Is it? Last time I used PHP (around 5.x-7.x) it was exactly the other way around. For production you needed php-fpm, nginx, opcode cache... it was a nightmare compared with go or even java.
Is it better now?
PHP was a pretty cool language back in the days. Bizarre (yet fast) stdlib and ugly syntax, but super quick to write web stuff, supported by every shared hosting.
Nowadays, it seems to mimic Java, while having inferior libraries, I'm not sure what's the advantage.
I had the same thoughts, but changed them over time. If not leetcode, it quickly comes to very specific questions about the interviewer's favourite thing and its quirks. A complete hit or miss.