is Laravel over-engineered ?

no

This question is over-engineered.

Depends on if you like doing things the hard way.

Laravel comes with a lot of extra frills. But none are forced on you. All that is needed:

• Laravel of course
• HTML
• CSS (I don't use bootstrap) Write my own custom
• Some JS for possible enhancements (Like a popup calendar)
• ORM is optional

I use it at times but mostly querybuilder. I like writing more of a complex query in regular sql using getPdo().

Answer: It Depends...

Truly the concept of something being "over-engineered" is very relative. If you're using Laravel to build a static site, yes it is way too much for what you're using it for. It would be like trying to using a fire hydrant to take a shower. That's not it's purpose nor would that be comfortable.

Laravel would is best suited for apps, and serves it's purpose very well. We don't use every feature every single time, but those features don't slow us down by being there. Laravel has gotten to the point that it is in the community for good reason. It's powerful, beautifully written written, easy to understand for young devs, yet complex enough for even the most senior devs.

It allows for packages to be easily attached and can fit just about any need you have that fits within reason for using PHP to build something.

But if you're not going to use PHP or your app doesn't require much complexity then yes it may be overpowered but that's something you would have to decide.