PHP End of Life (EOL) Dates & Support Timeline
Complete end-of-life dates, support windows, and security status for all PHP versions. Data sourced from endoflife.date and official vendor documentation. Updated at every deploy.
PHP 8.5 is supported until December 31, 2029, its end-of-support date. Active support for PHP 8.5 ends on December 31, 2027; security fixes continue until that end-of-life date. The next PHP version to reach end of life is 8.2, on December 31, 2026. 14 of 18 tracked PHP versions are past end of life; the most recent to reach it, 8.1, did so on December 31, 2025. The full PHP lifecycle, with every version's release and end-of-support date, is in the table below.
Running an EOL version? Get matched with support options — free ↓| Version | Latest Release | Release Date | EOL Date | Days | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | 5.0.5 | Jul 13, 2004 | Sep 5, 2005 | 7688 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.1 | 5.1.6 | Nov 24, 2005 | Aug 24, 2006 | 7335 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.2 | 5.2.17 | Nov 2, 2006 | Jan 6, 2011 | 5739 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.3 | 5.3.29 | Jun 30, 2009 | Aug 14, 2014 | 4423 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.4 | 5.4.45 | Mar 1, 2012 | Sep 3, 2015 | 4038 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.5 | 5.5.38 | Jun 20, 2013 | Jul 21, 2016 | 3716 days past EOL | EOL |
| 5.6 | 5.6.40 | Aug 28, 2014 | Dec 31, 2018 | 2823 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.0 | 7.0.33 | Dec 3, 2015 | Jan 10, 2019 | 2813 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.1 | 7.1.33 | Dec 1, 2016 | Dec 1, 2019 | 2488 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.2 | 7.2.34 | Nov 30, 2017 | Nov 30, 2020 | 2123 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.3 | 7.3.33 | Dec 6, 2018 | Dec 6, 2021 | 1752 days past EOL | EOL |
| 7.4 | 7.4.33 | Nov 28, 2019 | Nov 28, 2022 | 1395 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.0 | 8.0.30 | Nov 26, 2020 | Nov 26, 2023 | 1032 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.1 | 8.1.34 | Nov 25, 2021 | Dec 31, 2025 | 266 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.2 | 8.2.33 | Dec 8, 2022 | Dec 31, 2026 | 99 days remaining | Warning |
| 8.3 | 8.3.33 | Nov 23, 2023 | Dec 31, 2027 | 464 days remaining | Active |
| 8.4 | 8.4.25 | Nov 21, 2024 | Dec 31, 2028 | 830 days remaining | Active |
| 8.5 | 8.5.10 | Nov 20, 2025 | Dec 31, 2029 | 1195 days remaining | Active |
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PHP release and support pattern
Across the 18 release lines with a published release date, PHP has shipped a new line roughly every 1 year (median interval). A line typically stays supported for about 3.3 years from its release to its end-of-life date.
Of the 18 release lines tracked, 14 are past end of life and 4 are still within support. The newest line, 8.5, was released November 20, 2025. The next scheduled end of life is 8.2 on December 31, 2026 — 99 days from this build. The longest-supported line currently published is 8.5, to December 31, 2029.
Computed from the tracked release data at every build — the figures above are the dates in the table, restated, not an editorial estimate.
PHP security intelligence
CISA KEV history: PHP is named in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog 4 times, most recently on 2025-07-07, including use in ransomware campaigns. Derived from CISA's live catalog at every build.
What does PHP end of life mean for your organization?
When a version of PHP reaches end of life, the maintainers stop issuing security patches. Vulnerabilities discovered after this date are publicly disclosed on the National Vulnerability Database, exploit code appears on GitHub, and your systems remain permanently exposed.
The CVE blind spot: A CVE-based scan does not show the accumulation of unpatched vulnerabilities in EOL software. Some scanners flag unsupported versions of common products, but coverage varies, and none of them give you the date in advance. With a zero-day, nobody knows about the vulnerability. With EOL software, the vulnerability is public — listed, rated, and often weaponized — but no vendor patch is coming. This is one of the most dangerous gaps in enterprise security posture.
Organizations running EOL PHP should treat it as a vulnerability class in their risk register, apply compensating controls (network segmentation, enhanced monitoring, access restriction), and prioritize migration to a supported version.
Your options when PHP reaches end of life
There are four realistic paths. Which one is right depends far more on how long the system needs to keep running than on the version you are on today.
| Option | Best when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Move to a supported version | The system will outlive the current version's support window and you can schedule the work | Budget for compatibility testing, not just the upgrade itself — that is where the real cost sits |
| Replace the component | The project is unmaintained, or a better-supported alternative exists | The replacement has its own lifecycle and its own end-of-life date — you are changing vendors, not escaping the problem |
| Buy extended support | Migration is genuinely underway but cannot finish before the deadline, or the workload is frozen by certification or a third-party application | A bridge, not a destination — every year purchased is a year the migration still has to happen |
| Document accepted risk | The system is isolated, short-lived, or scheduled for retirement | Only defensible with real compensating controls and a written decision — auditors treat undocumented end-of-life software as a finding |
How to choose, in one question: how many more years does this system need to run? Under a year, extended support (where it exists) is usually cheaper than an emergency migration. One to three years, migrate — support purchased repeatedly costs more than doing the project once, and the project only gets harder as the version ages. Indefinitely, migrate now and plan the next migration before it surprises you.
Worth saying plainly, because vendors selling extended support rarely will: extended support is often the more expensive choice over a multi-year horizon. It is the right answer when a deadline is genuinely unreachable, not as a default. Compare the annual fee against the one-time cost of migrating before committing to either.
Formalizing decisions like this across your estate? Our free EOL policy template is a ready-to-adopt policy with risk tiers, remediation SLAs, and audit mapping — no signup, free to use and share.
For the full decision flow on this product, see our detailed guide: PHP 7: upgrade, or buy extended support?
Extended Support Options
If you cannot migrate immediately, extended support vendors provide continued security patches for EOL PHP versions. This is a bridge, not a permanent solution — plan your migration in parallel.
PHP has 14 versions past end of life — security patches have stopped, but CVE disclosures haven't. The good news: extended support for PHP exists — vetted vendors ship security patches for years past the official date. Right now that coverage spans PHP 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2. Tell us where to reach you and we'll reply with matched options and pricing guidance — or an honest "no vendor covers this."