399: NativePHP: How Simon Hamp & Shane Rosenthal are Building & Monetizing PHP on Mobile

What It Covers

Simon Hamp and Shane Rosenthal explain how they built NativePHP to run Laravel applications on iOS and Android devices, then monetized it through sponsorships, reaching $100,000 in sales within four months of launch.

Key Questions Answered

• •Technical Implementation: NativePHP compiles PHP into static C binaries that interface directly with native iOS and Android APIs through Kotlin, enabling Laravel developers to access device cameras, permissions, and notifications without learning mobile-specific frameworks or languages.
• •Monetization Strategy: The founders chose sponsorship-based pricing over free open source after failed grant applications, validating demand with 20-30 early sponsors who paid for access to a barely functional GitHub repository, proving developers would pay for unfinished but promising tools.
• •Market Positioning: NativePHP faces no direct competitors because React Native, Flutter, and Ionic require learning new mobile development paradigms, while NativePHP lets existing Laravel developers use their current knowledge base to build mobile apps with familiar tools like Livewire and standard Laravel packages.
• •Revenue Milestone: The project generated $100,000 in sales by May 2025 launch day, with $40,000 coming in the final week before release, demonstrating strong demand from PHP developers seeking mobile development capabilities without abandoning their existing Laravel expertise and ecosystem.