Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

CodeIgniter VS RedwoodJS

Compare CodeIgniter VS RedwoodJS and see what are their differences

CodeIgniter logo CodeIgniter

A Fully Baked PHP Framework

RedwoodJS logo RedwoodJS

Redwood is an opinionated, full-stack, JavaScript/TypeScript web app framework designed to keep you moving fast as your app grows from side project to startup.
  • CodeIgniter Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • RedwoodJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-08

CodeIgniter features and specs

  • Performance
    CodeIgniter is known for its exceptional performance and fast execution, which is beneficial for applications requiring quick load times.
  • Documentation
    CodeIgniter offers comprehensive and clear documentation, making it easier for developers to understand and use the framework effectively.
  • Easy to Learn
    CodeIgniter's simple and straightforward syntax makes it relatively easy for beginners to learn and start developing applications quickly.
  • Lightweight
    The framework is lightweight and does not impose many dependencies or require a specific server environment, providing flexibility to developers.
  • Community Support
    CodeIgniter has a strong and active community, which means plenty of resources, forums, and add-ons are available for developers.
  • Built-in Security Features
    CodeIgniter comes with built-in security features like XSS filtering and CSRF protection, helping developers to secure their applications with minimal effort.
  • MVC Architecture
    The framework follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, promoting clean code separation and better organization of the project.

Possible disadvantages of CodeIgniter

  • Lack of Modern Features
    CodeIgniter does not include many modern features found in other frameworks, such as built-in ORM or out-of-the-box RESTful API support.
  • Limited Modular Extensions
    It has fewer modular extensions compared to other frameworks like Laravel or Symfony, which can limit code reusability and scalability.
  • Manual Routing
    Routing in CodeIgniter is somewhat manual and less intuitive compared to other frameworks that offer more automatic and flexible routing mechanisms.
  • Outdated PHP Practices
    Some of the practices and conventions in CodeIgniter are considered outdated with respect to modern PHP development trends.
  • No Built-in Authentication
    CodeIgniter does not come with a built-in authentication system, requiring developers to implement their own or use third-party libraries.
  • Less Emphasis on Testing
    CodeIgniter has less built-in support and emphasis on unit testing compared to other frameworks like Laravel, making it harder to implement TDD or BDD.
  • Lack of Native Composer Support
    The framework's native support for Composer, PHP's dependency manager, is not as robust as other modern frameworks, which can complicate dependency management.

RedwoodJS features and specs

  • Full-Stack Solution
    RedwoodJS offers an opinionated full-stack framework that integrates seamlessly from frontend to backend, streamlining development with tools and conventions for building web applications.
  • GraphQL Integration
    RedwoodJS uses GraphQL as a data layer, providing a powerful and flexible querying mechanism that allows for efficient data fetching and management.
  • Developer Experience
    The framework emphasizes a great developer experience with features like automated code generation, a built-in CLI, and fast iteration cycles through hot-reloading.
  • JAMstack Architecture
    RedwoodJS supports the JAMstack architecture, promoting scalable, secure, and high-performance web applications by decoupling frontend and backend.
  • Community and Ecosystem
    An active and growing community contributes plugins, packages, and resources, fostering knowledge sharing and enhancements for the framework.

Possible disadvantages of RedwoodJS

  • Maturity
    As a relatively new and evolving framework, RedwoodJS may face issues with stability, missing features, and less established best practices compared to more mature frameworks.
  • Learning Curve
    Beginners might encounter a steep learning curve due to the framework's use of modern technologies and architectures like GraphQL and the JAMstack.
  • Opinionated Defaults
    While opinionated defaults can speed up development, they might also limit flexibility and require developers to adapt to Redwood's specific way of doing things.
  • Ecosystem Size
    Its ecosystem is smaller compared to more established frameworks, meaning fewer third-party packages, plugins, and community resources are available.
  • Hosting and Deployment
    Deploying RedwoodJS applications can be challenging due to its novel architecture and integrated technologies, which might require specific hosting solutions and configurations.

Analysis of CodeIgniter

Overall verdict

  • Yes, CodeIgniter is a good choice for developers looking for a simple and efficient PHP framework. It's particularly well-suited for projects where performance is a priority, and extensive feature sets found in larger frameworks are not necessary.

Why this product is good

  • CodeIgniter is considered a good PHP framework because it is lightweight, easy to set up, and requires minimal server resources. It offers a straightforward approach to building web applications, especially for developers who appreciate simplicity and performance. Its comprehensive documentation and active community support are additional positives.

Recommended for

  • Developers who need a lightweight and fast framework
  • Projects with straightforward requirements and simplistic architectures
  • Developers who prefer a framework with easy installation and minimal configuration
  • Smaller projects or prototypes that require rapid development
  • Projects with limited server resources

CodeIgniter videos

PHP CodeIgniter tutorial: What is CodeIgniter and why should I use it? | lynda.com

More videos:

  • Review - Laravel vs Codeigniter - A quick comparison for you to decide
  • Review - Review Codeigniter 4

RedwoodJS videos

RedwoodJS - a full-stack JavaScript Framework with advantages of JAMstack architecture

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CodeIgniter and RedwoodJS)
Web Frameworks
91 91%
9% 9
Developer Tools
75 75%
25% 25
PHP MVC Framework
100 100%
0% 0
Web App
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare CodeIgniter and RedwoodJS

CodeIgniter Reviews

  1. A PSR-compliant framework with diverse set of facilities and capabilities

    You can build any kinds of web apps and sites with this framework without consuming substantial server resources.

