentioned above, PHP continues to evolve dynamically, and its developers are always introducing new features and ideas to improve its capabilities and performance.
Node.js It is a programming language that combines some of the most important elements into a single, seamless package without functional fragmentation. It allows you to create a complete backend model (requires a database – MySQL, a reverse proxy – Apache or Nginx, and an HTTP framework – Express.js)
Additionally, JavaScript is a full-stack development language, meaning it can create a complete web or mobile application using only JS.
Winner: We can call it equal. The powerful NPM is an add-on feature that adds an extra bonus to the Node.js bucket. But apart from that, both have similar functionality.
Ecosystem:
WordPress makes a significant contribution to the community PHP The company is directly responsible for the operation of a significant percentage of the total number of websites on the Internet. This just shows the power of PHP.
Additionally, the PHP community offers a lot of online tutorials and materials for education and technology support to help newbies get started.
Ecosystem Nodejs It offers a large number of libraries and frameworks, although they are quite behind compared to PHP. Nodejs makes up for its lack of variety with its diverse projects. Since Node.js can be used for both server-side and back-end development, the types of projects available are diverse and may be used for different purposes.
Winner: It is worth noting that PHP has a larger ecosystem than Nodejs. You will find many Node.js frameworks, modules, and projects.
Hosting:
PHP It dominates the internet world with almost 79% of all websites directly or indirectly. This technology is designed to work with any major hosting provider due to its wide reach. The LAMP PHP stack adheres to the needs of many servers. However, LAMP is not considered the most secure technology stack for hosting.
Different options Node.js It exists to help the technology perform competitively.
This range determines the interoperability of a technology platform with different hosting service providers. The number of options offered has a direct impact on hosting costs. Security and speed of the web application should be considered when choosing a host.
The company that supports Node.js – Joyent, offers a SmartOS solution that is great for performance, deployment, and debugging. Also, using Node.js for Platform-as-a-Service projects is simple with Nodejitsu and Heroku.
Winner: Like PHP, Node.js has a wider range of compatibility with hosting providers. If security is not a key concern, you may use either platform for your web development project. There is no distinction that is a deal breaker.
Synchronization:
PHP It is a synchronous language, meaning it executes code line by line. When PHP code is executed, it waits for the current line to complete execution before moving on to the next line, causing the request to block.
Since Node.js It is asynchronous, meaning the code does not have to wait for I/O operations to complete. Node uses JavaScript's built-in callbacks, promises, or async and await keywords to handle slow activities like I/O and remote data fetching. This makes Node.js very fast and allows the Node server to handle large numbers of connections with ease.
Winner: Due to its asynchronous nature, Node.js is the winner here.
Database:
PHP It has been used with conventional or relational database management systems (RDBMS) like MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL etc. And MySQL is the most common database for creating PHP websites. As we said earlier, it is part of the popular open source LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP). Therefore, NoSQL databases like MongoDB can also be used with PHP.
Node.js It works seamlessly and quite well with NoSQL databases like CouchDB and MongoDB, as well as graph databases like Neo4j. Although it can interact with SQL databases, most Node.js developers choose NoSQL databases. Node.js works very well with NoSQL databases thanks to its built-in JSON support. The M in MEAN stands for MongoDB, which is the most popular database.
Winner: Node.js is what you need if you want to build a scalable web application that routinely pulls data from traditional, relational, or NoSQL databases.
Is Node JS better than PHP?
In the battle between the best front-end technologies – PHP vs NodeJS, the winner is the one that meets all the needs of your project and focuses on your needs. However, when your need is faster execution and a wide selection of frameworks, you can definitely consider Node JS better than PHP.
When should we use NodeJS over PHP?
Node.js should be used over PHP for applications that require a lot of interaction and communication between the server and the client.
Result
Node.js web development has become very popular in the last few years. Moreover, it will continue to outperform its competitors in 2025, making it the preferred choice for startups all over the world. Also, the latest version of NodeJS – Node.js 21 comes with some exciting features and improvements that allow developers to not rely on third-party libraries or complex code to send HTTP requests and handle responses.
