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I wanted to share a little bit of my opinion on what I think is happening with Laravel. I feel like it's becoming a product that is, shall we say, Premium, but I want to focus on the negative aspect—that is, the perception of payment.
Before continuing, I want to clarify that this is purely my opinion and a speculation. I know there are people who don't like these kinds of topics being discussed, but I reiterate: it's just my opinion. I believe these spaces are for sharing ideas in an educated manner, and you can leave your comment, whether you agree, disagree, or have a different opinion.
Laravel, increasingly Premium
I am concerned about what I mentioned at the beginning: I feel that Laravel is slowly but surely becoming a Premium, or paid, service. I have been noticing this in the latest versions.
For example, in Laravel 12, as soon as you create a project, regardless of whether you choose Livewire, Inertia, or base Laravel, they immediately promote Laravel Cloud to you, which is a paid service.
Look at the interface: it appears on a completely clean page, with a centered button that contrasts with the rest of the page. Everything else is dark gray or black, and the button is white or light gray, indirectly highlighting the promotion.
Obviously, I understand how the world works: not everything can be free. I offer paid material myself. However, the way it is presented gives the feeling that the basic product is becoming increasingly limited compared to the paid services.
Laravel, like Ubuntu
It seems to me that Laravel is following a model similar to Ubuntu's. When you install Ubuntu, several proprietary software packages are also included. This slightly breaks the original idea of free software.
Laravel Cloud is an example: it is a paid service that allows you to deploy applications to the cloud. It's available from the start, even before you begin development, and it's prominently displayed.
When creating a new project: paid service
When creating a new project and selecting Livewire or Inertia, a preferred option called WorkOS, which is also paid, now appears. This pops up unexpectedly and is presented as if it were part of the standard Laravel experience.
I mention this because the Laravel Daily channel (in English) commented on the same thing: if you aren't receiving money from that service, why promote it so aggressively? It's a detail that can be confusing for many users.
Livewire, Flux, and the documentation
Livewire is also using Flux, a component-based system, and some of these components are paid. The feeling is similar to applications like Duolingo: although it's promoted as free, as soon as you start using it, you encounter constant payment reminders.
Furthermore, something I heavily criticize is that Laravel sometimes requires authentication to access a large part of the official documentation. This limits the initial user experience and reinforces the perception that the framework is increasingly oriented towards paid services.