MySQL 8.4 End of Life: LTS Dates, 9.7 LTS and the New Version Numbers

The short answer

MySQL 8.4 LTS has Premier Support until April 2029 and Extended Support until April 2032. Those dates come from Oracle's Lifetime Support Policy, effective 2 October 2026. 8.4.0 shipped on 30 April 2024, and the latest release at the time of writing is 8.4.12, from 18 August 2026. There is no end-of-life date for 8.4 in 2026 or 2027; the next LTS, 9.7, arrived in April 2026, and the upgrade path runs from 8.4 to 9.7.

If you searched for "MySQL 8 end of life", you probably meant 8.0, which reached end of life in April 2026. Our MySQL 8.0 end-of-life post covers that.

MySQL LTS support dates

MySQL Cluster 8.4 has the same dates as MySQL 8.4. Innovation releases, such as 26.7, are supported only until the next Innovation release.

What LTS means in MySQL

MySQL has two release tracks. Innovation releases bring new features and are supported only until the next Innovation release. LTS releases follow Oracle's Lifetime Support Policy, which the MySQL manual describes as five years of Premier Support and three years of Extended Support. Within an LTS series:

• Releases "only contain necessary fixes", to keep behaviour stable.
• "There are no removals within an LTS release." Features can be added or removed only in the first release of the series, such as 8.4.0.
• The data format does not change, so in-place upgrades and downgrades between 8.4.x releases are possible.

Moving to the next LTS is supported, from 8.4.x to 9.7.x. Skipping one is not: you cannot jump from 8.4 straight to the LTS after 9.7.

9.7 LTS and the new version numbers

MySQL 9.7.0, the LTS that follows 8.4, shipped on 21 April 2026, and 9.7.3 followed on 18 August 2026. The manual states that 9.7 "is the final release line using the previous sequential versioning model". Later Innovation and LTS releases use calendar versions in YY.M format, where YY is the year and M the scheduled release month. The first is MySQL 26.7, an Innovation release from 28 July 2026, with 26.7.1 on 18 August 2026. So the next LTS after 9.7 will carry a year-and-month number rather than 10.x.

What changes in 2029 and 2032

• April 2029: Oracle's Premier Support for 8.4 ends and Extended Support begins, for customers with an Oracle MySQL support contract.
• April 2032: Extended Support ends. For 8.0, the final community release came in the month Extended Support ended, so plan on a similar cut-off for 8.4 community builds, though Oracle has not announced one.

On Amazon RDS for MySQL, AWS lists the 8.4 community end-of-life date as 30 April 2029, RDS standard support until 31 July 2029, and paid RDS Extended Support until 31 July 2032. RDS supports major version upgrades from 8.0 to 8.4. MySQL 9.7 and 26.7 are available on RDS only in the Database Preview environment as of October 2026.

How to plan around MySQL 8.4

If you are still on 8.0 or 5.7

Move to 8.4 first. MySQL does not allow skipping an LTS series, so 8.0 goes to 8.4 and then to 9.7. The MySQL 8.0 to 8.4 upgrade guide lists the breaking changes, starting with mysql_native_password no longer being enabled by default.

If you are on 8.4

You have time. Keep up with quarterly 8.4 releases, and schedule the 9.7 upgrade well before April 2029 if you want to stay inside Premier Support. 9.7's own Premier Support runs to April 2031.

If you are weighing other engines

MariaDB and PostgreSQL are the usual alternatives. Our MariaDB vs MySQL comparison covers where the two have diverged.

Where OSSeva fits

OSSeva for MySQL supports MySQL 8.4 LTS and 9.7 LTS alongside patched, signed builds of 8.0 and 5.7 Community Edition for servers that cannot move yet, with no migration and no change of binaries on day one. OSSeva Assure adds an upgrade plan from 5.7 or 8.0 to 8.4 and then 9.7, built on MySQL Shell's upgrade checker, plus SBOMs and CVE remediation records. OSSeva Operate adds 24/7 monitoring, a 15-minute P1 response, and patches Critical CVEs (CVSS 9.0 and above) within 48 hours and High within 7 days. MySQL sits under one contract with MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Redis and Valkey, priced per cluster. See MySQL extended support, and book a discovery call for a quote.

Frequently asked questions

When is MySQL 8.4 end of life?

Oracle's Extended Support for 8.4 ends in April 2032. Premier Support ends in April 2029.

What is the MySQL 8.4 LTS end of life date?

April 2032, the end of Extended Support under Oracle's Lifetime Support Policy. Amazon RDS lists the community end-of-life date as 30 April 2029, matching the end of Premier Support.

Is MySQL 8 end of life?

MySQL 8.0 is: it reached end of life in April 2026 with 8.0.46. MySQL 8.4 is a separate LTS series supported to April 2032.

Can I upgrade from MySQL 8.4 to 9.7?

Yes. Upgrading from one LTS series to the next is supported. Skipping an LTS series is not.

Why is there a MySQL 26.7?

After 9.7, MySQL switched to calendar versioning in YY.M format. 26.7 is the Innovation release scheduled for July 2026.

Which MySQL versions are supported now?

8.4 LTS, 9.7 LTS and the current Innovation release, 26.7. 8.0 and 5.7 are past end of life.