For each new version of WordPress, the 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. Team releases an article examining compatibility between 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. and new WordPress versions, offering recommendations for that specific WP version. Here are the Hosting Team’s recommendations for WordPress 6.9!

Before reading, you may want to check out the team’s previous posts highlighting recommendations for WordPress 6.8, WordPress 6.7, WordPress 6.6, WordPress 6.5, WordPress 6.4, and WordPress 6.3.

Please note, the goal isn’t to discuss WordPress compatibility or backwards compatibility, but rather to support hosts in architecting the ideal experience for new WordPress installations, and to guide sysadmins in upgrading sites in the optimal way.

This post goes into detail about compatibility, including the idea of “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”.

So, please continue reading for compatibility information, updated for WordPress 6.9.

Hosting Team Recommendations

The Hosting Team recommends Hosts use the following minimum versions for streamlined compatibility with WordPress 6.9 – (Note: these may differ from the global recommendations):

• PHP: 8.3.x, 8.4.x
• 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.: 8.0.x, 8.4.x
• 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.: 10.11.x, 11.4.x

IMPORTANT: These recommendations are primarily intended for new installations by hosting providers. For optimal performance and security, always use the latest compatible versions on new installs rather than setting up new WordPress websites with old PHP and 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. Engine versions.

Where do the recommendations come from? The Hosting Team reviewed a variety of modern hosting configurations, PHP lifecycle status, database engine maturity, and WordPress CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Team builds WordPress. compatibility work. Based on this review, these versions provide the most stable and forward-looking environment for WordPress 6.9.

WordPress 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. requirements

WordPress supports backwards compatibility, so even when there are more stable software versions available, that doesn’t mean they are the ones that WordPress recommends.

The current minimum WordPress 6.9 requirements are:

• PHP: 7.4+
• MySQL: 5.7+
• MariaDB: 10.3+

Folks can read more about minimum requirements here: Server requirements.

WordPress’ compatibility “at the time”

WordPress 6.9 (released in the end of 2025) aligns with the following software versions available at release time (stable or security-maintained versions only, and RCRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. versions for informational purposes):

PHP

• 8.2 (Security Support)
• 8.3 (Security Support)
• 8.4 (Active Support)
• 8.5 (Active Support)

MySQL

• 8.0 (LTS)
• 8.4 (LTS)
• 9.6

MariaDB

• 10.6 (LTS)
• 10.11 (LTS)
• 11.4 (LTS)
• 12.1

Web Servers

• Apache HTTPDApache HTTPD The Apache HTTP Server, colloquially called Apache, is a free and open-source cross-platform web server software. The vast majority of Apache HTTP Server instances run on a Linux distribution, but current versions also run on Microsoft Windows, OpenVMS, and a wide variety of Unix-like systems.: 2.4
• nginxNGINX nginx is a web server that can also be used as a reverse proxy, load balancer, mail proxy and HTTP cache. Nginx is free and open-source software, released under the terms of the 2-clause BSD license.: 1.26, 1.27
• LiteSpeedLiteSpeed Web Server LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS), is a proprietary web server software. The software uses the same configuration format as Apache HTTP Server and is compatible with most Apache features. Enterprise: 6.2.x, 6.3.x
• OpenLiteSpeedOpenLiteSpeed OpenLiteSpeed, is a open-source web server software. The software uses the same configuration format as Apache HTTP Server and is compatible with most Apache features.: 1.7.x, 1.8.x

Note: PHP has extended Security Support for multiple PHP 8.x releases. New PHP versions may enter candidate support status during the WordPress 6.9 lifecycle.

Please read more at: WordPress Compatibility.

WordPress and PHP

PHP is the primary programming language used by WordPress Core. Because PHP executes on the server, keeping it up to date is critical for both security and performance.

WordPress continues to support a wide range of PHP versions, including some that are end-of-life, to maintain backward compatibility. Hosts and site owners are strongly encouraged to run supported PHP versions wherever possible.

WordPress supports many versions of PHP, even some that are obsolete (Check out PHP Compatibility and WordPress Versions).

WordPress 6.9 (core) is:

• Fully compatible with PHP 7.4 (1), 8.0 (1), 8.1 (1), 8.2, and 8.3
• Beta compatible with PHP 8.4 and PHP 8.5

(1) SECURITY ALERT: Some older PHP versions are no longer officially maintained by the PHP project and are considered insecure. Users should consult their hosting provider regarding security backports or upgrade paths if running an older PHP version.

To explore all WordPress development tickets related to PHP, see: Trac PHP Search.

What Does “Beta Compatible” Mean?

Beta compatibility means WordPress Core is actively working toward full compatibility with a PHP version, but some issues may still be under review or pending resolution.

When using a beta-compatible PHP version:

• Deprecation notices may appear in logs, wp-admin, or front-end output
• Deprecation notices are not errors
• Functionality is not broken, but additional compatibility work is ongoing

PHP 8.4

• Deprecation notices may be visible
• Deprecations do not break functionality
• WordPress Core compatibility work is ongoing
• Prepare for PHP 8.4: Trac #62061Status: Closed / Fixed

PHP 8.5

• Initial compatibility work has begun
• Deprecation notices may be present
• Full compatibility is expected in a future WordPress releases
• Prepare for PHP 8.5: Trac #63061 Status: Closed / Fixed

Other related tickets

PHP

• #51525: Add new functions apply_filters_single_type() and apply_filters_ref_array_single_type()
  Status: Moved to Future Release
• #54183: Tests: decide on how to handle deprecations in PHPUnit
  Status: Moved to Future Release
• #54537: Tests: Enable PHP version check once PHP 8.0 compatibility is achieved
  Status: Moved to Future Release
• #58874: Code modernization: consider using the null coalescing operator
  Status: Moved to Future Release
• #59234: Introduce a wp_json_decode() function, including validation when available
• Status: Closed, not moving forward

Upgrading WordPress

Do you have a version earlier than WordPress 6.9? 

If so, the Hosting Team recommends you visit the Upgrading WordPress page for more information on how to upgrade from WordPress 0.7 all the way to WordPress 6.9.

Anything else? Feel free to comment below!

#core, #php, #hosting

Props to @sohilvahora96 @chrisdavidmiles @desrosj @codexdemon and @jazzs3quence for collaborating on this post!