It’s finally happening. After years of dragging legacy weight, WordPress PHP Support is taking a significant step forward. WordPress 7.0, scheduled for April 2026, will officially drop support for PHP 7.2 and 7.3. As a developer who has spent far too many hours writing polyfills for ancient environments, I can tell you: this isn’t just a “version bump.” It’s a mandatory cleanup for the ecosystem.
Historically, the WordPress project has used a 5% usage baseline to decide when a PHP version is ready for retirement. Currently, the combined usage of PHP 7.2 and 7.3 has dipped below 4%. Consequently, the Core team has greenlit the move to make PHP 7.4.0 the new minimum supported version. While the recommended version remains 8.3, raising the floor allows us to finally stop worrying about the technical debt associated with these EOL (End of Life) versions.
Why This Move Matters for Performance
When we talk about WordPress PHP Support, we aren’t just talking about compatibility; we are talking about performance bottlenecks. PHP 7.4 introduced several features that significantly improved the developer experience and execution speed, such as arrow functions and typed properties. Maintaining code that must remain compatible with 7.2 means we often have to skip these optimizations.
In contrast, running a site on PHP 7.4 or 8.x isn’t just about speed—it’s about security. PHP 7.2 and 7.3 haven’t received official security patches from the PHP group in years. By forcing an upgrade, WordPress is essentially pushing the entire hosting industry to move toward more secure infrastructure. If you’re still on these older versions, your site is a sitting duck for exploits that have been patched in the 8.x branch.
The Impact on Modern Tooling
Furthermore, the Gutenberg plugin is also raising its minimum version to 7.4. This is crucial because modern JavaScript-to-PHP bridges and AI libraries require the more robust type-handling found in newer PHP versions. Specifically, if we want to integrate advanced AI features into Core, we need a runtime that doesn’t choke on modern syntax. I’ve discussed this roadmap in my previous post on WordPress Core updates and the PHP drop.
How to Check Your Current Environment
If you aren’t sure what version you’re running, don’t guess. Use the tools at your disposal. You can check this via the WordPress Site Health tool, or if you prefer the command line like I do, use WP-CLI. It’s the most reliable way to avoid any race conditions or transients that might give you cached info in the dashboard.
# Check PHP version via WP-CLI
wp eval 'echo PHP_VERSION;'
# Or get a full environment report
wp core infoFor those of you writing custom plugins, you should start adding version checks to your bootstrap files now. Use a pattern like this to ensure your users don’t break their sites when WordPress 7.0 drops:
<?php
/**
* Plugin Name: BBIoon Custom Logic
*/
function bbioon_check_php_version() {
if ( version_compare( PHP_VERSION, '7.4.0', '<' ) ) {
deactivate_plugins( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) );
wp_die( 'This plugin requires PHP 7.4 or higher.' );
}
}
register_activation_hook( __FILE__, 'bbioon_check_php_version' );What Happens If You Can’t Upgrade?
There is a safety net, but it’s a small one. Sites running PHP 7.2 or 7.3 will stay on the WordPress 6.9 branch once 7.0 is released. While security fixes are often backported as a “courtesy” down to version 4.7, you will be cut off from all new features, performance enhancements, and block editor updates. Effectively, your site becomes a legacy archive. For more details on versioning, check the Official WordPress Core Handbook.
Look, if this WordPress PHP Support stuff is eating up your dev hours, let me handle it. I’ve been wrestling with WordPress since the 4.x days and have migrated hundreds of legacy sites to modern stacks.
The Bottom Line for 2026
April 2026 seems far away, but in the enterprise world, that’s tomorrow. Therefore, you should start auditing your themes and plugins now. Check for deprecated functions and ensure your hosting provider supports at least PHP 8.2 (the current sweet spot for stability). Transitioning now is a proactive move; waiting until 2026 is a recipe for a broken site during a critical update. For a deep dive into what else is coming, read my breakdown of WordPress 7.0 developer features.
