FuelPHP is a simple, flexible, community driven PHP 5.3+ framework, based on the best ideas of other frameworks, with a fresh start! FuelPHP is a MVC (Model-View-Controller) framework that was designed from the ground up to have full support for HMVC as part of its architecture.
The FuelPHP also added ViewModels (also known as presentation models) into the mix which gives the option to add a powerful layer between the Controller and the View.FuelPHP also supports a more router based approach where you might route directly to a closure which deals with the input uri, making the closure the controller and giving it control of further execution.
Almost every class in FuelPHP's core package can be extended without manually changing a single line of code where it's used (read more on extending the core). One can package more functionality into packages that extend or replace the FuelPHP core and keep the application modular by dividing it up into application modules. Packages and modules are also a great way to enable re-use of the code. FuelPHP leverages the power of the command line through a utility called "oil". The utility is designed to help speed up development, increase efficiency and assist testing and debugging while being entirely optional if you are not a fan of the terminal.
The FuelPHP ORM was designed to strike a balance between powerful features while remaining lightweight. It is not supposed to be a Doctrine/Propel replacement, it's a more lightweight solution that can take on many of its competitors head-on. Offering a OO approach to working with your database, do CRUD operations and manage relations between rows. A Parser package is shipped with FuelPHP that allows for using any template parser for parsing your views instead of basic PHP.