Laravel 7 is officially the end of life as of March 3rd, 2021, and it will not receive any more security fixes. Apps on Laravel 7 are encouraged to upgrade to Laravel 8.
Here's what the Laravel support policy is shaping up to look like with Laravel 9 on the horizon as the next long-term support (LTS) version:
| Version | Release | Bug Fixes Until | Security Fixes Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 (LTS) | September 3rd, 2019 | September 7th, 2021 | September 6th, 2022 |
| 7 | March 3rd, 2020 | October 6th, 2020 | March 3rd, 2021 |
| 8 | September 8th, 2020 | March 1st, 2022 | September 6th, 2022 |
| 9 (LTS) | September, 2021 | September, 2023 | September, 2024 |
| 10 | September, 2022 | March, 2024 | September, 2024 |
Laravel 7 introduced some awesome new features into the Laravel ecosystem that set the stage for further enhancements in more recent versions:
- Laravel Sanctum
- First-party HTTP Client
- Custom Eloquent Casts
- Blade Component Tags & Improvements
- Route Caching Speed Improvements
If you are unfamiliar with how Laravel releases work, our How the Laravel Release Process Works article should bring you up-to-speed. Laravel also moved to a yearly major release cycle (for example, Laravel 9 to Laravel 10), which means major versions happen annually instead of every six months. Laravel 9 is scheduled to release in September 2021, followed by Laravel 10 in September 2022.
Also, don’t forget about Laravel Shift if you want an easy way of updating.
