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Although WordPress can work in almost any environment, some environments are more optimal for functionality and performance while others are less so. Below are a few minimum recommendations for serverServer A server is a piece of computer hardware or software that provides functionality for other programs or devices. Typical servers are database servers, file servers, mail servers, print servers, web servers, game servers, and application servers. environment configurations within which WordPress operates most efficiently, with consideration for WordPress websites that use third party plugins and themes which commonly introduce additional server-level requirements.

WordPress Environment recommendations

Quick recommendations:

All published posts on compatibility are available at:

Web Server

A web serverServer A server is a piece of computer hardware or software that provides functionality for other programs or devices. Typical servers are database servers, file servers, mail servers, print servers, web servers, game servers, and application servers. is piece of software that receives and accepts web requests from website visitor computers, then returns the appropriate web data back to the user. There are many different types of pieces of web server software that run on different operating systems. Generally, if your web server supports and executes PHPPHP PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a general-purpose scripting language especially suited to web development. PHP code is usually processed on a web server by a PHP interpreter. On a web server, the result of the interpreted and executed PHP code would form the whole or part of an HTTP response. files, it should be able to work with WordPress.

The two most common pieces of web server software, and the ones recommended for WordPress, are:

Additional software used by web hostingHosting A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web. companies and developers that are known to work well with WordPress are:

Those are the latest versions at the time of writing this document, for WordPress 6.8. Always keep your web server up-to-date to ensure best performance!

PHP

PHP is a programming language on which WordPress code is based. This language runs on the server and it is important to keep it up to date, both for security and functionality.

WordPress supports many versions of PHP, some even obsolete (See PHP Compatibility and WordPress Versions). For hostingHosting A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web. companies, the following is recommended:

WordPress versions

Below are details on specific WordPress versions, PHP compatibility for that version and development tickets related to PHP compatibility at the time of release. Tickets related to PHP compatibility can be found at any time by Searching WordPress Trac.

WordPress 6.8

IMPORTANT: WordPress 6.8 is fully compatible with PHP 7.2 (1), 7.3 (1), 7.4 (1), 8.0(1), 8.1, and 8.2 and betaBeta Beta is the software development phase following alpha. A Beta phase generally begins when the software is feature complete but likely to contain a number of known or unknown bugs. Software in the beta phase will generally have many more bugs in it than completed software, speed or performance issues, and may still cause crashes or data loss. The focus of beta testing is reducing impacts to users, often incorporating usability testing. compatible with PHP 8.3, and PHP 8.4. As of the WordPress 6.8 release in April 2025, the term ‘compatible with exceptions’ is no longer used.

What does “beta compatible” or “beta support” mean?

‘Beta compatible’ or ‘beta support’ means that WordPress CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Team builds WordPress. is actively working towards full compatibility with that PHP version, but there may still be some issues that are in the process of being resolved. Below are tickets outlining known issues regarding beta support for PHP 8.3 and 8.4. More information on when a PHP version goes from beta to fully supported is documented by the core team.

WordPress 6.7

IMPORTANT: WordPress 6.7 is compatible with exceptions with PHP 8.0, PHP 8.1, PHP 8.2, and beta compatible with PHP 8.3, and PHP 8.4.

What does ‘compatible with exceptions’ mean?

What does “beta” mean?

  • PHP 8.3
    • Deprecation notices. A deprecation notice is not an error, but is an indicator that the code being cited in the notice will be changed in future php versions. With a deprecation notice, the PHP code will continue to work and nothing is broken.
    • #59231: Prepare for PHP 8.3.. NOTE: Has a patch, but moved to WordPress 6.7.
    • #59232: Introduce #[Override] attribute to mark overloaded methods This attribute helps prevent coding errors by making it clear when a method is overloaded. It also assists with refactoring, debugging, and catching potential breaking changes in the parent class. NOTE: Has a patch, but moved to Future Release.
    • #59233: Improve error handling for unserialize(). maybe_unserialize() function could still be confronted by data with trailing bytes. NOTE: Moved to Future Release.
    • #59654: PHP 8.x: various compatibility fixes for WordPress 6.7. This ticket acts as a central hub for smaller patches that fix specific PHP 8.x failures. It continues the work from previous releases, ensuring that WordPress maintains compatibility with newer PHP versions like PHP 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, and upcoming versions like PHP 8.3. NOTE: Moved to WordPress 6.7.
  • PHP 8.4
    • Deprecation notices. A deprecation notice is not an error, but is an indicator that the code being cited in the notice will be changed in future php versions. With a deprecation notice, the PHP code will continue to work and nothing is broken.
    • #62061: Prepare for PHP 8.4.. NOTE: Has a patch.

