PHP Version History
4 active, 14 end-of-life. 18 versions tracked.
PHP releases a new major version every November, following an annual cadence. Each version gets 2 years of active support followed by 1 year of security-only fixes, totalling 3 years of support per release.
Recommendation
For new projects, use PHP 8.5. It's the latest stable release with active support through December 2029.
| Version | Released | End of Life | Latest Patch | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHP 8.5 | November 20, 2025 | December 31, 2029 | 8.5.4 | Active |
| PHP 8.4 | November 21, 2024 | December 31, 2028 | 8.4.19 | Active |
| PHP 8.3 | November 23, 2023 | December 31, 2027 | 8.3.30 | Security Only |
| PHP 8.2 | December 8, 2022 | December 31, 2026 | 8.2.30 | Security Only |
| PHP 8.1 | November 25, 2021 | December 31, 2025 | 8.1.34 | End of Life |
| PHP 8.0 | November 26, 2020 | November 26, 2023 | 8.0.30 | End of Life |
| PHP 7.4 | November 28, 2019 | November 28, 2022 | 7.4.33 | End of Life |
| PHP 7.3 | December 6, 2018 | December 6, 2021 | 7.3.33 | End of Life |
| PHP 7.2 | November 30, 2017 | November 30, 2020 | 7.2.34 | End of Life |
| PHP 7.1 | December 1, 2016 | December 1, 2019 | 7.1.33 | End of Life |
| PHP 7.0 | December 3, 2015 | January 10, 2019 | 7.0.33 | End of Life |
| PHP 5.6 | August 28, 2014 | December 31, 2018 | 5.6.40 | End of Life |
| PHP 5.5 | June 20, 2013 | July 21, 2016 | 5.5.38 | End of Life |
| PHP 5.4 | March 1, 2012 | September 14, 2015 | 5.4.45 | End of Life |
| PHP 5.3 | June 30, 2009 | August 14, 2014 | 5.3.29 | End of Life |
| PHP 5.2 | November 2, 2006 | January 6, 2011 | 5.2.17 | End of Life |
| PHP 5.1 | November 24, 2005 | August 24, 2006 | 5.1.6 | End of Life |
| PHP 5.0 | July 13, 2004 | September 5, 2005 | 5.0.5 | End of Life |
PHP Support Policy
PHP versions get 3 years of total support: 2 years of active bug fix support, then 1 year of critical security patches only. After the 3-year window, the version is completely end-of-life. The PHP release managers coordinate the schedule.
What You Need to Know
PHP 8.1 reached end-of-life in December 2025. If you're still on it, upgrade to 8.3+ immediately.
PHP 8.5 is the latest release with the newest language features and performance improvements.
PHP 8.4 introduced property hooks, asymmetric visibility, and a new HTML5 DOM parser.
WordPress requires PHP 7.4+ but recommends 8.2+. Most major frameworks now require PHP 8.2 minimum.
Frequently Asked Questions
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