Skip to content

Foundation vs PHP

Based on 32 and 1104 real audits

View Foundation details | View PHP details
MetricFoundationPHPWinner
Performance4347PHP
Accessibility8889PHP
Best Practices8488PHP
SEO9191Tie
Security6566PHP
TTFB466ms458msPHP
Composite7375PHP
Performance
Foundation
43
PHP
47
Accessibility
Foundation
88
PHP
89
Security
Foundation
65
PHP
66
SEO
Foundation
91
PHP
91
Composite
Foundation
73
PHP
75

PHP outperforms Foundation in 6 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (75 vs 73). Foundation leads in no categories.

When to choose Foundation

Foundation doesn't clearly lead PHP in any category on the sampled sites — pick it based on developer experience, ecosystem, or existing team skills rather than the audit scores.

When to choose PHP

Choose PHP when your primary concern is server response time and performance. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 32 audited Foundation sites and 1104 audited PHP sites in the BeaverCheck database. Every audit runs the same 100+ checks — Lighthouse performance, security headers, accessibility, SEO, server response time — against a real URL. No vendor input, no sponsorship, no affiliate links. Read the full methodology →

FAQ

Which is faster, Foundation or PHP?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, PHP sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (47 vs 43 on average).
Which has better security, Foundation or PHP?
PHP sites score higher on security analysis (66 vs 65 on average).
Which has better accessibility, Foundation or PHP?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor PHP (89 vs 88). Both technologies can be made fully accessible with care — the difference reflects common patterns in the sampled sites, not inherent platform limits.
Which is better for SEO, Foundation or PHP?
Foundation sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (91 vs 91 on average), which cover meta tags, crawlability, mobile friendliness, and structured data. Content strategy and backlinks still matter more than platform choice for ranking.
Which has faster server response (TTFB), Foundation or PHP?
PHP sites show lower Time to First Byte (458 ms vs 466 ms on average). TTFB depends heavily on hosting and CDN setup rather than the technology itself, but the sampled sites suggest a meaningful difference in common deployment patterns.
Should I choose Foundation or PHP for my website?
Both platforms have trade-offs. PHP scores higher on overall composite score while Foundation may excel in metrics you care about most. Run a free BeaverCheck audit on a real site using each to compare the metrics relevant to your use case.
Audit your own site

Send Feedback