Other related tickets

WordPress 6.6

IMPORTANT: WordPress 6.6 is compatible with exceptions with PHP 8.1, and PHP 8.2, and beta compatible with PHP 8.3.

What does ‘compatible with exceptions’ mean?

  • PHP 8.1
    • Not all “passing null to non-nullable” issues have been found. In PHP, you can tell a function exactly what type of information it should accept. If you tell a function to expect a certain type of information, and you give it nothing at all (null is like saying “nothing”), then PHP gets confused and gives an error. This problem happens when someone accidentally gives a function “nothing” when the function wasn’t designed to handle “nothing”.
    • _htmlentities() needs the default value of the flags parameter explicitly set_. According to htmlentities(), the default for flags for PHP 8.1 was “changed from ENT_COMPAT to ENT_QUOTES | ENT_SUBSTITUTE | ENT_HTML401”. All use cases for this functionality in WordPress Core are being investigated. NOTE: Has a patch, but moved to WordPress 6.7.
    • Replace most strip_tags() with wp_strip_tags().
      There are rare occasions when the strip_tags() function is passed a null value, which generates a warning that the string is deprecated. NOTE: Has a patch.
    • Update is_serialized function to accept Enums. Enums are not backwards compatible with older PHP versions. NOTE: Has a patch, but moved to WordPress 6.7.
  • PHP 8.2

What does “beta” mean?

  • PHP 8.3
    • Deprecation notices. A deprecation notice is not an error, but is an indicator that the code being cited in the notice will be changed in future php versions. With a deprecation notice, the PHP code will continue to work and nothing is broken.
    • Improve error handling for unserialize(). maybe_unserialize() function could still be confronted by data with trailing bytes. NOTE: Moved to WordPress 6.7.

WordPress 6.5

IMPORTANT: WordPress 6.5 is compatible with exceptions with PHP 8.0, PHP 8.1, and PHP 8.2, and beta compatible with PHP 8.3.

What does ‘compatible with exceptions’ mean?

What does “beta” mean?

  • PHP 8.3
    • Deprecation notices: A deprecation notice is not an error, but is an indicator that the code being cited in the notice will be changed in future php versions. With a deprecation notice, the PHP code will continue to work and nothing is broken.

WordPress 6.4

IMPORTANT: WordPress 6.4 is compatible with exceptions with PHP 8.0, PHP 8.1, and PHP 8.2, and beta compatible with PHP 8.3.

What does ‘compatible with exceptions’ mean?

What does “beta” mean?

  • PHP 8.3
    • Deprecation notices: A deprecation notice is not an error, but is an indicator that the code being cited in the notice will be changed in future php versions. With a deprecation notice, the PHP code will continue to work and nothing is broken.

WordPress 6.3

IMPORTANT: WordPress 6.3 is compatible with exceptions with PHP 8.0 and PHP 8.1, and beta compatible with PHP 8.2.

What does ‘compatible with exceptions’ mean?

What does “beta” mean?

  • PHP 8.2
    • Deprecation notices: A deprecation notice is not an error, but is an indicator that the code being cited in the notice will be changed in future php versions. With a deprecation notice, the PHP code will continue to work and nothing is broken.

About PHP

PHP 8.1 is maintained by the PHP Community only as Security fix only starting 2022-11-26. Keeping your PHP to the latest stable version is important for WordPress speed and security.

Versions prior to PHP 8.1 are not maintained by the PHP Community, although they may receive security updates from operating systems distributions.

End of life PHP versions:

  • PHP 8.3: 2027-12-31
  • PHP 8.2: 2026-12-31
  • PHP 8.1: 2025-12-31
  • PHP 8.0: 2023-11-26 last release: 8.0.30
  • PHP 7.4: 2022-11-28 last release: 7.4.33
  • PHP 7.3: 2021-12-06 last release: 7.3.33
  • PHP 7.2: 2020-11-30 last release: 7.2.34
  • PHP 7.1: 2019-12-01 last release: 7.1.33
  • PHP 7.0: 2019-01-10 last release: 7.0.33
  • PHP 5.6: 2018-12-31 last release: 5.6.40
  • PHP 5.5: 2016-07-21 last release: 5.5.38
  • PHP 5.4: 2015-09-03 last release: 5.4.45
  • PHP 5.3: 2014-08-14 last release: 5.3.29
  • PHP 5.2: 2011-01-06 last release: 5.2.17
  • PHP 5.1: 2006-08-24 last release: 5.1.6
  • PHP 5.0: 2005-09-05 last release: 5.0.5
  • PHP 4.4: 2008-08-07 last release: 4.4.9
  • PHP 4.3: 2005-03-31 last release: 4.3.11
  • PHP 4.2: 2002-09-06 last release: 4.2.3
  • PHP 4.1: 2002-03-12 last release: 4.1.2
  • PHP 4.0: 2001-06-23 last release: 4.0.6

PHP Extensions

WordPress core makes use of various PHP extensions when they’re available. If the preferred extension is missing, WordPress will either have to do more work to do the task the module helps with, or in the worst case, will remove functionality. All the extensions are for installations with PHP >= 7.4.

