{"id":108435,"date":"2026-02-18T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/?p=108435"},"modified":"2026-02-17T11:02:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T11:02:35","slug":"how-to-safely-use-mysql-8-0-post-end-of-life-and-other-alternatives-to-consider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/databases\/mysql\/how-to-safely-use-mysql-8-0-post-end-of-life-and-other-alternatives-to-consider\/","title":{"rendered":"How to safely use MySQL 8.0 post end-of-life (and alternatives to consider)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Regardless of how popular a specific software appliance is, particular versions of it are inevitably phased out over time, paving the way for new ones. MySQL<\/a>, the DB-Engines DBMS of the Year in 2025<\/a>, is perfect proof of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MySQL 8.0 was officially released<\/a> on April 19, 2018, and now its official End-Of-Life (EOL) is set for April 2026, 8 years later. Oracle<\/a> will stop providing security patches, bug fixes and general support for the RDBMS after this date. But what if you want to continue using it – and should you? Let’s find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does ‘end-of-life’ for MySQL 8.0 really mean?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you’re reading this at the time of publication (February 2026), April will soon be here, so now is the time to think about the options available to you when it comes to MySQL 8.0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what do you do? First, think about what can happen once the date arrives. Generally, when a product reaches its end of life, it\u2019s no longer officially supported. What exactly<\/em> happens next is up to the vendor, which in this case is MySQL (not MySQL in general: a specific version of MySQL – 8.0.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, it’s simple: no further updates will be made. Users will be strongly encouraged to upgrade or migrate to MariaDB<\/a> or Percona Server<\/a> if they want new features or security improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s worth noting that EOL is the last step of the MySQL 8.0 support phase, which goes as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n

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  1. Active support: new features, bug fixes, and security improvements are released.

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  2. General support: no new features are introduced, but security improvements are sometimes released.

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  3. End of life: the specific version of the software is discontinued, so no further updates are made to it. You can<\/em> continue to use the version – nobody’s forcing<\/em> you to move or upgrade – but it’s recommended to do so. Continuing to use a discontinued version comes at your own peril.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Now’s the time to make a decision – especially if you haven’t yet upgraded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Using MySQL 8.0 post end-of-life: what are the options?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    If you want to stay with MySQL 8.0 after its April 2026 EOL, you do have the assurance of Oracle’s 5 years of Premier Support for most major versions of the software, as well as 5 years of Extended Support.

    Exact dates for these may vary, but here’s what ChatGPT says:<\/p>\n\n\n

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    1. Premier Support should be ongoing from 2018 (depending on when you\u2019re reading this, it may or may have not ended.)
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    2. Extended Support typically lasts 5 years after the date Premier Support comes to life. Learn more on Oracle’s website<\/a>.

      So, you can<\/em> continue using MySQL 8.0 knowing that it should be supported by Premier or Extended support for a couple more years, but you could also upgrade to a newer version of the system. The latter may be the most straightforward and logical option for many; at the time of writing, you can choose to stay with MySQL 8 and try version 8.4, or even give version 9 a go.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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      MySQL schema comparison for faster, safer deployments<\/h3>\n
      \n Keep your development, test, and production environments aligned with Redgate Schema Compare for MySQL. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n Learn more & try for free<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

      What are some suitable alternatives to MySQL?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      You could consider alternatives to MySQL, especially if your requirements for the software have changed – now’s the time to try something different! After all, you don\u2019t have to go far to find database management systems doing almost exactly the same thing as MySQL and providing almost the same UX<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For example, if you think you could do with BASE instead of ACID<\/a>, why not try MongoDB<\/a> – and learn all about it on Simple Talk<\/a>? There’s also MariaDB<\/a> and Percona Server<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      You could also try Cassandra<\/a> and, if you\u2019ve used SQL clients, why not try ClickHouse?<\/a> Fun fact – former SQL client Arctype<\/a> is now part of ClickHouse under ClickHouse Cloud.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Aside from considering RDBMS alternatives, you may be able to leverage managed database services<\/a> to assist you as well…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      What are managed database services?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      If you don\u2019t want to upgrade MySQL or the process itself seems daunting (it\u2019s not that hard – believe me<\/a>), consider using managed database services such as Amazon RDS<\/a>, Google Cloud SQL<\/a> or Azure Database for MySQL<\/a>. This approach would enable you to defer all of the heavy lifting of maintenance, upgrades, patches and backups to the services themselves, allowing you to focus on the work you need to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      How to prepare for – and prevent – disaster with MySQL 8.0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      If you’ve assessed your options and still want to stick with MySQL 8.0, I\u2019m not saying that not<\/em> updating your MySQL instances will always result in disaster, but there are<\/em> steps you can take to continue using it safely. Let’s firstly look at how exactly one uses MySQL 8.0:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Put simply, many MySQL 8.0 users will use features not present in other versions of the software or its counterparts. These include (but are not limited to) utf8mb4 as a default character set<\/a>, roles (collections of privileges)<\/a>, window functions<\/a>, and Common Table Expressions (CTEs)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Future-proof database monitoring with Redgate Monitor<\/h3>\n
      \n Multi-platform database observability for your entire estate. Optimize performance, ensure security, and mitigate potential risks with fast deep-dive analysis, intelligent alerting, and AI-powered insights. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n Learn more & try for free<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

      If you stay with MySQL 8.0, it\u2019s crucial to understand what you can and cannot do. Understand that:<\/p>\n\n\n

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