Whether you’re developing or maintaining a PHP-based site, PHP scripts might come in handy when it comes to adding new features and functionality. Want to add a shopping cart to your ecommerce page or create a new contact form with validation? You’ll likely find a PHP script for your specific needs.
PHP scripts are like premade modular chunks of code. Developers can easily share their code freely or sell them as premium PHP scripts. Either way, users enjoy easy access to prebuilt code that’ll help them save time and energy.
In this article, we’ll be providing an overview of PHP scripts and exploring some of the best free and premium PHP scripts to download for 2023.
What is PHP
PHP stands for Hypertext Processor. It is a free, open-source, server-side scripting language used for dynamic web development. Browsers can’t understand PHP; therefore, it must be embedded into another language, such as HTML codes.
All major operating systems like macOS, Microsoft Windows, and Linux support PHP, as well as all web servers, including Apache and IIS.
PHP’s popularity derives from how easy it is to grasp its syntax, even for those without extensive coding experience. This, combined with the easy-to-use free scripts make PHP so popular among the developer community.
PHP is a scripting language. The difference between a scripting language and a programming language is the execution. While a programming language runs independently to convert into a language that a machine understands and executes, scripting languages run inside another program and use an interpreter.
As a server-side scripting language, PHP uses scripts to feed a series of instructions to the server, which then executes them. Some of the most common features that developers add to their websites using PHP scripts include:
- Support chat
- Email forms
- File uploading
- Contact forms with validation
- booking systems
- restaurant ordering systems
Free vs. Premium PHP Scripts
PHP scripts are like premade code templates that developers can get from other users that already have completed their projects. These scripts are especially useful to beginners, as they can help them in their journey of becoming seasoned PHP programmers by learning to code more efficiently.
However, even experienced PHP developers use free PHP scripts in their projects to save them some time and effort.
There is a wide variety of PHP scripts online, both free and paid. They are extremely versatile and can be applied across virtually all industries to help solve any business problems. But how do you choose a PHP script?
Anyone can create and upload a PHP script. While there are reliable sources, such as the ones we’ll show you below, downloading PHP scripts comes with its share of risks. Still, there are many free script options available that you can use to add new tools and functionalities to your website.
The advantage of choosing scripts from reliable websites is that you’ll be accessing professionally created scripts that will genuinely make a difference to your site. Plus, you’ll also obtain a much vaster range of features without having to make a big investment.
Recommended Websites For Free PHP Scripts
There are tons of free PHP scripts available online. It would be hard to scour the internet to find the best ones. So instead, we’ve decided to provide a list of the best websites that contain the most popular PHP script collections.
Urban Scripts
Urban Scripts is a great place to begin. Here you will find thousands of free to download premium PHP scripts to choose from that are easily downloaded with just a click of the mouse. No sign up or sign in options required to download any script you need.
Users can rate and review each available PHP script after they’ve tried it. This system helps other users determine which scripts are worth trying or skipping.
Urban Scripts also runs a ton of other resources for WordPress themes, JavaScript, HTML5, ASP.NET, Rails, Python, and more.
SeekScripts
SeekScripts presents users with a large collection of PHP scripts, divided into many unique categories. The website, however, doesn’t host the scripts. It merely links them to the creators’ websites.
Each PHP script page offers a detailed description of the script itself, before linking you to the original host. Unfortunately, there isn’t a review or rating system in place, which means users need to do some research on each PHP script and even download them at their own risk.
HScripts
HScripts is another repository for different resources that has a relatively small collection of free PHP scripts. Regardless of its size, each script is directly hosted by the website itself, without any submissions or links to other sites. While you might find a smaller variety of scripts, you won’t have to worry so much about quality.
A feature that sets HScripts apart from other script repositories is that each available script comes with a demo that you can try before fully committing to it.
PHP Jabbers
PHP Jabbers is much like HScripts but even smaller. It hosts a wide variety of PHP scripts, however, most of them are paid. There is a small collection with 28 free scripts that you can download and use as you’d like, after creating a free account.
Each PHP script comes with detailed instructions for installation and usage, plus a demo for users to try. Those with a free account (User License) can’t remove branding or modify the scripts. To do so, you’ll have to purchase a Developer License.
Free and Premium PHP Scripts – Final Considerations
PHP scripts are incredibly helpful when it comes to adding new features and functionality to PHP-based websites. Because there are a wide variety of free and premium PHP scripts available online, it might sometimes be hard to choose the best option for you.
While there are tons of scripts available throughout several repositories, you must be careful when downloading them. Your best bet is to use the most popular PHP repository websites with a good review/rating system in place.
Alternatively, you can try using premium scripts. While these are paid options, some of them are quite affordable and professionally created by seasoned developers. Not only do you enjoy a safer alternative, but you also have access to a wider variety of features and functionality that you can freely customize.
