Laravel SaaS Multi-Tenancy: Patterns and Best Practices
Explore multi-tenancy architecture patterns in Laravel for building scalable SaaS applications with proper data isolation.
Multi-tenancy is a core architectural concern for SaaS applications. Laravel provides several patterns for implementing tenant isolation while maintaining code simplicity.
Tenancy Models
There are three primary multi-tenancy models: shared database with tenant ID column, separate schemas per tenant, and separate databases per tenant. Each has trade-offs in complexity, isolation, and scalability.
Shared Database Approach
The simplest approach adds a `tenant_id` column to all tenant-scoped tables. Use Laravel's global scopes to automatically filter queries by the current tenant. This works well for early-stage SaaS products with moderate tenant counts.
Package-Based Solutions
Packages like `stancl/tenancy` provide comprehensive multi-tenancy support including domain-based tenant identification, database-per-tenant provisioning, and tenant-aware caching and queues.
Tenant Identification
Identify tenants through subdomain (tenant.app.com), custom domain, or request header. Middleware should resolve the tenant early in the request lifecycle and bind it to the service container.
Data Isolation Security
Never trust client-provided tenant IDs. Always resolve tenant context server-side and enforce isolation at the query level. Audit tenant boundary violations in your test suite.
Billing Integration
Integrate subscription billing early using Stripe or Paddle. Map billing accounts to tenants and handle subscription lifecycle events (creation, upgrade, cancellation) with proper tenant provisioning and deprovisioning.
Conclusion
Start with the simplest tenancy model that meets your isolation requirements. Migrate to more complex architectures as your tenant count and compliance requirements grow.