# Which AI Package Should You Actually Use in Laravel?

**Author:** Mozex | **Published:** 2026-03-28 | **Tags:** Laravel, PHP, Open Source, AI | **URL:** https://mozex.dev/blog/5-which-ai-package-should-you-actually-use-in-laravel

---


Eighteen months ago, using Claude or GPT from a Laravel app meant writing raw HTTP calls or using whatever half-maintained wrapper you could find on Packagist. Today there are four solid options, all actively maintained, all with real download numbers behind them.

I maintain one of them. [anthropic-php](https://github.com/mozex/anthropic-php) and its Laravel companion [anthropic-laravel](https://github.com/mozex/anthropic-laravel) have a combined 597,000 installs on Packagist. I've been building and shipping AI features in PHP since before most of these packages existed. So when people ask me "which one should I use?", I have opinions. They might surprise you.

Here's the honest breakdown.

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## The Landscape Right Now

Let me put the numbers on the table. These are Packagist downloads as of late March 2026 (the links go to live Packagist pages where you can see current counts):

| Package | Downloads | Stars | Scope |
|---------|-----------|-------|-------|
| [laravel/ai](https://packagist.org/packages/laravel/ai) | 526K | 735 | Multi-provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, more) |
| [echolabsdev/prism](https://packagist.org/packages/echolabsdev/prism) | 389K | 2,329 | Multi-provider |
| [mozex/anthropic-php](https://packagist.org/packages/mozex/anthropic-php) | 368K | 45 | Anthropic only |
| [mozex/anthropic-laravel](https://packagist.org/packages/mozex/anthropic-laravel) | 229K | 68 | Laravel integration for anthropic-php |
| [anthropic-ai/sdk](https://packagist.org/packages/anthropic-ai/sdk) | 135K | 117 | Anthropic only |

Five packages, two categories. That's where the real decision starts.

## Multi-Provider vs. Single-Provider

This is the fork in the road most guides skip right over. Before you compare APIs or count GitHub stars, answer one question: do you need to switch between AI providers, or are you committed to one?

**Multi-provider** means you write your code once and swap Claude for GPT (or Gemini, or whatever comes next) by changing a config value. Laravel AI SDK and Prism both do this. The trade-off is abstraction. You get a unified API, but you lose access to provider-specific features. Anthropic's extended thinking, for example, or OpenAI's fine-tuning parameters. The abstraction has to target the lowest common denominator.

**Single-provider** means you pick Claude (or GPT) and use every feature the API offers. No abstraction layer. No lowest common denominator. You get full access to extended thinking, token counting, prompt caching, batch processing, PDF support, whatever the provider ships next. The trade-off is lock-in. Switching providers later means rewriting your AI integration.

In my experience, the right answer depends on what you're building.

If you're building a product where users choose their own AI provider (like a chatbot SaaS or an AI gateway), multi-provider makes sense. You need that abstraction.

If you're building internal features powered by AI (content generation, data extraction, classification, summarization), just pick the best model for your use case and use the direct SDK. You'll move faster. Provider switching sounds nice in theory, but I've seen teams build elaborate multi-provider abstractions they never actually use.

## When to Use Each

### Laravel AI SDK

Use it when you want first-party Laravel support and multi-provider flexibility.

The Laravel AI SDK (`laravel/ai`) landed in February 2026 and already has over 526K downloads. It's Taylor's take on AI integration, and it feels like Laravel. Agents as classes. Structured output via schema methods. Conversations with memory built in.

```php
use Laravel\Ai\Contracts\Agent;
use Laravel\Ai\Concerns\Promptable;

class ReviewAnalyzer implements Agent
{
    use Promptable;

    public function instructions(): string
    {
        return 'Analyze product reviews and extract sentiment, '
             . 'key themes, and actionable feedback.';
    }
}

// Using it is one line
$analysis = (new ReviewAnalyzer)->prompt($reviewText);
```

The agent-based architecture is clean. Structured output, streaming, tool use, conversation history: it's all there. And you can swap providers with a single parameter.

