# How to hire a remote PHP developer | Miyagami > Steps to hire a remote PHP developer: scope, assessment, overlap and cost. Senior Laravel engineers from €5,600 a month. Source: https://www.miyagami.com/resources/articles/how-to-hire-a-remote-php-developer [Home](https://www.miyagami.com/)/ [Resources](https://www.miyagami.com/resources)/ [Articles](https://www.miyagami.com/resources/articles)/ [Hiring](https://www.miyagami.com/resources/articles/hiring)/ How to hire a remote PHP developer # How to hire a remote PHP developer **[Dale Wesdorp](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dale-wesdorp/)** Co-founder, Miyagami [Hiring](https://www.miyagami.com/resources/articles/hiring)3 min read 10 November 2026 To hire a remote PHP developer, decide on the framework, seniority and working hours you need, then assess candidates on real code and check how they communicate in writing. Most modern PHP products run on Laravel or Symfony, so the framework matters more than the language alone. A good process takes a few days when the brief is clear. ## What should you define first Start with the framework and version, the size of the codebase and what the first three months look like. A new Laravel product, a legacy PHP application that needs upgrading and a Symfony back office are three different jobs with different profiles. Also decide the overlap you need. Our engineers work from Vietnam and overlap with the CET afternoon, so a team that needs a morning stand-up in Europe should plan around that. ## What does a senior PHP developer know Look for experience beyond the framework basics. - Database design and query tuning, including indexes and migrations. - Queues, scheduled jobs and caching for background work and speed. - Automated tests with PHPUnit or Pest, and a habit of writing them. - Security basics such as input validation, authentication and protection against injection. - Version upgrades, since many PHP projects carry old dependencies. ## How do you assess a PHP developer Puzzles say little about daily work. Give the candidate a real codebase and ask them to fix a bug and add a small feature while you watch how they read code, ask questions and write tests. Then ask about a production incident they handled and what they changed afterwards. Engineers who use coding agents should show how they review what the agent writes. The article on [assessing AI ability](https://www.miyagami.com/resources/articles/how-to-assess-an-engineers-ai-ability) explains what to look for. ## How do you check remote working habits Remote work depends on written communication. Read a pull request description or design note from the candidate and see whether a colleague could act on it without a call. Ask how they handle a blocked task when nobody is online, and what they post at the end of a working day. ## What does it cost and how long does it take Cost depends on seniority and location. Senior PHP and Laravel engineers through Miyagami start from €5,600 a month for full-time work, and the [salary data](https://www.miyagami.com/salaries) shows what a local hire costs in your country. A shortlist arrives within 3 working days of the brief, and most teams hire within 5 working days. See [how long it takes to hire an offshore engineer](https://www.miyagami.com/resources/articles/how-long-to-hire-an-offshore-engineer) for the full timeline. ## What are common red flags A few patterns predict trouble. A candidate who cannot explain why they chose a design, one who has never written an automated test on a real project and one who treats security as someone else's task will all slow a team down. Be careful with profiles that list a dozen frameworks but cannot go deep on one. On legacy projects, ask how they approach a PHP version upgrade. A good answer covers tests first, small steps, dependency checks and a rollback plan. A weak answer jumps straight to rewriting. ## How do you onboard a remote PHP developer The first week decides how fast the engineer becomes useful. Give access on day one, a short written guide to the codebase and a small first task that ships to production within days. Pair them with a colleague for the first review cycles so that they learn your conventions. Agree on how you communicate: a daily written update, a weekly call and clear ownership of each area of the code. ## What does this mean when you hire through Miyagami Every engineer is tested by an AI-native tech lead who works with AI every day, explained on [how we vet](https://www.miyagami.com/how-we-vet). You can start from the [PHP and Laravel developers](https://www.miyagami.com/hire/php-laravel-developers) page. There is a three-month minimum, no recruitment fee and we replace at our cost if the fit is wrong. ## Short answers Is PHP still worth hiring for? Yes. PHP with Laravel or Symfony runs a large share of web products and has a deep pool of experienced engineers. What should a senior PHP developer know? A modern framework, testing, database design, queues, caching and secure handling of user input. How do you test a PHP developer? Give them a real codebase task such as fixing a bug and adding a small feature, and review how they reason and test. How much does a remote PHP developer cost? Senior engineers through Miyagami start from €5,600 a month for full-time work. We test for this Every engineer we place goes through two assessments: one without AI tools, one with. Both scorecards are published. [How we vet](https://www.miyagami.com/how-we-vet) Related - [How to hire a Python developer](https://www.miyagami.com/resources/articles/how-to-hire-a-python-developer) - [How do you assess an engineer's AI ability](https://www.miyagami.com/resources/articles/how-to-assess-an-engineers-ai-ability) - [How long does it take to hire an offshore engineer](https://www.miyagami.com/resources/articles/how-long-to-hire-an-offshore-engineer) - [What does a senior engineer cost in Vietnam](https://www.miyagami.com/resources/articles/senior-engineer-cost-vietnam) Hiring for this? Senior AI-native engineers, a shortlist in three working days and a hire within five. [Get a shortlist](https://www.miyagami.com/shortlist) Let's talk ## Get a shortlist within three days You share the roles and the stack in a short form or a thirty-minute call. Within three working days you get named senior engineers to review, each with both scorecards, and you can hire within five. [Get a shortlist](https://www.miyagami.com/shortlist) Reviewed on **Clutch** 42 reviews [ISO 27001 Certified](https://trust.miyagami.com/) Book thirty minutes with Dale The calendar is provided by HubSpot, which sets its own cookies. Load it here, or book on HubSpot's page. [Open booking page](https://sales.miyagami.com/meetings/dwesdorp)