Entrust
A Laravel package for adding role-based permissions and authorization to Laravel 9|10 applications.
What is Entrust?
Entrust is a Laravel package that adds role-based permissions (RBAC) to Laravel applications. It provides a simple way to define roles and permissions, assign them to users, and check authorization throughout the application. The package solves the problem of managing complex user permissions by offering an intuitive API and seamless integration with Laravel's ecosystem.
Laravel developers building applications that require granular user permissions and role-based access control, such as admin panels, multi-user platforms, or content management systems.
Developers choose Entrust for its clean, expressive syntax, deep integration with Laravel (including middleware, Blade directives, and Eloquent), and flexibility in handling complex permission scenarios without writing repetitive authorization logic.
Overview
Role-based Permissions for Laravel 5
Use Cases
Best For
- Adding role-based access control to Laravel admin panels
- Managing user permissions in multi-tenant applications
- Protecting routes and controllers based on user roles
- Conditionally displaying content in Blade templates based on permissions
- Implementing complex authorization logic with role and permission combinations
- Extending Laravel's built-in authentication with RBAC features
Not Ideal For
- Projects relying solely on Laravel's built-in policies and gates for simple, resource-based authorization
- Teams seeking a package with frequent, active maintenance and modern PHP standards
- Applications requiring attribute-based access control (ABAC) or dynamic permissions beyond static roles
- High-scale systems where database performance with many-to-many role/permission relationships is a critical concern
Pros & Cons
Pros
Seamlessly integrates with Laravel's ecosystem through Blade directives (@role, @permission), middleware, and Eloquent traits, reducing boilerplate code for authorization logic.
Supports advanced features like wildcard permissions (e.g., admin.*), array-based role checks, and the ability() method for complex authorization scenarios with configurable options.
Includes route filtering (Entrust::routeNeedsPermission), soft delete handling, and multiple assignment methods, covering most RBAC needs from basic to advanced use cases.
Provides intuitive methods like hasRole() and can() with clear syntax, making authorization code readable and maintainable, as shown in the README examples.
Cons
Requires multiple manual steps: editing config files, creating custom models, running migrations, and handling service providers, which can be error-prone for quick setups.
As a forked project from an older version, it may lack regular updates and community support compared to more actively maintained alternatives like Spatie's Laravel Permission.
The README explicitly warns that soft deleting requires manual cleanup of pivot table data, adding development overhead and risk of data corruption if not handled carefully.
Relies on Eloquent many-to-many relationships for roles and permissions, which can lead to N+1 query issues or performance bottlenecks in applications with thousands of users or complex permission sets.
Frequently Asked Questions
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