It's the right choice if you're starting a new Laravel project with AI features and want to stay in the first-party ecosystem. The documentation is solid, it'll be maintained for years, and it matches how Laravel developers think about architecture.

The catch? It's still v0.4. The API is shifting. And the abstraction means you're a step removed from the raw API. If you need a Claude-specific feature that the SDK hasn't wrapped yet, you're waiting on someone else's release cycle.

### Prism PHP

Use it when you need battle-tested multi-provider support with a fluent API.

Prism (`echolabsdev/prism`) has been around longer than Laravel AI SDK and has the community traction to prove it: 389K downloads, 2,329 GitHub stars. It takes a different architectural approach. No agent classes, no interfaces to implement. You get a fluent builder pattern that chains configuration calls.

Prism's real strength is its maturity and ecosystem. The docs at [prismphp.com](https://prismphp.com) are thorough, and the community has had time to find and fix edge cases. If you were already using Prism before Laravel AI SDK dropped, there's no urgent reason to migrate.

The limitation is the same as any multi-provider abstraction: provider-specific features get smoothed over. You're trading capability for portability.

### Anthropic's Official PHP SDK

Use it when you want Anthropic-backed maintenance and full Claude API coverage.

Anthropic released their own PHP SDK (`anthropic-ai/sdk`) in late 2025. At 135K downloads it's the newest of the group. The API is clean and direct:

```php
use Anthropic\Client;

$client = new Client(
    apiKey: env('ANTHROPIC_API_KEY'),
);

$message = $client->messages->create(
    model: 'claude-sonnet-4-6',
    maxTokens: 1024,
    messages: [
        ['role' => 'user', 'content' => 'Summarize this contract clause...'],
    ],
);
```

The biggest advantage: Anthropic maintains it. When new API features ship, this SDK should get updated first. It supports structured output via PHP classes, streaming through SSE, and batch operations.

The question mark: it's still v0.8, and Anthropic's track record with PHP specifically is short. Their Python and TypeScript SDKs are excellent and mature. The PHP SDK is catching up but hasn't reached the same level of polish.

### anthropic-php + anthropic-laravel

Use it when you want a mature, community-driven Anthropic SDK with dedicated Laravel integration.

Full disclosure: I built these, so take my opinion with appropriate skepticism. But I'll be honest about where they fit and where they don't.

[anthropic-php](https://github.com/mozex/anthropic-php) started as the first serious PHP client for Claude's API. With 368K downloads, it's been tested across a lot of production applications. But what makes the ecosystem different from Anthropic's official SDK is the second package: [anthropic-laravel](https://github.com/mozex/anthropic-laravel) (229K downloads). It's not a thin wrapper. It adds service provider registration, config publishing, a facade, and the kind of Laravel-native integration that lets you use Anthropic's API like any other Laravel service.

```php
use Anthropic\Laravel\Facades\Anthropic;

$response = Anthropic::messages()->create([
    'model' => 'claude-sonnet-4-6',
    'max_tokens' => 1024,
    'messages' => [
        ['role' => 'user', 'content' => 'Extract the shipping address from this email...'],
    ],
]);

$address = $response->content[0]->text;
```

It covers the full Anthropic API surface: every endpoint, every feature. When Anthropic ships something new (and they ship fast), I add support within days. That's the advantage of a focused, single-provider package: you're never waiting for someone to implement the latest API addition across five different providers. The two-package architecture is deliberate: anthropic-php works in any PHP project, anthropic-laravel adds the framework integration on top. If you're using Symfony or a non-Laravel project, you can use the base package alone.

Where it falls short compared to the official Anthropic SDK: the official SDK will always have a faster path to brand-new API features since Anthropic controls the release cycle. Where it has the edge: dedicated Laravel integration, broader community testing across production apps, and a longer track record.

I wrote about [Why I Built a PHP Client for Anthropic's Claude API](https://mozex.dev/blog/9-why-i-built-a-php-client-for-anthropics-claude-api) in a separate post, if you want the deeper dive into why it exists and what it can do.

