Filament vs laravel-admin
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A PHP framework for building Laravel admin panels and app interfaces quickly.
Open source · MIT
A PHP/Laravel library that builds CRUD admin backends from a few lines of code.
The short answer
Choose Filament if you need…
- Laravel developers building internal admin panels
- Teams that want data tables and forms without writing front-end code from scratch
- Developers who already use the TALL stack (Tailwind, Alpine, Laravel, Livewire)
- Projects that need dashboards with live, data-driven widgets
Choose laravel-admin if you need…
- Laravel developers who need an internal admin panel for their data quickly
- Teams maintaining existing Laravel apps that want a ready-made back office
- Developers familiar with Laravel who want built-in grid, form and tree views for models
Side-by-side
| Filament | laravel-admin | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 32.4k | 11.1k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | PHP | PHP |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 6 months ago |
What each one is
Filament
Filament is an open-source UI framework for Laravel, the PHP web framework. It provides ready-made building blocks such as tables, forms, read-only record views, notifications, dashboard widgets, and action modals, so developers can build admin panels and app interfaces without designing every screen from scratch. It is built on Livewire, Alpine.js, and Tailwind CSS.
laravel-admin
laravel-admin is an administrative interface builder for the Laravel PHP framework. According to its README, it helps developers build CRUD (create, read, update, delete) back-office screens with only a few lines of code. It is installed with Composer and provides grid, form, show and tree views for models, plus an extension ecosystem listed in the README.
Best for
Filament
- Laravel developers building internal admin panels
- Teams that want data tables and forms without writing front-end code from scratch
- Developers who already use the TALL stack (Tailwind, Alpine, Laravel, Livewire)
- Projects that need dashboards with live, data-driven widgets
laravel-admin
- Laravel developers who need an internal admin panel for their data quickly
- Teams maintaining existing Laravel apps that want a ready-made back office
- Developers familiar with Laravel who want built-in grid, form and tree views for models
Strengths
Filament
- Builds on a well-known Laravel stack, so existing Laravel knowledge transfers
- Provides a broad set of components (tables, forms, infolists, notifications, widgets) out of the box
- Open source under the MIT license with a large community (about 32,000 stars)
laravel-admin
- The README describes building CRUD backends with few lines of code
- Has an official documentation site in English and Chinese, plus a live demo
- Released under the MIT license and has a large star count on GitHub
Not ideal for
Filament
- Non-PHP projects, since it requires Laravel and PHP (the README lists PHP 8.2+ and Laravel v11+)
- People who want a no-code tool; this is a developer framework
- Projects needing a completely custom visual design system, since it ships with its own opinionated UI
laravel-admin
- Non-developers who want a no-code tool: installation and customization require PHP and Laravel knowledge
- Projects not built on Laravel, since the package is specifically for that framework
- Projects needing the latest Laravel or PHP versions: the README lists PHP >= 7.0.0 and Laravel >= 5.5.0, which are old, so check compatibility before use
Trade-offs
Filament
- Requires familiarity with Laravel and PHP; it is not beginner-friendly for people new to web development
- Tied to the Laravel and Livewire ecosystem, so it is a poor fit for other back ends
- The README is truncated here, so details on version compatibility and upgrade paths are not confirmed in this entry
laravel-admin
- Its stated requirements (PHP 7.0+, Laravel 5.5+) are old relative to current PHP and Laravel releases
- Some setup steps, such as right-to-left support, require editing files inside the vendor directory
- Extensions are maintained separately and have version tags tied to specific laravel-admin releases
Getting started
Filament
Install via Composer
git clone https://github.com/filamentphp/filamentlaravel-admin
Install the package
composer require encore/laravel-adminPublish assets and config
php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Encore\Admin\AdminServiceProvider"Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Filament and laravel-admin?
Filament: A PHP framework for building Laravel admin panels and app interfaces quickly. laravel-admin: A PHP/Laravel library that builds CRUD admin backends from a few lines of code. Filament suits laravel developers building internal admin panels, while laravel-admin suits laravel developers who need an internal admin panel for their data quickly.
Are Filament and laravel-admin free?
Filament: Free and open source. laravel-admin: Free and open source.
Is Filament or laravel-admin more popular?
Filament has more GitHub stars (32.4k) than laravel-admin (11.1k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Filament and laravel-admin?
Other options people compare them with include react-admin, React Hook Form, Rich, daisyUI, Puck.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.