As a long-time PHP developer, I've worked on both frameworks and from-scratch applications, and from my experience, having even a minimalist's framework goes a

As a long-time PHP developer, I've worked on both frameworks and from-scratch applications, and from my experience, having even a minimalist's framework goes a long way toward organizing your codebase; it takes a lot of discipline and foresight to keep a from-scratch project organized. If you enjoy maintaining control and knowledge of your entire stack, then I would highly recommend using the CodeIgniter framework. It's designed to take care of most of the tedious bits, while staying completely out of your way when it gets to the actual meat of your project. It's very easy to modify or extend if you need to, with IMO excellent documentation of its API. Yet it still manages to offer enough structure that even I can keep my projects organized with little effort. I know there are a couple forks of CodeIgniter, such as Kohana, but I don't think they manage to capture or maintain the same level of raw simplicity or lightweight feel of the base CI framework. YMMV ofc.