The TYPO3 Association attaches great importance to security and technological progress. For this reason, there is a clear release strategy. Every main release (v8, v9, v10, etc.) is provided with security updates free of charge for 3 years from the date of release as part of Long Term Support (LTS). After that, it is possible to purchase an ELTS (Extended Long Term Support) licence from TYPO3 GmbH.
According to the current status:
TYPO3 is based on the PHP programming language. PHP also follows a release plan.
Accordingly
The relevant TYPO3 versions 8,9,10 and 11 correlate with the current PHP versions as follows:
Notes:
PHP, in contrast to TYPO3 (which can be called an "application"), is a basic technology close to the system. The use of PHP versions is very strictly limited by the providers according to the above release plan. This is partly due to the fact that many hosting packages run on a "shared server". This means that several customers of a provider "share" a server. Security gaps at one customer (e.g. when using an outdated PHP version) can therefore also make the systems of other customers (who use modern software) vulnerable. For this reason, one cannot expect a delay from the provider.
The individual TYPO3 versions only support certain PHP versions (see roadmap https://typo3.org/cms/roadmap). From version TYPO3 v8 upwards, PHP 7.4 is supported. For the successor version PHP 8.0, there is still no official statement from the TYPO3 Association. However, it can be assumed that support will be offered from version 10 onwards (otherwise an LTS would not be possible either).
Because of the current situation and with a view to a stable, powerful and secure TYPO3 installation in the long term, we recommend that you update to version 10.