I wrote about the Craft 6 announcement a few weeks back at the Craft Dot All conference. The big news is the move to Laravel. In this post, I cover some of the FAQ's that have come up since then.
When does Craft 6 come out?
You can actually test Craft 6 right now, though a big NOTE: it's an alpha release, so things will change. The beta, which will be feature complete, comes in quarter 3 of 2026, and the official release of Craft 6, in all its glory, will be released in quarter 4 of 2026. In one year, the full release of Craft 6 should be with us. I say 'should' because these dates could change, but that's what Pixel and Tonic are aiming for right now, and I wouldn't expect them to be far off from it.
When should I try out Craft CMS 6?
If I were a plugin developer and I had the time, I'd be kicking the tyres right now. However, 1: I'm not a plugin developer and 2: time isn't something many of us in the web development world have. Laravel is a huge move from Yii, so I'm sure developers will be trying out Craft 6 in alpha as soon as they can. Remember, there is an adapter that lets all Craft 5 plugins run in Craft 6, meaning very little, if any, porting will be needed. In my interview with leading Craft developer Josh Crawford, he said he would use the adapter if needed. Ideally, all plugins should be developed for Craft 6, but this adapter provides an easier alternative. As a builder of Craft sites, I plan to keep a close eye on Craft 6 news in the months ahead, but I'll really only build my first Craft 6 site —just as a test —as soon as the beta comes out.
How long will Craft 5 be supported for?
Craft 5 will be supported for five years once Craft 6 is officially released. This should give developers plenty of time to update their sites.
When should I build with Craft 6?
Whilst I plan to get many hands dirty with Craft 6 when the beta comes out, I'll wait to get a full live site running in Craft 6 until the official release, scheduled for quarter 4 2026.
When should I upgrade to Craft 6?
I normally hold off on all big version upgrades, as there will likely be issues. (Note, I say upgrade here; this is different from a new build, which I'll proceed with once the full Craft 6 release takes place.) As a Craft CMS developer I plan to attempt my first upgrade in January 2027. That should give enough time for little niggles to be fully worked out and for the upgrade process to be nailed down. I generally hold off on upgrades on all software, despite being keen to try out the new features
If you have any questions or anything you'd like to add, hit me up in X/Twitter.
Written by John Macpherson