When paginating results, we would usually do

$posts = Post::paginate(20);

This will make 2 queries. 1 to retrieve the paginated results and another to count the total no of rows in the table. Counting rows in a table is a slow operation and will negatively effect the query performance.

So why does laravel count the total no of rows?

To generate pagination links, Laravel counts the total no of rows. So, when the pagination links are generated, you know before-hand, how many pages will be there, and what is the past page number. So you can navigate to what ever the page you want easily.

On the other hand, doing simplePaginate will not count the total no of rows and the query will be much faster than the paginate approach. But you will lose the ability to know the last page number and able to jump to different pages.

If your database table has so many rows, it is better to avoid paginate and do simplePaginate instead.

$posts = Post::paginate(20); // Generates pagination links for all the pages
$posts = Post::simplePaginate(20); // Generates only next and previous pagination links

When to use paginate vs simple paginate?

Look at the below comparison table and determine if paginate or simple paginate is right for you