StackShareStackShare
Follow on
StackShare

Discover and share technology stacks from companies around the world.

Follow on

© 2025 StackShare. All rights reserved.

Product

  • Stacks
  • Tools
  • Feed

Company

  • About
  • Contact

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Frameworks
  4. Frameworks
  5. CakePHP vs CodeIgniter

CakePHP vs CodeIgniter

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter
Stacks3.2K
Followers1.5K
Votes466
CakePHP
CakePHP
Stacks672
Followers401
Votes137
GitHub Stars8.8K
Forks3.4K

CakePHP vs CodeIgniter: What are the differences?

Key Differences between CakePHP and CodeIgniter

CakePHP and CodeIgniter are both popular PHP frameworks used for web application development. While they share some similarities, there are several key differences that set them apart.

  1. MVC Architecture: Both CakePHP and CodeIgniter follow the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architectural pattern. However, CakePHP adheres more strictly to the conventional MVC approach, making it easier for developers to follow standard coding practices. On the other hand, CodeIgniter provides more flexibility in terms of adopting different architectural patterns.

  2. Convention over Configuration: CakePHP promotes convention over configuration, meaning it has a set of predefined conventions that developers need to follow. This allows for faster development and easier collaboration among multiple developers. In contrast, CodeIgniter favors flexibility and customization, allowing developers to configure the framework according to their specific requirements.

  3. Database Support: CakePHP comes with a built-in ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) system called CakePHP ORM, which simplifies database operations and provides an abstraction layer over the database. CodeIgniter, on the other hand, does not have a built-in ORM, but provides a database abstraction layer that allows developers to interact with databases using a simple query builder.

  4. Community and Third-Party Support: CakePHP has a larger and more active community compared to CodeIgniter, which means there are more resources, tutorials, and plugins available for CakePHP development. CodeIgniter, however, has a smaller footprint and is known for its simplicity and ease of use.

  5. Performance: When it comes to performance, CodeIgniter is generally considered to be faster and lighter compared to CakePHP. CodeIgniter's small footprint and minimalistic approach make it ideal for small projects or applications with limited resources. CakePHP, on the other hand, provides more built-in features and conventions, which can impact performance to some extent.

  6. Learning Curve: CakePHP has a steeper learning curve compared to CodeIgniter, mainly due to its adherence to conventions and its advanced features. CodeIgniter, on the other hand, has a more gradual learning curve and is often recommended for beginners or developers who prefer simplicity and fast development.

In summary, while both CakePHP and CodeIgniter are capable PHP frameworks for web development, CakePHP focuses more on convention and maintainability, while CodeIgniter offers more flexibility and simplicity. The choice between the two depends on the specific requirements of the project and the preferences of the developers involved.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs
CLI (Node.js)
or
Manual

Advice on CodeIgniter, CakePHP

A
A

Aug 3, 2021

Needs adviceonMySQLMySQLLaravelLaravelVue.jsVue.js

I need to build a web application plus android and IOS apps for an enterprise, like an e-commerce portal. It will have intensive use of MySQL to display thousands (40-50k) of live product information in an interactive table (searchable, filterable), live delivery tracking. It has to be secure, as it will handle information on customers, sales, inventory. Here is the technology stack: Backend: Laravel 7 Frondend: Vue.js, React or AngularJS?

Need help deciding technology stack. Thanks.

300k views300k
Comments
Michael
Michael

Developer at Fleet-Nomics

Sep 11, 2022

Needs adviceonBubbleBubbleCodeIgniterCodeIgniterCakePHPCakePHP

Hi all, I need to create a simple IoT interface application that connects the end device API with a GeoTab API. I am considering using Bubble due to its simple interface and configuration tools, but I fear it's too simple. We will want to add features and new devices as we grow - I was thinking of using CodeIgniter or CakePHP on a hosted site for the application. Must support JCOM encoding between the two APIs and there is no need for a separate interface as GeoTab already has one; we are just connecting and pushing data. Thoughts?

47.4k views47.4k
Comments
Juan Jose
Juan Jose

May 8, 2021

Needs adviceonPostgreSQLPostgreSQL

Hi, Which tool will you recommend:

I need to build a web application, oriented to small businesses, like a small ERP. It will have intensive use of Sql to access a PostgreSQL database. It has to be secure, as it will handle information on customers, sales, inventory.

If you think another tool will be better, please let that know.

Thanks a lot

69.6k views69.6k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter
CakePHP
CakePHP

CodeIgniter is a proven, agile & open PHP web application framework with a small footprint. It is powering the next generation of web apps.

It makes building web applications simpler, faster, while requiring less code. A modern PHP 7 framework offering a flexible database access layer and a powerful scaffolding system.

-
Use code generation and scaffolding features to rapidly build prototypes; No complicated XML or YAML files. Just setup your database and you're ready to bake; Instead of having to plan where things go, CakePHP comes with a set of conventions to guide you in developing your application; The things you need are built-in. Translations, database access, caching, validation, authentication, and much more are all built into one of the original PHP MVC frameworks
Statistics
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Stars
8.8K
GitHub Forks
-
GitHub Forks
3.4K
Stacks
3.2K
Stacks
672
Followers
1.5K
Followers
401
Votes
466
Votes
137
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 88
    Mvc
  • 76
    Easy setup
  • 70
    Open source
  • 62
    Well documented
  • 36
    Community support
Cons
  • 6
    No ORM
  • 1
    No CLI
Pros
  • 35
    Open source
  • 25
    Really rapid framework
  • 19
    Good code organization
  • 13
    Flexibility
  • 10
    Security best practices
Cons
  • 1
    Robust Baking Tool
  • 1
    Follows Good Programming Practices
Integrations
PHP
PHP
PHP
PHP

What are some alternatives to CodeIgniter, CakePHP?

Node.js

Node.js

Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient, perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run across distributed devices.

Rails

Rails

Rails is a web-application framework that includes everything needed to create database-backed web applications according to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern.

Django

Django

Django is a high-level Python Web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design.

Laravel

Laravel

It is a web application framework with expressive, elegant syntax. It attempts to take the pain out of development by easing common tasks used in the majority of web projects, such as authentication, routing, sessions, and caching.

.NET

.NET

.NET is a general purpose development platform. With .NET, you can use multiple languages, editors, and libraries to build native applications for web, mobile, desktop, gaming, and IoT for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and more.

ASP.NET Core

ASP.NET Core

A free and open-source web framework, and higher performance than ASP.NET, developed by Microsoft and the community. It is a modular framework that runs on both the full .NET Framework, on Windows, and the cross-platform .NET Core.

Symfony

Symfony

It is written with speed and flexibility in mind. It allows developers to build better and easy to maintain websites with PHP..

Spring

Spring

A key element of Spring is infrastructural support at the application level: Spring focuses on the "plumbing" of enterprise applications so that teams can focus on application-level business logic, without unnecessary ties to specific deployment environments.

Spring Boot

Spring Boot

Spring Boot makes it easy to create stand-alone, production-grade Spring based Applications that you can "just run". We take an opinionated view of the Spring platform and third-party libraries so you can get started with minimum fuss. Most Spring Boot applications need very little Spring configuration.

Android SDK

Android SDK

Android provides a rich application framework that allows you to build innovative apps and games for mobile devices in a Java language environment.

Related Comparisons

Bootstrap
Materialize

Bootstrap vs Materialize

Laravel
Django

Django vs Laravel vs Node.js

Bootstrap
Foundation

Bootstrap vs Foundation vs Material UI

Node.js
Spring Boot

Node.js vs Spring-Boot

Liquibase
Flyway

Flyway vs Liquibase