You upload your Laravel project to cPanel, open the domain, and get a 500 error instead of your app. Or the homepage loads, but every other route returns 404.

To deploy Laravel on cPanel without those surprises: check the PHP version and extensions, keep the application outside public_html , point the domain at Laravel's public folder, install Composer dependencies, configure .env , then sort out permissions, the storage link, HTTPS, cron and queues. Test everything before real traffic arrives.

Shared hosting can run Laravel, but it isn't a VPS. You may have limited Terminal access, no persistent workers and no control over Apache. This checklist catches those limits before you spend an hour uploading files.

1. Check your cPanel hosting plan before uploading

[ ] Confirm the PHP version supports your Laravel release.

Open cPanel → Software → MultiPHP Manager , select your domain, choose the version and click Apply .

Laravel 13 (released 17 March 2026) needs PHP 8.3 or newer and supports PHP 8.3 to 8.5.…