The PHP extensions listed below are required for a WordPress site to work.

  • json (bundled in >=8.0.0) – Used for communications with other servers and processing data in JSONJSON JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is an open standard file format, and data interchange format, that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs and array data types. It is a very common data format, with a diverse range of applications, such as serving as a replacement for XML in AJAX systems. format.
  • One of either mysqli (bundled in >=5.0.0), or mysqlnd – Connects to MySQLMySQL MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). MySQL is free and open-source software under the terms of the GNU General Public License. for databaseDatabase A database is an organized collection of data. Access to this data is usually provided by a “database management system” (DBMS) consisting of an integrated set of computer software that allows users to interact with one or more databases and provides access to all of the data contained in the database. Because of the close relationship between them, the term “database” is often used casually to refer to both a database and the DBMS used to manipulate it. interactions.

The PHP extensions listed below are highly recommended in order to allow WordPress to operate optimally and to maximise compatibility with many popular plugins and themes.

  • curl (PHP >= 7.3 requires libcurl >= 7.15.5; PHP >= 8.0 requires libcurl >= 7.29.0 ; PHP >= 8.4 requires libcurl >= 7.61.0) – Performs remote request operations.
  • dom (requires libxml) – Used to validate Text Widget content and to automatically configure IIS7+.
  • exif (requires php-mbstring) – Works with metadata stored in images.
  • fileinfo (bundled in PHP) – Used to detect mimetype of file uploads.
  • hash (bundled in PHP >=5.1.2) – Used for hashing, including passwords and update packages.
  • igbinary – Increases performance as a drop in replacement for the standard PHP serializer.
  • imagick (requires ImageMagick >= 6.2.4) – Provides better image quality for media uploads. See WP_Image_Editor for details. Smarter image resizing (for smaller images), and PDF thumbnail support when Ghost Script is available.
  • intl (PHP >= 7.4.0 requires ICU >= 50.1) – Enable to perform locale-aware operations including but not limited to formatting, transliteration, encoding conversion, calendar operations, conformant collation, locating text boundaries and working with locale identifiers, timezones and graphemes.
  • mbstring – Used to properly handle UTF8 text.
  • openssl (PHP 7.1-8.0 requires OpenSSL >= 1.0.1 / < 3.0; PHP >= 8.1 requires OpenSSL >= 1.0.2 / < 4.0; PHP >= 8.4 requires OpenSSL >= 1.1.1 / < 4.0) – SSLSSL Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) was a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network. This protocol became obsolete due to a multitude of security problems and was replaced by TLS.-based connections to other hosts.
  • pcre (bundled in PHP >= 7.0 recommended PCRE 8.10) – Increases performance of pattern matching in code searches.
  • xml (requires libxml) – Used for XML parsing, such as from a third-party site.
  • zip (requires libzip >= 0.11; recommended libzip >= 1.6) – Used for decompressing Plugins, Themes, and WordPress update packages.

The PHP extensions listed below are recommended to allow some WordPress cacheCache A cache is a component that stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster; the data stored in a cache might be the result of an earlier computation or a copy of data stored elsewhere. (if necessary). APCu, MemcachedMemcached Memcached is a general-purpose distributed memory-caching system. It is often used to speed up dynamic database-driven websites by caching data and objects in RAM to reduce the number of times an external data source must be read. Memcached is free and open-source software., and RedisRedis Redis (Remote Dictionary Server) is an in-memory data structure store, in-memory key–value database. It is open-source software.. are alternatives of which only one needs to be used.

  • apcu – In-memory key-value store for PHP (former APC stripped of opcode cachingCache A cache is a component that stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster; the data stored in a cache might be the result of an earlier computation or a copy of data stored elsewhere.).
  • memcached (requires libmemcached >= 1.0.0) – memcached is a high-performance, distributed memory objectObject In computer science, an object can be a variable, a data structure, a function, or a method, and as such, is a value in memory referenced by an identifier. caching system, generic in nature, but intended for use in speeding up dynamic web applications by alleviating database load.
  • opcache – PHP can be configured to preload scripts into the opcache when the engine starts.
  • redis – PHP extension for interfacing with Redis.