Here's my honest take on when NOT to use my packages: if you need multi-provider support, use Laravel AI SDK or Prism instead. If you're starting a greenfield project and don't need Laravel-specific integration, the official SDK is a perfectly fine choice too.

## What Tutorials Never Show You

Every tutorial shows the happy path. Create a client, send a message, get a response. Ship it. Here are three things that'll bite you in production if you're not ready.

### Cost Tracking

AI API calls cost real money. A Claude Sonnet request with a 4K-token input and 1K-token output runs about $0.02. That sounds tiny until you're processing 10,000 documents a day and your monthly bill hits $6,000.

Track every API call. Log the model, input tokens, output tokens, and cost. Build a dashboard or at least a daily summary. I learned this the hard way with [Sevantia](https://sevantia.com) (my AI chat SaaS), where users on pay-as-you-go billing can accumulate costs faster than you'd expect.

```php
// After every API call, log this
$usage = $response->usage;

AiUsageLog::create([
    'model'         => 'claude-sonnet-4-6',
    'input_tokens'  => $usage->inputTokens,
    'output_tokens' => $usage->outputTokens,
    'cache_read'    => $usage->cacheReadInputTokens ?? 0,
    'cost_cents'    => $this->calculateCost($usage),
]);
```

### Error Handling That Works

The API will fail. Rate limits hit at 429, server errors at 500 or 529 (Anthropic's overloaded status), network timeouts when a response takes too long. Your code needs to handle all of them without crashing.

The common mistake: catching a generic exception and retrying immediately. That makes rate limits worse. The right approach: exponential backoff with jitter for 429s, immediate failure for 401/403 auth errors (retrying won't fix bad credentials), and a circuit breaker pattern for sustained 500s. Most SDKs give you the HTTP status code in the exception. Use it to decide your retry strategy.

### Testing Without Burning Tokens

Don't hit the real API in your test suite. The generic approach is Laravel's `Http::fake()`, but if you're using anthropic-laravel, you get purpose-built faking out of the box:

```php
use Anthropic\Laravel\Facades\Anthropic;
use Anthropic\Responses\Messages\CreateResponse;

Anthropic::fake([
    CreateResponse::fake([
        'id' => 'msg_test',
        'content' => [['type' => 'text', 'text' => 'Fake summary']],
    ]),
]);

$result = Anthropic::messages()->create([
    'model' => 'claude-sonnet-4-6',
    'max_tokens' => 1024,
    'messages' => [
        ['role' => 'user', 'content' => 'Summarize this...'],
    ],
]);

// Assert the right calls were made
Anthropic::assertSent(Messages::class, function (string $method, array $params): bool {
    return $method === 'create' && $params['model'] === 'claude-sonnet-4-6';
});
```

No wrestling with raw HTTP response shapes. You fake at the SDK level and assert against the actual parameters your code sent. Whichever SDK you pick, make sure it has a testing story. Burning tokens on every CI run gets expensive fast.

One specific gotcha: if you record responses from Claude Sonnet and later switch to Claude Opus in production, the response format is identical but the content length can differ by 3-5x. Size your database columns for the longest model you might use, not the one you're testing with.

## My Recommendation

If I were starting a new Laravel project today:

**Need multi-provider?** Use Laravel AI SDK. It's first-party, it'll outlast everything else, and it matches how Laravel apps are built.

**Claude only, want full API access?** Toss-up between the official Anthropic SDK and anthropic-php + anthropic-laravel. If you're already on my packages, there's no reason to switch. If you're starting fresh and don't need Laravel-specific integration, the official SDK is the safer long-term bet. If you want that Laravel-native feel with facades and config publishing, that's where anthropic-laravel comes in.

**Already using Prism?** Keep using it. It works well. Don't migrate just because something newer showed up.

The PHP AI ecosystem grew up fast. A year and a half ago, you were on your own. Now you have real options backed by real communities and real maintainers. Pick the one that matches your actual requirements, not the one with the most blog posts about it.