You've read the think-pieces. You've seen the Reddit wars. Here's the actual breakdown.

Every few months, someone posts "Is PHP dead?" on a dev forum and watches 200 developers argue in the comments. Meanwhile, the person who actually wanted to learn a language and ship something is still sitting there, confused.

So — Python vs PHP in 2026. No fluff. Let's go.

If you're starting from zero with no specific goal: learn Python.

If your goal is WordPress, client sites, or Laravel: learn PHP.