The clock’s ticking for MySQL 8.0 as end of life looms

Steven

The clock’s ticking for MySQL 8.0 as end of life looms

Summary

Percona warns that 58% of tracked MySQL and MariaDB instances remain on MySQL 8.0, which reaches end of support on 30 April 2026. Once a release is unsupported it will no longer receive fixes — including security patches — leaving installations exposed to unresolved bugs and vulnerabilities. Percona co-founder Peter Zaitsev emphasises that while the upgrade from 8.0 to the current stable 8.4 is far less painful than the jump from 5.7 to 8.0, organisations should still plan and act now. The article also notes Oracle’s recent reported layoffs in the MySQL engineering team and signals around shifting database popularity, with PostgreSQL continuing to gain ground.

Key Points

  1. MySQL 8.0 support ends on 30 April 2026 — roughly six months from the article date.
  2. Percona’s PMM data shows 58% of MySQL/MariaDB installs are on 8.0; 18.8% still run 5.7, which is already EOL.
  3. Unsupported releases no longer receive bug or security fixes, increasing risk to stability, compliance and security.
  4. Upgrading from 8.0 to 8.4 is significantly easier than the 5.7→8.0 migration, but still requires planning and testing.
  5. Reported reductions in Oracle’s MySQL engineering headcount raise questions about long-term stewardship and investment.
  6. Migrating to MariaDB or PostgreSQL is possible but carries compatibility and migration costs; plan accordingly.

Why should I read this?

Heads-up: if you run MySQL, this is your six-month warning. Ignore it and you could end up on unsupported, unpatched databases — think security holes, reliability issues and compliance headaches. The bright side is the 8.0→8.4 path isn’t the nightmare the last major upgrade was. Read this so you can plan a calm migration instead of scrambling later.

Author style

Punchy: this is urgent for DBAs and infra teams. If you’re responsible for production databases, treat this as a ticking deadline — it’s worth prioritising now.

Context and relevance

End-of-life for a major database release forces organisations into choices: upgrade, switch vendors, or migrate to forks/alternatives. The story connects to broader trends — MySQL’s relative decline in popularity, PostgreSQL’s rise, and concerns about Oracle’s commitment following reported engineering cuts. For security, regulatory compliance and operational continuity, the timing matters, particularly in regulated sectors and production environments.

Source

Source: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/10/31/mysql_8_support_end/