ADC End of Life Replacement: NetScaler, F5 BIG-IP and FortiADC Dates

By Scott Bissett · Published: September 18, 2026 · Reference guide · Dates read from each vendor's own lifecycle notices.

An application delivery controller has two end-of-life clocks: the appliance and the firmware on it. Replacing one does not fix the other. For NetScaler (formerly Citrix ADC) hardware, Citrix's own notices name the replacement: the MPX/SDX 15000 and 26000 series reach End of Life on September 4, 2028, and the notice names the MPX/SDX 16000 series as the platform to move to, with the MPX 9100 FIPS for FIPS deployments. On the firmware side, NetScaler ADC 13.1 reached End of Maintenance on September 15, 2026 and reaches End of Life on September 15, 2027; 14.1 is the line to plan for.

Why this matters more for an ADC than for most software. An ADC sits at the edge of the network and terminates traffic from the internet. NetScaler is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog for that reason. An appliance or firmware line past end of life receives no fix when the next flaw is found, and for US federal networks CISA's directive on end-of-support edge devices treats it as something to remove, not to patch. Our live read for each product is on its page: NetScaler ADC, F5 BIG-IP, FortiADC.

Quick answer: NetScaler ADC 14.1 is supported until August 8, 2030, its end-of-support date. Active support for NetScaler ADC 14.1 ends on August 8, 2029; security fixes continue until that end-of-life date. The next NetScaler ADC version to reach end of life is 13.1, on September 15, 2027. 2 of 4 tracked NetScaler ADC versions are past end of life; the most recent to reach it, 13.0, did so on July 15, 2024. Every NetScaler ADC version's release and end-of-support date is on the NetScaler ADC lifecycle page.

NetScaler MPX and SDX hardware: what has ended and what replaces it

Citrix publishes one Notice of Status Change per platform family. End of Sale is the last day Citrix offers the appliance; End of Life is the point after which there is no support or maintenance of any kind.

Platform	End of Sale	End of Life
MPX/SDX 26000Z-50S	October 9, 2024	October 9, 2029
MPX 15000Z-50G FIPS	October 9, 2024	October 9, 2029
MPX/SDX 15000	September 4, 2023	September 4, 2028
MPX/SDX 26000, 26000-100G, 26000T-100G	September 4, 2023	September 4, 2028
MPX/SDX 15000-50G	March 8, 2023	March 8, 2028
MPX/SDX 14000	October 1, 2019	October 1, 2024
MPX 5500, MPX 8000, SDX 8000	January 1, 2019	January 1, 2024
MPX/SDX 11500	October 15, 2017	October 15, 2022
MPX/SDX 16000 and MPX 9100 FIPS	Current platforms. No Notice of Status Change published.

The full list, with the Citrix notice behind each row, is on the NetScaler MPX / SDX page.

The replacement options, in the order most teams weigh them.

Newer NetScaler hardware. The MPX/SDX 16000 series is the replacement Citrix names in its notices. It runs the same firmware lines, so the configuration model does not change.
NetScaler as software. NetScaler VPX runs the same firmware lines on a hypervisor or in a public cloud. It removes the hardware clock; the firmware clock below still applies.
A different vendor. F5 BIG-IP and FortiADC are the products most often compared. Their firmware dates are further down this page. A change of vendor is a migration project, not a swap: virtual servers, policies, certificates and authentication flows all have to be rebuilt and tested.

Running NetScaler ADC past end of life?

Extended support past the official EOL date exists for many products in this position — whether it covers NetScaler ADC is exactly what we check. Tell us where to reach you and we’ll reply with matched options and pricing guidance — or an honest “no vendor covers this.” Free, no obligation.

NetScaler ADC firmware

Citrix gives each firmware line two milestones. After End of Maintenance no new maintenance builds are produced; after End of Life there is no support at all.

Firmware line	End of Maintenance	End of Life
14.1	August 8, 2029	August 8, 2030
13.1	September 15, 2026	September 15, 2027
13.0	July 15, 2023	July 15, 2024
12.1	May 30, 2022	May 30, 2023

The 13.1 milestone is covered in detail in NetScaler 13.1: End of Maintenance is not End of Life. One trap: NetScaler Console (formerly ADM) 13.1 is a different product with different dates.

F5 BIG-IP software

Version	End of support
BIG-IP 21.1	May 5, 2029
BIG-IP 17.5	January 1, 2029
BIG-IP 17.1	March 31, 2027
BIG-IP 16.1	July 31, 2025
BIG-IP 15.1	December 31, 2024

We track BIG-IP software versions. We do not yet track F5 hardware platforms; F5 publishes those end dates in its own support articles, and a BIG-IP appliance has the same two-clock problem as a NetScaler one.

FortiADC software

Fortinet gives each line an End of Engineering Support date and a later End of Support date. The End of Support date is the one that ends fixes.

Version	End of Engineering Support	End of Support
FortiADC 8.0	May 20, 2028	November 20, 2029
FortiADC 7.6	July 17, 2027	January 17, 2029
FortiADC 7.4	July 10, 2026	January 10, 2028
FortiADC 7.2	February 3, 2026	August 3, 2027
FortiADC 7.0	February 1, 2025	August 1, 2026

What to do, in order

Write down both clocks for every ADC you run: the appliance model and its End of Life date, and the firmware line and its End of Life date. Most inventories hold only one of the two.
Treat anything already past either date as urgent. It is an internet-facing device that will not receive the next fix. If it cannot be replaced this quarter, reduce what it exposes and plan the replacement now.
For NetScaler hardware ending in 2028 and 2029, budget the replacement in the cycle before, not the year of. Lead times on appliances and the test effort for a cutover are what make these projects late.
Decide hardware versus software early. Moving to a virtual or cloud form factor changes licensing, capacity planning and who operates it. It is a bigger decision than a model swap and needs to start sooner.
Check the rest of the path. Firewalls, VPN concentrators and the servers behind the ADC have their own dates. Our end-of-support edge device list and EOL Checker cover those.

Frequently Asked Questions

What replaces an end-of-life NetScaler MPX or SDX appliance?

Citrix's Notice of Status Change for the MPX/SDX 15000 and 26000 series names the MPX/SDX 16000 series as the replacement platform, and the MPX 9100 FIPS for FIPS deployments. The 15000 and 26000 series reach End of Life on September 4, 2028. The software-only alternative is NetScaler VPX, which runs the same firmware lines on a hypervisor or in a public cloud.

When is NetScaler ADC 13.1 end of life?

NetScaler ADC 13.1 reached End of Maintenance on September 15, 2026 and reaches End of Life on September 15, 2027. After End of Maintenance Citrix stops building new maintenance releases for the line, so 14.1 is the line to plan for.

Does replacing the firmware fix an end-of-life ADC appliance?

No. Hardware and firmware have separate end dates. An appliance past its hardware End of Life is unsupported whatever firmware it runs, and a supported appliance running an end-of-life firmware line still receives no fixes. Both have to be inside their support window.

NetScaler MPX / SDX hardware — every platform, with the Citrix notice behind each date
NetScaler ADC firmware — live status and EOL Risk Score
NetScaler 13.1: End of Maintenance is not End of Life
F5 BIG-IP · FortiADC
The EOS Edge Device List — firewalls, VPN gateways, ADCs and routers past vendor support
End of support and the CISA BOD 26-02 clock
How we verify our dates