PHP still powers a huge share of the web, from WordPress to Laravel apps, and every resource below is free to learn from, no trial periods or paywalls. Work through a course or two, then start writing real scripts and lean on the practice sites and communities when you get stuck.
Free to audit university course from the University of Michigan covering PHP syntax, variables, arrays and error handling.
Free to audit follow on course teaching how to connect PHP to MySQL using PDO.
Free to audit beginner course for people with no PHP background at all.
Free introductory course path covering variables, data types and how PHP fits into web development.
Free foundational module on PHP variables and string and number data types.
Free course on building dynamic apps with databases, file handling, APIs and setting up XAMPP.
Free self paced tutorial with a live code editor covering PHP basics through databases and sessions.
Aggregator of free PHP MOOCs and video courses from many providers, good for finding more audit track options.
Free mobile first interactive PHP course with in app code practice.
Free on demand video training modules from Zend covering core PHP topics.
Well known single video crash course covering PHP fundamentals through building a small PHP and MySQL app.
Longer structured playlist covering PHP fundamentals through project work.
Channel with hundreds of free web development tutorials including PHP and Laravel courses.
Very large free playlist taking learners from PHP basics to advanced topics.
Free beginner series teaching PHP variables, arrays and fundamentals for people new to programming.
Free YouTube upload of Laracasts PHP for Beginners course for people who prefer watching on YouTube.
Free 5 hour project based video course building a custom WordPress and PHP site.
General free PHP tutorial playlist covering core language topics step by step.
The canonical free community reference for modern PHP best practices and standards.
Open source repo behind PHP The Right Way, useful for browsing versioned content.
The authoritative free official PHP language reference maintained by the PHP project.
Free long form written handbook introducing modern PHP 8 plus concepts.
Free article walking through core PHP syntax and data type fundamentals with examples.
Free beginner article explaining what PHP is and walking through a first script.
Free setup guide for installing PHP and XAMPP locally before starting a project.
Free comprehensive written tutorial covering PHP from installation through OOP and databases.
Widely used free tutorial with clear explanations and a try it yourself editor for every lesson.
Free fast searchable mirror of PHP official docs with offline support.
Free track with over a hundred exercises and volunteer mentor feedback to help you write more idiomatic PHP.
Free bite sized PHP challenges with a gamified XP and achievement system, good for daily practice.
Free community built PHP exercises with in browser testing, ranked by difficulty.
Free curated set of exercises specifically for practicing OOP concepts in PHP.
Free multiple choice and fill in the blank exercises for each PHP topic in the W3Schools tutorial.
Free practice questions with worked solutions spanning beginner to intermediate PHP topics.
Free large set of PHP exercises with solutions organized by topic like arrays, strings and functions.
Free interactive PHP practice exercises and quizzes for hands on learning.
Free interactive practice problems for PHP syntax and problem solving.
Free to read PHP best practices guide available as a web page and downloadable ebook.
Free downloadable copy of the PHP The Right Way guide hosted on Internet Archive.
Free community compiled PDF book built from Stack Overflow documentation content covering many PHP topics.
Curated list of free downloadable PHP ebooks covering Laravel, security, testing and fundamentals.
Free community written ebook covering getting started with PHP, arrays, classes and objects.
Directory of free PHP lecture notes and books at varying levels.
Free borrowable copy of a beginner friendly all in one web dev book including PHP chapters.
Free browser based PHP sandbox to run code instantly across many PHP versions with no install.
Free in browser PHP execution environment using WebAssembly, no server setup needed.
Free simple online PHP editor and compiler for quick tests without installing anything.
Free built in compiler paired with the W3Schools tutorial for editing and running PHP snippets.
Free browser PHP runner that works on desktop, tablet or phone with no setup.
Free portable PHP IDE with an integrated debugger, SQL manager and support for common frameworks.
Free open source PHP extension providing step debugging, stack traces and profiling.
Long running free podcast discussing PHP development topics, hosted by PHP Architect.
Free podcast covering Laravel and broader PHP development news and discussion.
Free podcast digging into PHP internals, RFCs and language implementation details.
Free video and podcast playlist covering PHP community and development topics.
Free downloadable one page cheat sheet covering PHP functions, regex and date formatting.
Free concise quick reference for common PHP syntax patterns.
Free interactive cheat sheet covering variable handling, control structures, databases and OOP.
Free extensive reference covering arrays, strings, math, dates and OOP functions.
Free official listing of PHP Standard Recommendations used across the PHP ecosystem.
Free condensed cheat sheet summarizing the PHP-FIG PSR standards.
Free Discord server for discussing PHP, frameworks and tools with other developers.
Free discussion forum where beginners can ask PHP questions and get help.
Free collaborative code sharing and discussion space for PHP within the Codewars community.
Free article listing beginner through advanced PHP project ideas like calculators, to do apps and APIs.
Free curated list of hands on PHP projects tied to roadmap.sh's PHP learning path.
Free open source repo of PHP projects from beginner to expert level with instructions and code.
Free article with practical beginner project ideas such as a to do list, expense tracker and weather API.
Free open source starter files and completed code for the Traversy Media PHP crash course project.
Free guided real world PHP projects for hands on practice beyond tutorials.