    🏁 Competitors: Lumen Framework

CakePHP vs CodeIgniter: Which PHP Framework is Best for Development?
CodeIgniter: CodeIgniter was developed by EllisLab and released in February 2006. It is known for its simplicity and speed, designed to help developers create full-featured web applications quickly. CodeIgniter emphasizes a lean and minimalistic approach, providing just enough to get the job done without imposing too many restrictions.
Top 5 Laravel Alternatives
CodeIgniter is simpler to use for the majority of developers. Laravel’s convenience is matched only by its adherence to a small set of standards and guidelines. CodeIgniter also offers improved error handling and more leeway in terms of customization. Overall, in comparison of Laravel and CodeIgniter, CodeIgniter might be the simpler choice for most web programmers.
Framework review: Laravel vs CodeIgniter
Let's start with CodeIgniter first. It focuses on performance and speed. It offers a simple, easy-to-learn syntax, making it ideal for beginners. CodeIgniter uses its own proprietary Active Record implementation for database operations, which provides a simple and intuitive way to interact with data. Unlike Laravel, CodeIgniter does not enforce a specific architectural...
Source: infinyhost.com
10 Ruby on Rails Alternatives For Web Development in 2022
Laravel is a PHP web framework that was built by Taylor Otwell in 2011 as an attempt to replace the older framework CodeIgniter that lacked some important features, like built-in customer authentication and user authorization. The current version of the framework, Laravel 8.16 has a great infrastructure of web development tools that facilitate queue monitoring, server...
The Most Popular PHP Frameworks to Use in 2021
Laravel is billed as “The PHP Framework for Web Artisans.” It was developed by Taylor Otwell, who wanted a framework with elements that CodeIgniter didn’t have, such as user authentication.
Source: kinsta.com

RedwoodJS Reviews

10 Best Next.js Alternatives to Consider Today
RedwoodJS is a full-stack framework leveraging React, GraphQL, and Prisma to create modern web applications. With a focus on convention over configuration, RedwoodJS promotes best practices and ensures a consistent development experience. Its integrated stack simplifies the development process, making it an excellent choice for those who appreciate a batteries-included...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, RedwoodJS should be more popular than CodeIgniter. It has been mentiond 47 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

CodeIgniter mentions (10)

  • 19+ Laravel Best Practices for Developers in 2024
    For history's sake, you should know that Laravel was built in place of the CodeIgniter framework as a modern replacement because the CodeIgniter framework missing important core features such as built-in support for user authentication and authorization. Since its initial launch in 2011, Laravel has implemented built-in support for localization, views, dealing with sessions, routing the request to the specific... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • How to Install Codeigniter on a Local Server in 2025?
    Visit the CodeIgniter official download page and download the latest version. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Top 12 PHP Frameworks For Web Development in 2024
    CodeIgniter is an open-source PHP framework with 18k+ stars and 7.8K forks on GitHub. It follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture and provides a structured way to create and organize code. It provides a set of libraries and an intuitive interface to accelerate PHP web app development. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Why I selected Elixir and Phoenix as my main stack
    Over the years I have tried different frameworks, mostly in PHP, like Code Igniter (2010), ProcessWire (2014) and Laravel (2015). - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • In One Minute : CodeIgniter
    CodeIgniter is an open-source php web application framework created by EllisLab Inc and it is now a project of British Columbia Institute of Technology. The framework implements a modified version of the Model-View-Controller design pattern. It is praised for its performance and the quality of its documentation. It's currently licensed under the MIT License, although the previous version was released under the... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
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RedwoodJS mentions (47)

  • UmiJS: the Shaolin of web frameworks
    🧙 In general, UmiJS provides developers with a clever Angular/RedwoodJS-like approach with out-of-the-box tools and scripts for streamlined web development in big teams. The corresponding inevitably huge amount of abstractions and hidden complexity brings a decent level of obscurity and magic, which might be good or bad, depending on the number of dedicated wizards of high level in your team. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Why Ruby on Rails still matters
    If we were keeping in the JS ecosystem, there’s Redwood [0] which has around a while. [0] https://redwoodjs.com/ not comparable to Rails or Django’s definition of “a while” but it’s quite mature. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Let's talk metaframeworks
    RedwoodJS. Batteries-included React- and RSC-based full-stack web framework for startups. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • What's New in Ruby on Rails 8
    I think there's a new and healthy rivalry between Ruby, Python, and JS for web backends! - Ruby and Rails now has all of the things mentioned above and more. I do have concerns that Rails will evolve in directions where bundled frontends have less official support, with the continued centralization of 37signals/DHH [0] and their controversial removal of Typescript from Turbo [1] (and bundling in general for... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Chakra UI Hackathon 22’ Recap
    Sponsors: One specific element of a successful event is the sponsors. While planning, it was evident we would need sponsors for the event. We're so grateful to those who decided to partner with us and support this Hackathon. Thank you to RedwoodJS and Chakra UI Pro. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing CodeIgniter and RedwoodJS, you can also consider the following products

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans

Refine - A React Framework for building internal tools, admin panels, dashboards & B2B apps with unmatched flexibilty.

CakePHP - The Rapid Development Framework for PHP

Next.js - A small framework for server-rendered universal JavaScript apps

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

Amplication - Instantly generate Node.js apps with GraphQL and REST API