Laravel Multi-Tenancy: How to Get Started and When to Use It

🏢 What Is Multi-Tenancy?

Multi-tenancy means a single app serves multiple clients (tenants) with isolated data.

Example:

• A SaaS CRM where each company has its own users, leads, and data.
• A real estate system where each agency has separate listings.

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🧠 Multi-Tenancy Types in Laravel

There are 3 main strategies:

1. **Single Database – Shared Schema**  
   All tenants use the same DB and tables, identified by a `tenant_id` field.

2. **Single Database – Separate Schemas**  
   One DB, but each tenant has their own schema (PostgreSQL only).

3. **Multiple Databases**  
   Each tenant has their own database. Best for strong isolation and scaling.

Pick based on:
- # of tenants
- Data isolation/security needs
- App complexity

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🔧 Getting Started with Laravel Tenancy

Use [stancl/tenancy](https://tenancyforlaravel.com) — it’s the most popular and well-documented package for Laravel multi-tenancy.

Installation:

```bash
composer require stancl/tenancy
php artisan tenancy:install
php artisan migrate

This package supports:

• Multiple DBs per tenant
• Central and tenant-specific routes
• Tenant-aware queues, events, jobs, and storage

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📁 Folder Structure Tips

Your app will have:

• Central app: authentication, tenant creation, billing, etc.
• Tenant app: the actual business logic (dashboard, resources, etc.)

Stancl keeps the structure simple:

• routes/tenant.php – for tenant-specific routes
• routes/web.php – for central app
• Tenants auto-resolve based on domain or subdomain

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🌐 Route Handling (Central vs Tenant)

Stancl automatically detects the tenant using domains or subdomains.

Example:

• yourapp.com → Central
• client1.yourapp.com → Tenant 1
• client2.yourapp.com → Tenant 2

Tenant routes go inside:

// routes/tenant.php
Route::middleware(['web', 'tenant'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
        return 'Tenant dashboard';
    });
});

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🗃 Database Per Tenant (Best Isolation)

This is the default and safest setup.

Every tenant gets its own DB, which is created automatically:

Tenant::create([
  'id' => 'client1',
  'domain' => 'client1.yourapp.com',
]);

You define what migrations run for tenants:

php artisan tenants:migrate

You can even seed data per tenant.

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⚙️ Useful Stancl Commands

• php artisan tenants:create
• php artisan tenants:list
• php artisan tenants:migrate
• php artisan tenants:seed

You can also dispatch jobs or queue events tenant-by-tenant.

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📦 When Should You Use Multi-Tenancy?

Use multi-tenancy if:

• You’re building a SaaS
• You need data separation between clients
• You want clients to have their own subdomain
• You need to scale easily by moving tenants across DB servers

Don’t use multi-tenancy if:

• You’re building a simple one-client app
• Your app only has different user roles (admin/user) — that’s not tenancy

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⚠️ Challenges to Keep in Mind

• Backups: each tenant DB needs its own backup routine
• Migrations: test carefully before running tenant-wide
• Caching: isolate tenant cache to avoid data leaks
• Debugging: more moving parts = more complexity

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🌟 Final Tip

Start simple — one DB per tenant is usually enough.
Use stancl/tenancy for Laravel, and only introduce custom logic if you really need it.

Need a starter template for Laravel SaaS with tenancy?
Want tips on user billing + tenant creation?

Check out more Laravel SaaS tips on the blog:
https://mostefa-boudjema.vercel.app/blog