The PHP extensions listed below are optional to improve some WordPress functionality.

  • timezonedb – Timezone Database to be used with PHP’s date and time functions

For the sake of completeness, below is a list of the remaining PHP modules WordPress may use in certain situations or if other modules are unavailable. These are fallbacks or optional and not necessarily needed in an optimal environment, but installing them won’t hurt.

  • bc – For arbitrary precision mathematics, which supports numbers of any size and precision up to 2147483647 decimal digits.
  • filter – Used for securely filtering user input.
  • image (requires libgd >= 2.1.0; requires zlib >= 1.2.0.4; optional freetype2) – If Imagick isn’t installed, the GD Graphics Library is used as a functionally limited fallback for image manipulation.
  • iconv (requires libiconv/POSIX) – Used to convert between character sets.
  • shmop – Shmop is an easy to use set of functions that allows PHP to read, write, create and delete Unix shared memory segments.
  • simplexml (requires libxml) – Used for XML parsing.
  • sodium – (bundled in PHP >=7.2.0; requires libsodium >= 1.0.8) – Validates Signatures and provides securely random bytes.
  • xmlreader (requires libxml) – Used for XML parsing.
  • zlib (requires zlib >= 1.2.0.4) – Gzip compression and decompression.

These extensions are used for file changes, such as updates and pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party./themeTheme A theme dictates the style and function of your WordPress website. Child Themes derive from the main parent theme. installation, when files aren’t writeable on the server.

  • ssh2 (requires OpenSSL and libssh >= 1.2; recommended libssh >= 1.2.9) – Provide access to resources (shell, remote exec, tunneling, file transfer) on a remote machine using a secure cryptographic transport.
  • ftp – Implement client access to files servers speaking the File Transfer Protocol (FTPFTP FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol which is a way of moving computer files from one computer to another via the Internet. You can use software, known as a FTP client, to upload files to a server for a WordPress website.).
  • sockets – Implements a low-level interface to the socket communication functions based on the popular BSD sockets.

The priority of the transports are Direct file IO, SSH2, FTP PHP Extension, FTP implemented with Sockets, and FTP implemented through PHP alone.

System Packages

Database

For data storage, WordPress uses systems compatible with MySQL.

Below are the officially recommended Long Term Support versions of MySQL and MariaDB.

Software Version EOL Date
MySQL 8.4 LTS April 2032
MySQL 8.0 LTS April 2026
MariaDBMariaDB MariaDB is a fork of the MySQL relational database management system (RDBMS), intended to remain free and open-source software under the GNU General Public License. MariaDB intended to maintain high compatibility with MySQL, ensuring a drop-in replacement capability with library binary parity and exact matching with MySQL APIs and commands. 11.8 LTS June 2030
MariaDB 11.4 LTS May 29, 2029
MariaDB 10.11 LTS February 16, 2028
MariaDB 10.6 LTS July 6, 2026

End of life MySQL versions

The following versions of MySQL have reached their end of life (EOL) and are no longer supported by the MySQL community. It is highly recommended to upgrade to a supported version for security and performance reasons.

Version Initial GA Release Final Release EOL Date
9.2* January 21, 2025 9.2.0 (January 21, 2025) April 15, 2025
9.1* October 15, 2024 9.1.0 (October 15, 2024) January 21, 2025
9.0* July 1, 2024 9.0.1 (July 23, 2024) October 15, 2024
8.3* January 16, 2024 8.3.0 (January 16, 2024) July 1, 2024
8.2* October 25, 2023 8.2.0 (October 25, 2024) January 16, 2024
8.1* July 18, 2023 8.1.0 (July 18, 2023) October 25, 2023
5.7 October 21, 2015 5.7.44 (October 25, 2023) October 21, 2023
5.6 February 5, 2013 5.6.51 (January 20, 2021) February 5, 2021
5.5 December 3, 2010 5.5.62 (October 22, 2018) December 3, 2018
5.1 November 14, 2008 5.1.73 (December 3, 2013) December 31, 2013
5.0 October 19, 2005 5.0.96 (March 21, 2012) March 21, 2012

End of life MariaDB versions

The following versions of MariaDB have reached their end of life (EOL) and are no longer supported by the MariaDB community. It is highly recommended to upgrade to a supported version for security and performance reasons.

