firstOrNew

$user = User::where('email', request('email'))->first();
 
if ($user === null) {
    $user = new User(['email' => request('email')]);
}
 
$user->name = request('name');
 
$user->save()

// firstOrNew--------------------------------------
$user = User::firstOrNew(['email' =>  request('email')]);
 
$user->name = request('name');
 
$user->save()

$user = User::firstOrNew(
    ['email' =>  request('email')],
    ['name' => request('name')]
);
 
$user->save();

firstOrCreate

$user = User::firstOrCreate(
    ['email' =>  request('email')],
    ['name' => request('name')]
);
 
// No call to $user->save() needed

firstOr

$user = User::where('email', request('email'))->firstOr(function () {
    $account = Account::create([ //... ]);
 
    return User::create([
        'account_id' => $account->id,
        'email' => request('email'),
    ]);
});

updateOrCreate

$user = User::where('email', request('email'))->first();
 
if ($user !== null) {
    $user->update(['name' => request('name')]);
} else {
    $user = User::create([
      'email' => request('email'),
      'name' => request('name'),
    ]);
}
 
// Do other things with the User

$user = User::updateOrCreate(
    ['email' =>  request('email')],
    ['name' => request('name')]
);
 
// Do other things with the User