PHP vs React: why I chose the "outdated" technology for my business

Every time I post something about PHP on LinkedIn, the same comments roll in. "Does anyone still use that?" "Move to React." "PHP is dead." Then I look at the statistics and see that PHP powers three quarters of the entire web, including WordPress, Facebook's infrastructure and Wikipedia.

It's ironic that the same people who say PHP is dead visit sites running on it every single day. But let's move past anecdotes and look at the concrete reasons why I deliberately chose PHP and static HTML over React for webdesignbytomi.com.

Context: what my website needs to do

Before we compare technologies, it's important to understand the context. My website needs to:

• Present information about services and packages
• Allow visitors to get in touch via a form and chat
• Publish blog posts (like this one)
• Rank on Google for local searches
• Load quickly on all devices

None of these things require a complex JavaScript application. There's no real-time dashboard, no drag-and-drop editor, no hundreds of interactive components. It's essentially a digital brochure with a contact form and a blog.

And that's the key point of this entire article: your technology choice must match the problem you're solving, not the trend you saw on Twitter.

Page load speed: where PHP dominates

This is perhaps the most important argument for presentation websites. Let's look at what happens when a visitor opens a page built on different technologies.

PHP/static HTML approach

The user sends a request. The server immediately returns the finished HTML. The browser renders it. End of story. My website loads in under one second, and the total size of all resources is about 150 KB including images.

React approach (SPA)

The user sends a request. The server returns an empty HTML page with a single <div id="root">. The browser downloads the JavaScript bundle (typically 300-500 KB just for the framework). The JavaScript executes. React renders components into the DOM. Only then does the user see content. And if it needs data from an API, that's another round of waiting.

What about Next.js and SSR?

React advocates will say: use Next.js, it has server-side rendering. And they're right, Next.js solves many problems of a classic React SPA. But think about it: you've taken React (a client-side framework), added server-side rendering (which PHP has done from the very beginning), and now you have a more complex system that does the same thing PHP does out of the box. Plus you need a Node.js server, a build pipeline and significantly more expertise to maintain it.

SEO: Google loves what it can read

For a site that MUST rank on Google, this is the key question. When the Google crawler arrives at a PHP page, it immediately sees all the content. Schema.org markup, meta tags, heading structure, text. Everything is there from the first moment.

When it hits a React SPA? It sees an empty <div> and has to run JavaScript to read the content. Google can render JavaScript, but it requires extra resources and isn't always reliable. Some pages wait days for indexing because Google's render budget is limited.

For a website that needs to rank for web design related searches, why would I even risk client-side rendering?

Hosting costs: the maths is clear

My entire stack runs on a VPS for 4.5 euros a month, with Caddy and PHP 8.4. This server hosts both this website and several other projects. Annual cost: about 55 euros.

By comparison, a Node.js application requires a process manager (PM2 or similar), more memory and more careful process management. Platforms like Vercel or Netlify offer free tiers, but with limitations. For serious traffic, prices quickly rise to 20-50 euros a month or more.

For a small business thinking about costs, PHP hosting is simply cheaper. And with hosting and domain included in my packages, clients have no additional expenses at all.

Complexity and dependency hell

This is an argument that rarely comes up in marketing articles, but anyone who's worked with the Node.js ecosystem knows exactly what I'm talking about.

The average React project has hundreds, sometimes thousands of dependency packages. Each of them can have security vulnerabilities, incompatibilities or simply stop being maintained. Try opening a two-year-old React project and running npm install. There's a good chance you'll hit deprecation warnings, security vulnerabilities and peer dependency conflicts.

A PHP file written in 2020? You copy it to the server and it works. No build step, no package manager, no transpilation. That's a massive advantage for long-term maintenance.

When SHOULD you use React?

To be fair, React is a fantastic tool for certain types of projects. It would be dishonest to say PHP can do everything React can. It can't. React shines in situations that demand:

Complex web applications

Dashboards with real-time updating graphs, tools like Figma or Canva where users interactively edit content, chat applications with real-time messaging. For projects like these, React is an excellent choice because it manages complex application state in an elegant way.

SaaS products

If you're building a product with user accounts, multiple views, data filtering and sorting, React and its component approach makes sense. Trello, Notion, Slack - these are all applications where React shines.

Projects with large teams

If 10+ developers are working on a project, React's component model helps organise the code. Each developer works on their own component, tests it in isolation and integrates it into the whole. For a solo developer or small team, that advantage is less relevant.

When is PHP/static HTML the better choice?

For the majority of projects I encounter in practice. Specifically:

• Business presentation websites - the main purpose is to inform, not to interact
• Portfolio websites - they need to be fast and visually appealing, not complex
• Landing pages - the goal is conversion, and every millisecond of load time reduces the rate
• Blogs and content marketing - text, images, SEO. PHP handles this perfectly
• Local businesses - local SEO is critical, and server-side rendering has an advantage there
• Projects with a limited budget - cheaper hosting, faster development, less maintenance

When I look at the different types of business websites I build, none of them require React. A hair salon doesn't need a virtual DOM. An accounting office doesn't need state management. A car repair shop doesn't need hydration.

Direct comparison: PHP vs React

Here's a concrete comparison in the context of a small business website - not a web application.

The result is clear: for a presentation website, PHP wins in every category that matters. React wins in categories that a presentation website doesn't use.

The argument that's rarely heard

There's one reason why many developers recommend React for every project, and it's rarely discussed openly: React is more popular on the job market.

A developer who builds your project in React gains React experience for their CV. A developer who builds it in PHP gains... PHP experience, which doesn't look as shiny on the job market. That doesn't mean the React developer is consciously making the wrong decision. It's simply human nature to choose tools that bring multiple benefits.

But your goal as a business owner isn't to employ a developer. Your goal is to have a website that attracts clients, loads fast and costs a reasonable amount to maintain. And for that goal, simpler technology is almost always better.

My approach: the right tool for the right job

There is no "best" technology. There is the right technology for a given problem. And when a client comes to me needing a business website, my answer is always the same: clean HTML, CSS and minimal JavaScript, with PHP on the backend for the contact form, chat and dynamic features.

The result? Websites that load in under one second, score 90+ on Google PageSpeed, work flawlessly on every device and cost a fraction of the price to host and maintain compared to an equivalent React application.

And if someone tells you that WordPress or React must be used for your small business or company website, ask them why. If the answer includes words like "modern", "trendy" or "everyone uses it", think again.