What is different between save(), create() function in laravel 5

Model::create is a simple wrapper around $model = new MyModel(); $model->save() See the implementation

/**
 * Save a new model and return the instance.
 *
 * @param  array  $attributes
 * @return static
 */
public static function create(array $attributes = [])
{
    $model = new static($attributes);

    $model->save();

    return $model;
}

save()

• save() method is used both for saving new model, and updating existing one. here you are creating new model or find existing one, setting its properties one by one and finally saves in database.

• save() accepts a full Eloquent model instance

  $comment = new App\Comment(['message' => 'A new comment.']);
  
  $post = App\Post::find(1);
  
  $post->comments()->save($comment);
  

create()

• while in creating method you are passing an array, setting properties in model and persists in the database in one shot.

• create() accepts a plain PHP array

  $post = App\Post::find(1);
  
  $comment = $post->comments()->create([
      'message' => 'A new comment.',
  ]);
  

  EDIT
  As @PawelMysior pointed out, before using the create method, be sure to mark columns whose values are safe to set via mass-assignment (such as name, birth_date, and so on.), we need to update our Eloquent models by providing a new property called $fillable. This is simply an array containing the names of the attributes that are safe to set via mass assignment:

example:-

class Country extends Model {

    protected $fillable = [
        'name',
        'area',
        'language',
        ];
}