If your website runs on WordPress, WooCommerce, Laravel or Magento, it relies on PHP every time someone visits a page. Most website owners never need to think about it. But it's one of the most important parts of your site, and every version has an expiry date.
You might have heard PHP mentioned by a developer or hosting provider and wondered what it actually is. It’s not something most people ever need to think about. But it’s one of the most important parts of your website, and it has an expiry date.
What is PHP?
PHP is a programming language that runs on the server hosting your website. When someone visits a page, PHP does the work behind the scenes. It fetches your content from the database, builds the page and sends it to the visitor’s browser.
You never see it. Your visitors never see it. But without it, most of the websites we look after wouldn’t load at all.
A useful comparison is the operating system on your phone. The apps are what you use day to day, but they all rely on the operating system underneath. When that operating system stops getting updates, the apps eventually stop working properly and your phone becomes less secure. PHP works in a similar way for your website.
Where PHP is used
PHP sits underneath many of the platforms we build and support:
- WordPress – the world’s most popular content management system is written in PHP, along with its themes and plugins
- WooCommerce – the ecommerce plugin for WordPress, which relies on the same PHP foundation
- Laravel – a PHP framework we use to build custom web applications, portals and bespoke systems
- Magento (Adobe Commerce) – a PHP-based ecommerce platform used for larger and more complex online shops
- Custom builds – many bespoke websites and tools are written directly in PHP
Whichever of these your website uses, the version of PHP on your server matters.
Why PHP needs upgrading
PHP is maintained by an open source community that releases a new version every year. Each version is supported for four years:
- Two years of active support – bugs are fixed and security issues are patched
- Two years of security support – only critical security issues are fixed
After that, the version reaches end of life. No more fixes are released, even when new security vulnerabilities are found.
Running an unsupported version doesn’t mean your website stops working overnight. But it does mean any newly discovered weaknesses stay open. Over time, that gap grows. It’s a risk to your website, your data and your customers’ data.
Newer versions also bring real benefits:
- Performance – each release tends to run code faster and more efficiently
- Sustainability – more efficient code needs less server power, which lowers the carbon footprint of your site
- Compatibility – plugins, extensions and packages increasingly require recent PHP versions, and eventually drop support for older ones
Why every three to four years?
A new version of PHP arrives every year, but that doesn’t mean every website can use it straight away.
Your website runs on a platform, such as WordPress, Laravel or Magento. That platform, along with its themes, plugins and extensions, has to be updated to work with each new PHP version first. Some move quickly. Others take months, and a few plugins or extensions are never updated at all.
So we can’t assume your platform will support the very latest version of PHP the moment it’s released. In practice, that means most websites need a PHP upgrade every three to four years, moving to the newest version their platform fully supports at the time.
PHP 8.2 reaches end of life this year
PHP 8.2 was released in December 2022. Its security support ends on 31 December 2026.
After that date, websites still running PHP 8.2 won’t receive security fixes. That’s why we’re getting in touch with clients now, giving us time to plan and test upgrades properly rather than rushing them at the end of the year.
Why it isn’t just a switch
Changing the PHP version on a server can take a few minutes. Making sure your website works properly on it is the real job.
Each new PHP version removes or changes older ways of writing code. If your theme, plugins, extensions or custom code rely on those older methods, things can break. Sometimes that’s obvious, like an error message. Sometimes it’s subtle, like a form that stops sending or a checkout that fails for certain orders.
So before we upgrade, we need to make sure your platform supports the new version. That usually involves:
- Checking your platform and its add-ons are compatible with the newer version of PHP
- Updating the platform, theme, plugins or packages where needed
- Fixing or replacing any code that’s no longer compatible
- Testing the website on a staging copy before anything changes on the live site
- Upgrading the live server and checking everything again
Where a plugin or extension hasn’t been updated by its developer, we’ll look for an alternative or recommend the best way forward.
Which version we’re aiming for
PHP 8.5 is the latest version, released in November 2025 and supported until the end of 2029. We’re always working to achieve compatibility with the latest version, so that’s our target wherever your platform supports it.
What happens next
If your website is running PHP 8.2 or older, we’ll be in touch to explain what’s needed for your site specifically. That includes any compatibility work, how long it’s likely to take and when we can schedule it.
If you’d like to talk about it sooner, or you’re not sure which version your website runs, get in touch and we’ll check for you.
PHP FAQs.
PHP is a programming language that runs on the server hosting your website. It builds each page when someone visits, fetching content from the database and sending it to their browser. Your visitors never see it, but most websites can’t work without it.
If your website is built on WordPress, WooCommerce, Laravel or Magento, it uses PHP. Many custom-built websites use it too. If you’re not sure, get in touch and we’ll check for you.
End of life means a PHP version no longer receives any updates, including security fixes. Each version is supported for four years: two years of bug and security fixes, then two years of security fixes only. After that, any new vulnerabilities found are left unpatched.
PHP 8.2 reaches end of life on 31 December 2026. After this date it will no longer receive security fixes. Websites still running PHP 8.2 should be upgraded before then.
No, your website won’t stop working overnight. But it will no longer be protected against newly discovered security vulnerabilities. Over time, that risk grows, and plugins and extensions will gradually stop supporting the older version.
Changing the PHP version on a server is quick, but your website needs to be compatible with it first. Each new version removes or changes older ways of writing code. If your theme, plugins, extensions or custom code rely on those older methods, parts of your website can break.
Most websites need a PHP upgrade every three to four years. A new PHP version is released every year, but platforms like WordPress, Laravel and Magento, along with their plugins and extensions, need time to become compatible. We move each website to the newest version its platform fully supports.
PHP 8.5 is the latest version and is supported until the end of 2029. We aim to upgrade every website to PHP 8.5 wherever its platform supports it. If it isn’t ready yet, we’ll move it to the newest version it does support.
We check your platform and add-ons are compatible, update anything that needs it and fix any code that won’t work on the new version. We then test everything on a staging copy of your website. Only once it’s working do we upgrade the live site and check it again.
If a plugin or extension hasn’t been updated by its developer, we’ll look for a suitable alternative. Where there isn’t one, we’ll recommend the best way forward, which may include updating the code ourselves.
Yes. Newer PHP versions usually run faster, which can improve page load times. They’re also more efficient, so they need less server power and lower your website’s carbon footprint. They also keep your website compatible with current plugins and extensions.
We test every upgrade on a staging copy first, so issues are found before they reach your live website. The switch on the live site itself is usually quick, and we’ll let you know if any downtime is expected.
