Best MVC framework for PHP

Zend Framework

Zend Framework is an open source framework for developing web applications and services with PHP 5. Zend Framework is implemented using 100% object-oriented code. The component structure of Zend Framework is somewhat unique; each component is designed with few dependencies on other components. This loosely coupled architecture allows developers to use components individually. We often call this a "use-at-will" design.

While they can be used separately, Zend Framework components in the standard library form a powerful and extensible web application framework when combined. Zend Framework offers a robust, high performance MVC implementation, a database abstraction that is simple to use, and a forms component that implements HTML form rendering, validation, and filtering so that developers can consolidate all of these operations using one easy-to-use, object oriented interface. Other components, such as Zend_Auth and Zend_Acl, provide user authentication and authorization against all common credential stores. Still others implement client libraries to simply access to the most popular web services available. Whatever your application needs are, you're likely to find a Zend Framework component that can be used to dramatically reduce development time with a thoroughly tested foundation.

The principal sponsor of the project 'Zend Framework' is » Zend Technologies, but many companies have contributed components or significant features to the framework. Companies such as Google, Microsoft, and StrikeIron have partnered with Zend to provide interfaces to web services and other technologies that they wish to make available to Zend Framework developers.

Zend Framework could not deliver and support all of these features without the help of the vibrant Zend Framework community. Community members, including contributors, make themselves available on » mailing lists, » IRC channels, and other forums. Whatever question you have about Zend Framework, the community is always available to address it.

Zend Framework is a good foundation for everything and can be used also as just a library of various functions.  It is also the closest thing to be  an "official" PHP framework so there are a lot of developers who know how to use it.  It is, however, not a framework you would use to prototype something very quickly.

CakePHP

A good example is CakePHP, which is a very popular framework.  Fairly easy to learn.  It has a lot of sensible defaults and naming conventions that make your life much easier, but which you can override.

Build Quickly

Use code generation and scaffolding features to rapidly build prototypes.

No Configuration

No complicated XML or YAML files. Just setup your database and you're ready to bake.

Friendly License

CakePHP is licensed under the MIT license which makes it perfect for use in commercial applications.

Batteries Included

The things you need are built-in. Translations, database access, caching, validation, authentication, and much more are all built into one of the original PHP MVC frameworks.

Clean MVC Conventions

Instead of having to plan where things go, CakePHP comes with a set of conventions to guide you in developing your application.

Secure

CakePHP comes with built-in tools for input validation, CSRF protection, Form tampering protection, SQL injection prevention, and XSS prevention, helping you keep your application safe & secure.

CodeIgniter

CodeIgniter is an Application Development Framework - a toolkit - for people who build web sites using PHP. Its goal is to enable you to develop projects much faster than you could if you were writing code from scratch, by providing a rich set of libraries for commonly needed tasks, as well as a simple interface and logical structure to access these libraries. CodeIgniter lets you creatively focus on your project by minimizing the amount of code needed for a given task.

Who is CodeIgniter For?

CodeIgniter is right for you if:

• You want a framework with a small footprint.
• You need exceptional performance.
• You need broad compatibility with standard hosting accounts that run a variety of PHP versions and configurations.
• You want a framework that requires nearly zero configuration.
• You want a framework that does not require you to use the command line.
• You want a framework that does not require you to adhere to restrictive coding rules.
• You do not want to be forced to learn a templating language (although a template parser is optionally available if you desire one).
• You eschew complexity, favoring simple solutions.
• You need clear, thorough documentation.

Yii framework

Yii is a high-performance PHP framework best for developing Web 2.0 applications.

Yii helps Web developers build complex applications and deliver them on-time.

Yii is pronounced as Yee or [ji:], and is an acroynym for "Yes It Is!". This is often the accurate, and most concise response to inquires from those new to Yii:
Is it fast? ... Is it secure? ... Is it professional? ... Is it right for my next project? ... Yes, it is!
Yii is a free, open-source Web application development framework written in PHP5 that promotes clean, DRY design and encourages rapid development. It works to streamline your application development and helps to ensure an extremely efficient, extensible, and maintainable end product.
Being extremely performance optimized, Yii is a perfect choice for any sized project. However, it has been built with sophisticated, enterprise applications in mind. You have full control over the configuration from head-to-toe (presentation-to-persistence) to conform to your enterprise development guidelines. It comes packaged with tools to help test and debug your application, and has clear and comprehensive documentation

Symfony

Symfony is a full-stack framework, a library of cohesive classes written in PHP.
It provides an architecture, components and tools for developers to build complex web applications faster. Choosing symfony allows you to release your applications earlier, host and scale them without problem, and maintain them over time with no surprise.
Symfony is based on experience. It does not reinvent the wheel: it uses most of the best practices of web development and integrates some great third-party libraries.
Thousands of developers already trust symfony for their applications!
New users join the community every day, and that makes of symfony the most popular PHP framework around. A large community means easy-to-find support, user-contributed documentation, plugins, and free applications.

Lithium Framework

You asked for a better framework. Here it is.

Lithium is the fast, flexible and most RAD development framework for PHP 5.3 and up.

A framework of firsts

Lithium is the first and only major PHP framework built from the ground up for PHP 5.3+, and the first to break ground into major new technologies, including bridging the gap between relational and non-relational databases through a single, unified API.

Promiscuously opinionated

Some frameworks give you a solid set of classes, but little or no default project organization, leaving you to fend for yourself on each project you create, and spend time wiring up framework classes that should just work together. Others provide you with great organizational conventions, but no way to break out of those conventions if you need to, and too often, no way to override or replace core framework classes.
Lithium is the first framework to give you the best of both worlds, without compromising either. In fact, Lithium's API is intentionally designed to allow you to "grow out of" the framework and into your own custom code over the course of your application's lifecycle, if your needs require.

Technology

Lithium takes full advantage of the latest PHP 5.3 features, including namespaces, late static binding and closures. Lithium's innovative method filter system makes extensive use of closures and anonymous functions to allow application developers to "wrap" framework method calls, intercepting parameters before, and return values after.
Lithium also complies with the PHP 5.3 namespacing standard, allowing you to easily integrate other PHP 5.3 standard libraries and frameworks with Lithium applications, and vice-versa.
Lithium integrates the latest storage technologies, including MongoDB, CouchDB and Redis, with plugin support for Cassandra, ElasticSearch and others.

Flexibility

Lithium gives you full control over your application, from filters to dynamically modify framework internals, to dynamic dependencies to extend and replace core classes with application or plugin classes, to heavy use of adapter-oriented configurations, to make it seamless to move between different technologies and options.
Every component of the Lithium framework stack is replaceable through the robust plugin architecture. Swap out the default ORM / ODM implementation for Doctrine 2 or PHP ActiveRecord. Don't like the templating? Use Twig, Mustache, or roll your own.
If you don't even need to write a full application, build a micro-app in a single file using the routing system, without giving up the maintainability of the framework's structure.