PHPverse 2026 Confirmed: Industry Leaders to Headline Free Online Conference
The PHP community is gearing up for a major event as JetBrains announces PHPverse 2026, a free one-day virtual conference scheduled for June 9, 2026. This year's edition will feature influential voices from the PHP ecosystem, including the PHP Foundation executive director and creators of Symfony and Laravel.
The event will stream live from 11:00 AM to 3:50 PM UTC on the PHP Annotated YouTube channel, marking PHP's 31st birthday with curated talks, live Q&A sessions, and special announcements.
Hosts and Key Organizers
"PHPverse is the community's event—we listen to what developers want and bring them the experts who can answer their toughest questions," said Brent Roose, JetBrains Developer Advocate and creator of PHP Annotated. He will co-host alongside Nuno Maduro, creator of Pest and Larastan and staff software engineer at Laravel.
Maduro emphasized the importance of real-time interaction: "This isn't just a series of talks—it's a conversation. We want developers to walk away with actionable insights they can apply immediately."
Background: A Rapidly Growing Tradition
PHPverse launched in 2025 as a celebration of PHP's 30th anniversary, drawing over 15,000 live viewers worldwide. The event's success demonstrated the enduring vibrancy of the PHP community and its hunger for high-quality, professional content.
Last year's lineup included sessions on FrankenPHP, Symfony's 20-year journey, and a special Q&A with Taylor Otwell. Recordings remain available on YouTube, covering topics from PHP education to AI integration.
This Year's Confirmed Lineup
- PHP Foundation Keynote by Elizabeth Barron, Executive Director at the PHP Foundation — discussing the future of PHP language development.
- My AI Writes Perfect* PHP by Ashley Hindle, Founder of Fuel and creator of Laravel Boost — exploring AI-assisted coding patterns.
- WordPress Is Dead, Long Live WordPress! by Jonathan Bossenger, Developer Advocate at Automattic — rethinking the CMS's role in modern PHP.
- Packagist Internals by Nils Adermann, Co-Founder at Packagist — deep dive into the package ecosystem's infrastructure.
- Running a Large Open-Source Project Like Symfony by Fabien Potencier, Founder and Project Lead at Symfony — lessons from 20 years of community management.
- PHP RFCs by Larry Garfield, Functional Programming Enthusiast — how proposals shape the language's evolution.
- How AI Is Changing the Programmer World by Jeffrey Way, Founder at Laracasts — practical implications for PHP developers.
What This Means for the PHP Community
This year's event signals a maturation of PHP's ecosystem, moving beyond traditional web development into areas like AI workflows and open-source governance. The inclusion of leaders from both the PHP Foundation and Packagist underscores a focus on sustainability and tooling.
For developers, PHPverse 2026 offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from those shaping the language's internals and frameworks. The live format ensures that pressing questions can be answered in real time, bridging the gap between users and creators.
Registration and More Information
Registration is now open on the official PHPverse 2026 event page. All attendees receive access to recordings after the event. The organizers urge early registration due to limited capacity for live Q&A slots.
"We built PHPverse for the community, by the community," Roose added. "If you care about where PHP is headed, you need to be there."