The Best PHP Static Analysis Tools (Linters/Formatters)
We rank 115 PHP linters, code analyzers, formatters, and more. Find and compare tools like Mega-Linter, Semgrep, SonarQube, and more. Please rate and review tools that you've used. This helps others find the best tools for their projects.
56 PHP Tools
PHP Coding Standards Fixer
Fixes your code according to standards like PSR-1, PSR-2, and the Symfony standard.
PHP Insights
Instant PHP quality checks from your console. Analysis of code quality and coding style as well as overview of code architecture and its complexity.
phpdoc-to-typehint
Add scalar type hints and return types to existing PHP projects using PHPDoc annotations.
parallel-lint
This tool checks syntax of PHP files faster than serial check with a fancier output.
PHPArkitect
PHPArkitect helps you to keep your PHP codebase coherent and solid, by permitting to add some architectural constraint check to your workflow. You can express the constraint that you want to enforce, in simple and readable PHP code.
CakeFuzzer
Web application security testing tool for CakePHP-based web applications. CakeFuzzer employs a predefined set of attacks that are randomly modified before execution. Leveraging its deep understanding of the Cake PHP framework, Cake Fuzzer launches attacks on all potential application entry points.
PhpDeprecationDetector
Analyzer of PHP code to search issues with deprecated functionality in newer interpreter versions. It finds removed objects (functions, variables, constants and ini-directives), deprecated functions functionality, and usage of forbidden names or tricks (e.g. reserved identifiers in newer versions).
rector
Instant Upgrades and Automated Refactoring of any PHP 5.3+ code. It upgrades your code for PHP 7.4, 8.0 and beyond. Rector promises a low false-positive rate because it looks for narrowly defined AST (abstract syntax tree) patterns. The main use-case are tackling technical debt in your legacy code and removing dead code. Rector provides a set of special rules for Symfony, Doctrine, PHPUnit, and many more.
Symfony Insight
Detect security risks, find bugs and provide actionable metrics for PHP projects.
59 Multi-Language Tools
Mega-Linter
Mega-Linter can handle any type of project thanks to its 70+ embedded Linters, its advanced reporting, runnable on any CI system or locally, with assisted installation and configuration, able to apply formatting and fixes
Semgrep
A fast, open-source, static analysis tool for finding bugs and enforcing code standards at editor, commit, and CI time. Its rules look like the code you already write; no abstract syntax trees or regex wrestling. Supports 17+ languages.
SonarQube
SonarQube empowers development teams with a code quality and security solution that deeply integrates into your enterprise environment; enabling you to deploy clean code consistently and reliably. SonarQube provides a free and open source Community Edition.
Sonatype
Reports known vulnerabilities in common dependencies and recommends updated packages to minimize breaking changes
ThreatMapper
Vulnerability Scanner and Risk Evaluation for containers, serverless and hosts at runtime. ThreatMapper generates runtime BOMs from dependencies and operating system packages, matches against multiple threat feeds, scans for unprotected secrets, and scores issues based on severity and risk-of-exploit.
CodeScene
CodeScene is a quality visualization tool for software. Prioritize technical debt, detect delivery risks, and measure organizational aspects. Fully automated.
Coverity
Synopsys Coverity supports 20 languages and over 70 frameworks including Ruby on rails, Scala, PHP, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, Fortran, C, C++, C#, VB.NET.
Better Code Hub
Better Code Hub checks your GitHub codebase against 10 engineering guidelines devised by the authority in software quality, Software Improvement Group.
Codeac
Automated code review tool integrates with GitHub, Bitbucket and GitLab (even self-hosted). Available for JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, Docker, and more. (open-source free)
Application Inspector
Commercial Static Code Analysis which generates exploits to verify vulnerabilities.
Axivion Bauhaus Suite
Tracks down error-prone code locations, style violations, cloned or dead code, cyclic dependencies and more for C/C++, C#/.NET, Java and Ada 83/Ada 95.