Version Initial GA Release Final Release EOL Date
11.5 August 15, 2024 11.5.2 (August 15, 2024) November 21, 2024
11.3 February 19, 2024 11.3.2 (February 19, 2024) May 16, 2024
11.2 November 21, 2023 11.2.6 (November 4, 2024) November 21, 2024
11.1 August 21, 2023 11.1.6 (August 14, 2024) August 21, 2024
11.0 June 7, 2023 11.0.6 (May 17, 2024) June 6, 2024
10.10 November 17, 2022 10.10.7 (November 14, 2023) November 17, 2023
10.9 August 22, 2022 10.9.8 (August 14, 2023) August 22, 2023
10.8 May 21, 2022 10.8.8 (May 10, 2023) May 20, 2023
10.7 February 14, 2022 10.7.8 (February 6, 2023) February 9, 2023
10.5 June 24, 2020 10.8.8 (May 10, 2023) June 24, 2025
10.4 June 16, 2019 10.4.34 (May 17, 2024) June 18, 2024
10.3 May 25, 2018 10.3.39 (May 10, 2023) May 25, 2023
10.2 May 23, 2017 10.2.44 (May 21, 2022) May 23, 2022
10.1 October 17, 2015 10.1.48 (November 4, 2020) October 17, 2020
10.0 March 31, 2014 10.0.38 (January 31, 2019) March 31, 2019
5.5 April 11, 2012 5.5.68 (May 12, 2020) April 11, 2020
5.3 February 29, 2012 5.3.12 (January 30, 2013) March 1, 2017
5.2 November 10, 2010 5.2.14 (January 30, 2013) November 10, 2015
5.1 February 1, 2010 5.1.67 (January 30, 2013) February 1, 2015

Innovation Releases

In addition to Long Term Support versions, both MariaDB and MySQL have “innovation releases”. These releases have much shorter support periods (typically 2-6 months at most) and are intended for users who need access to the latest features.

Innovation releases are generally production-ready from a quality and stability perspective and safe to use. However, using these releases in production is not recommended because:

  • any new features included in innovation releases are subject to change in the future.
  • support (including security fixes) is limited to a short period of time measured in months, not years.

As a way to catch problems with new features that will land in upcoming LTS versions, WordPress Core tests against actively supported innovation releases. However, the project does not recommend these versions for general use.

MySQL Innovation Releases

Version Initial GA Release Final Release EOL Date
**9.3*** April 15, 2025 July 2025
9.2 January 21, 2025 9.2.0 (January 21, 2025) April 15, 2025
9.1 October 15, 2024 9.1.0 (October 15, 2024) January 21, 2025
9.0 July 1, 2024 9.0.1 (July 23, 2024) October 15, 2024
8.3 January 16, 2024 8.3.0 (January 16, 2024) July 1, 2024
8.2 October 25, 2023 8.2.0 (October 25, 2024) January 16, 2024
8.1 July 18, 2023 8.1.0 (July 18, 2023) October 25, 2023

* Indicates the current innovation release.

MariaDB Innovation/Short-Term Releases

The MariaDB project has decided to retire the concept of innovation releases, replacing them with the concept of “rolling GA releases”. This will start with the 12.0 release.

Previously MariaDB referred to these releases as “short-term releases”.

Version Release Type Initial GA Release Final Release EOL Date
11.5 Innovation August 15, 2024 11.5.2 (August 15, 2024) November 21, 2024
11.3 Innovation February 19, 2024 11.3.2 (February 19, 2024) May 16, 2024
11.2 Short-term November 21, 2023 11.2.6 (November 4, 2024) November 21, 2024
11.1 Short-term August 21, 2023 11.1.6 (August 14, 2024) August 21, 2024
11.0 Short-term June 7, 2023 11.0.6 (May 17, 2024) June 6, 2024
10.10 Short-term November 17, 2022 10.10.7 (November 14, 2023) November 17, 2023
10.9 Short-term August 22, 2022 10.9.8 (August 14, 2023) August 22, 2023
10.8 Short-term May 21, 2022 10.8.8 (May 10, 2023) May 20, 2023
10.7 Short-term February 14, 2022 10.7.8 (February 6, 2023) February 9, 2023

Other MySQL servers

While WordPress does not regularly test against these MySQL servers, they are known to perform well.

Although WordPress may run on older versions, it is recommended to use these or newer ones for security and performance reasons.

How do I know which version I have?

If you have WordPress 5.2+, the WordPress Admin already has tools with that information in the Site Health section (at Tools in the menu).

If you have an older version, you can activate the Site Health section installing the WordPress Community Plugin called Health Check & Troubleshooting (more help for this plugin).

If you’re interested in improving this handbook, check the Github Handbook repo, or leave a message in the #hosting channel of the official WordPress Slack.

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