Top 10 Laravel Packages Every Dev Needs in 2025 (With Code Snippets)

Laravel 12 continues to dominate the PHP ecosystem in 2025—but the real power lies in the ecosystem. Whether you’re building SaaS, APIs, or internal tools, these 10 packages will save you hours, boost performance, and future-proof your stack. Each one includes install commands, 1-liner examples, and when to skip.

🧠 1. Forerunner AI

Use case: AI-powered code suggestions, content generation, and workflow automation.

composer require forerunner/laravel-ai

AI::prompt('Generate a Laravel policy for Post model');

✅ Great for scaffolding, docs, and AI-assisted refactoring.
⛔ Skip if you’re not comfortable with AI in your dev loop or need full offline workflows.

🧹 2. Asset Cleaner

Use case: Remove unused CSS/JS from Laravel + Inertia/Vue/Livewire apps.

composer require spatie/laravel-asset-cleaner

php artisan assets:scan && php artisan assets:delete --dry-run

✅ Perfect for performance audits and production hygiene.
⛔ Skip if your assets are already tree-shaken via Vite or handled in CI.

📊 3. Laravel DynamoDB Auditing

Use case: Store audit logs in AWS DynamoDB for scale and speed.

composer require infinitypaul/laravel-dynamodb-auditing

Audit::with('dynamodb')->log('User updated profile');

✅ Ideal for high-throughput apps with serverless or NoSQL backends.
⛔ Skip if you’re not using DynamoDB or need relational audit trails.

🧪 4. Pest Plugin for Laravel

Use case: Elegant, readable testing syntax with Laravel-specific helpers.

composer require pestphp/pest --dev

it('loads dashboard', fn() => $this->get('/dashboard')->assertOk());

✅ Makes testing fun again.
⛔ Skip if you’re deeply invested in PHPUnit-style tests.

🔐 5. Laravel Shield

Use case: Add rate limiting, bot protection, and security headers in minutes.

composer require laravel/shield

Shield::protect()->againstBots()->withRateLimits();

✅ Great for public-facing apps and APIs.
⛔ Skip if you’re already using Cloudflare or external WAFs.

🧭 6. Laravel Route Discovery

Use case: Auto-register routes from controller methods.

composer require spatie/laravel-route-discovery

// No need to define routes manually—just use method names.

✅ Speeds up prototyping and reduces boilerplate.
⛔ Skip if you prefer explicit route definitions.

🧰 7. Laravel Data

Use case: Typed data transfer objects (DTOs) with validation and transformation.

composer require spatie/laravel-data

UserData::from($request)->toArray();

✅ Great for API layers and form handling.
⛔ Skip if you’re using Laravel Form Requests exclusively.

🧾 8. Laravel Excel

Use case: Import/export Excel and CSV files with ease.

composer require maatwebsite/excel

Excel::import(new UsersImport, 'users.xlsx');

✅ Must-have for admin panels and data-heavy apps.
⛔ Skip if your app doesn’t deal with spreadsheets.

🧠 9. Laravel Prompts

Use case: Build beautiful CLI prompts with validation and autocomplete.

composer require laravel/prompts

$text = text('What’s your project name?')->validate(fn($v) => strlen($v) > 3);

✅ Ideal for artisan commands and internal tools.
⛔ Skip if you don’t build custom CLI tools.

🧼 10. Laravel Pulse

Use case: Real-time performance monitoring and insights.

composer require laravel/pulse

// Auto-collects metrics like queries, jobs, and memory usage.

✅ Great for production observability.
⛔ Skip if you already use external APMs like New Relic or Sentry.

🧠 Final Thoughts

These packages aren’t just trendy—they’re time-tested tools that solve real pain points in 2025. Whether you’re scaling a SaaS or shipping side projects, pick the ones that match your stack and skip the rest.