Offensive 360
Commercial Static Code Analysis system doesn't require building the source code or pre-compilation.
Atom-Beautify
Beautify HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, C, C++, C#, Objective-C, CoffeeScript, TypeScript, Coldfusion, SQL, and more in Atom editor.
Kiuwan
Identify and remediate cyber threats in a blazingly fast, collaborative environment, with seamless integration in your SDLC. Python, C\C++, Java, C#, PHP and more.
SonarCloud
SonarCloud enables your team to deliver clean code consistently and efficiently with a code review tool that easily integrates into the cloud DevOps platforms and extend your CI/CD workflow. SonarCloud is free for open source projects.
TencentCodeAnalysis
Tencent Cloud Code Analysis (TCA for short, code-named CodeDog inside the company early) is a comprehensive platform for code analysis and issue tracking. TCA consist of three components, server, web and client. It integrates of a number of self-developed tools, and also supports dynamic integration of code analysis tools in various programming languages.
trivy
A Simple and Comprehensive Vulnerability Scanner for Containers and other Artifacts, Suitable for CI. Trivy detects vulnerabilities of OS packages (Alpine, RHEL, CentOS, etc.) and application dependencies (Bundler, Composer, npm, yarn, etc.). Checks containers and filesystems.
Unibeautify
Universal code beautifier with a GitHub app. Supports HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, Vue, C++, Go, Objective-C, Java, Python, PHP, GraphQL, Markdown, and more.
Fortify
A commercial static analysis platform that supports the scanning of C/C++, C#, VB.NET, VB6, ABAP/BSP, ActionScript, Apex, ASP.NET, Classic ASP, VB Script, Cobol, ColdFusion, HTML, Java, JS, JSP, MXML/Flex, Objective-C, PHP, PL/SQL, T-SQL, Python (2.6, 2.7), Ruby (1.9.3), Swift, Scala, VB, and XML.
lizard
Lizard is an extensible Cyclomatic Complexity Analyzer for many programming languages including C/C++ (doesn't require all the header files or Java imports). It also does copy-paste detection (code clone detection/code duplicate detection) and many other forms of static code analysis. Counts lines of code without comments, CCN (cyclomatic complexity number), token count of functions, parameter count of functions.
pfff
Facebook's tools for code analysis, visualizations, or style-preserving source transformation for many languages.
Security Code Scan
Security code analyzer for C# and VB.NET. Detects various security vulnerability patterns: SQLi, XSS, CSRF, XXE, Open Redirect, etc. Integrates into Visual Studio 2015 and newer. Detects various security vulnerability patterns: SQLi, XSS, CSRF, XXE, Open Redirect, etc.
Snyk Code
Snyk Code finds security vulnerabilities based on AI. Its speed of analysis allow us to analyse your code in real time and deliver results when you hit the save button in your IDE. Supported languages are Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP, C#, Go and TypeScript. Integrations with GitHub, BitBucket and Gitlab. It is free to try and part of the Snyk platform also covering SCA, containers and IaC.
Soto Platform
Suite of static analysis tools consisting of the three components Sotoarc (Architecture Analysis), Sotograph (Quality Analysis), and Sotoreport (Quality report). Helps find differences between architecture and implementation, interface violations (e.g. external access of private parts of subsystems, detection of all classes, files, packages and subsystems which are strongly coupled by cyclical relationships and more. The Sotograph product family runs on Windows and Linux.
Synopsys
A commercial static analysis platform that allows for scanning of multiple languages (C/C++, Android, C#, Java, JS, PHP, Python, Node.JS, Ruby, Fortran, and Swift).
Undebt
Language-independent tool for massive, automatic, programmable refactoring based on simple pattern definitions.
Upsource
Code review tool with static code analysis and code-aware navigation for Java, PHP, JavaScript and Kotlin.
Veracode
Find flaws in binaries and bytecode without requiring source. Support all major programming languages: Java, .NET, JavaScript, Swift, Objective-C, C, C++ and more.
WhiteHat Application Security Platform
WhiteHat Scout (for Developers) combined with WhiteHat Sentinel Source (for Operations) supporting WhiteHat Top 40 and OWASP Top 10.
ApplicationInspector
Creates reports of over 400 rule patterns for feature detection (e.g. the use of cryptography or version control in apps).
Betterscan
Betterscan.io - Betterscan.io checks your code and infra (various Git repositories supported, cloud stacks, CLI, Web Interface platform, integrationss available) for security and quality issues. Code Scanning/SAST/Linting using many tools/Scanners deduplicated with One Report (AI optional). Free to use in noncommerical way, commercial requires license.
CAST Highlight
Commercial Static Code Analysis which runs locally, but uploads the results to its cloud for presentation.
CodeFlow
Automated code analysis tool to deal with technical depth. Integrates with Bitbucket and Gitlab. (free for Open Source Projects)
CodePatrol
Automated SAST code reviews driven by security, supports 15+ languages and includes security training.
PT.PM
An engine for searching patterns in the source code, based on Unified AST or UST. At present time C#, Java, PHP, PL/SQL, T-SQL, and JavaScript are supported. Patterns can be described within the code or using a DSL.
shipshape
Static program analysis platform that allows custom analyzers to plug in through a common interface.
Sigrid
Sigrid helps you to improve your software by measuring your system's code quality, and then compares the results against a benchmark of thousands of industry systems to give you concrete advice on areas where you can improve.
SonarLint
SonarLint is a free IDE extension available for IntelliJ, VS Code, Visual Studio, and Eclipse, to find and fix coding issues in real-time, flagging issues as you code, just like a spell-checker. More than a linter, it also delivers rich contextual guidance to help developers understand why there is an issue, assess the risk, and educate them on how to fix it.
StaticReviewer
Static Reviewer executes code checks according to the most relevant Secure Coding Standards, OWASP, CWE, CVE, CVSS, MISRA, CERT, for 40+ programming languages, using 1000+ built-in validation rules for Security, Deadcode & Best Practices Available a module for Software Composition Analysis (SCA) to find vulnerabilities in open source and third party libraries.
Pronto
Quick automated code review of your changes. Supports more than 40 runners for various languages, including Clang, Elixir, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby and more.
DevSkim
Regex-based static analysis tool for Visual Studio, VS Code, and Sublime Text - C/C++, C#, PHP, ASP, Python, Ruby, Java, and others.
emerge
Emerge is a source code and dependency visualizer that can be used to gather insights about source code structure, metrics, dependencies and complexity of software projects. After scanning the source code of a project it provides you an interactive web interface to explore and analyze your project by using graph structures.
Understand
Code visualization tool that provides code analysis, standards testing, metrics, graphing, dependency analysis and more for Ada, VHDL, and others.
ShiftLeft Scan
Scan is a free open-source DevSecOps platform for detecting security issues in source code and dependencies. It supports a broad range of languages and CI/CD pipelines.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are PHP tools?
PHP is a general-purpose scripting language especially suited to web development. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994; (...). PHP originally stood for Personal Home Page, but it now stands for the recursive initialism PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. (...) PHP code is usually processed on a web server by a PHP interpreter implemented as a module, a daemon or as a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) executable.
What are the best PHP static analysis tools and linters?
The most popular PHP tools ranked by user votes are: Mega-Linter, Semgrep, SonarQube, PHPStan, Psalm.
Which PHP tools are free to use?
Tools with a free plan include Better Code Hub, Codiga. On top of that, there are also a number of open source like Mega-Linter, Semgrep, SonarQube, PHPStan, Psalm, Sonatype, ThreatMapper, phan, PHP Coding Standards Fixer, Php Inspections (EA Extended).