MySQL 8.0 end of life arrived in April 2026, when Oracle's Extended Support for it ended and the community release stopped getting fixes. If you run it on AWS RDS, the date that hits your invoice is different: RDS standard support for 8.0 ended on July 31, 2026, and since August 1 you are paying for RDS Extended Support whether you planned to or not.
You have three real options: upgrade to MySQL 8.4 LTS, upgrade to 9.7 LTS, or keep paying for Extended Support while you plan. Here is how to choose.
Key Takeaways
- Oracle's lifetime support policy lists MySQL 8.0 Extended Support as ending April 2026; RDS standard support ended July 31, 2026.
- MySQL 8.4 LTS has Premier support until April 2029 and is the only in-place major upgrade RDS offers from 8.0 today.
- The breaking change most teams hit is authentication: `mysql_native_password` is no longer enabled by default in 8.4.
- RDS Extended Support is billed per vCPU-hour, on primaries, standbys and replicas, and the rate doubles in year three.
MySQL 8.0 End of Life Dates, Self-Hosted and Managed
| Platform | MySQL 8.0 date | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Oracle / community | Premier ended Apr 2025, Extended ended Apr 2026 | No more upstream fixes |
| AWS RDS for MySQL | Standard support ended Jul 31, 2026 | Extended Support billing since Aug 1, 2026; ends Jul 31, 2029 |
| Aurora MySQL v3 (8.0 compatible) | Standard support until Apr 30, 2028 | More time, Extended Support after that |
| Azure Database for MySQL | Standard support until Jan 31, 2027 | Extended Support Feb 1, 2027 to May 31, 2029 |
Sources: AWS RDS MySQL version management, the Aurora MySQL release calendar, and Microsoft's Azure MySQL version policy.
Aurora users are in the best spot: 8.0-compatible Aurora v3 keeps standard support into 2028. Plain RDS users are already paying.
MySQL 8.4 or 9.7?
MySQL now ships LTS releases with five years of Premier support and three years of extended support. Two LTS lines are live:
- 8.4 LTS: Premier until April 2029, Extended until April 2032. Supported on RDS as an in-place major upgrade from 8.0.
- 9.7 LTS: released April 21, 2026. Premier until April 2031, Extended until April 2034. On RDS it is only in the Database Preview environment, which is not for production.
For anyone on RDS, the choice makes itself: go to 8.4 now. Self-hosted teams can consider 9.7 for the extra two years, but MySQL's upgrade path rules do not let you skip an LTS series, so 8.0 goes through 8.4 first anyway. I would do 8.4 now and plan 9.7 as a later, smaller step.
What Breaks in the 8.0 to 8.4 Upgrade
From the official What Is New in MySQL 8.4:
- Authentication. "The deprecated `mysql_native_password` authentication plugin is no longer enabled by default." Old drivers and users created years ago with native passwords fail to connect. You can turn it back on with `--mysql-native-password=ON`, which is a bridge, not a plan. (Azure keeps it enabled on every version.)
- `default_authentication_plugin` is removed. Config files that set it fail at startup; use `authentication_policy`.
- MASTER/SLAVE syntax is gone. `SHOW SLAVE STATUS` becomes `SHOW REPLICA STATUS`, `CHANGE MASTER TO` becomes `CHANGE REPLICATION SOURCE TO`. Monitoring scripts and runbooks break here more than app code.
- InnoDB defaults changed, including `innodb_adaptive_hash_index` now OFF and `innodb_io_capacity` at 10000. Benchmark your heaviest queries; most workloads are fine, a few are not.
- Removed tools and options: `mysql_upgrade`, `mysqlpump`, `--ssl` and `have_ssl`. Backup scripts that use `mysqlpump` need rewriting.
- `AUTO_INCREMENT` on FLOAT or DOUBLE columns now errors. Old schemas occasionally have one.
A Concrete Version
A fintech startup runs RDS for MySQL 8.0: one primary with 4 vCPU, a Multi-AZ standby with 4 vCPU, and one 4 vCPU read replica. That is 12 vCPU billed for Extended Support.
AWS's RDS for MySQL pricing page gives a worked US East (Ohio) example of $0.100 per vCPU-hour in years one and two, then $0.200 from year three (rates vary by region, and Reserved Instance discounts do not apply). Using the Ohio example:
- 12 vCPU x $0.100 x 730 hours = $876 per month, about $10,500 a year, on top of the instance cost.
- From August 2028: 12 x $0.200 x 730 = $1,752 per month.
The upgrade itself, for a 300-table schema and three services:
- Audit users and drivers for `mysql_native_password`, rotate to `caching_sha2_password`: 2 days.
- Fix config, replication scripts, monitoring queries, backup tooling: 2 days.
- Restore a snapshot to an 8.4 instance, run the app's test suite and a replay of production queries: 3 days.
- Blue/green switchover on RDS during a low-traffic window, with rollback ready: 1 day.
About 8 engineer-days. Even at a fully loaded senior rate of $1,000 a day, that is $8,000, less than one year of Extended Support for this setup, and the support bill keeps running (and doubles) until you do it.
The Honest Counterpoint
Paying for Extended Support is a legitimate decision in two cases. If the database backs a product you are retiring within a year, a few thousand dollars of support beats a migration nobody will remember. And if you are mid-way through moving to Aurora or Postgres, upgrading MySQL first is double work.
The bad version is drifting into it. You can easily find Extended Support on an August AWS bill without anyone having decided to pay it. That is the database version of technical debt with interest. If you are weighing a bigger move instead, read rewrite or refactor first. Running Postgres too? The Postgres 13 end of life has the same Extended Support math.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is MySQL 8.0 end of life?
Oracle's Extended Support for MySQL 8.0 ended in April 2026, and the community end of life was April 30, 2026. On RDS, standard support ended July 31, 2026.
Should I upgrade from MySQL 8.0 to 8.4 or 9.7?
On RDS, 8.4: it is the only supported in-place major upgrade from 8.0 today, and 9.7 is preview-only there. Self-hosted, 8.4 first, then 9.7 later if you want support to 2031.
How much does RDS Extended Support for MySQL 8.0 cost?
It is billed per vCPU-hour, including standbys and replicas. AWS's US East (Ohio) example is $0.100 per vCPU-hour in years one and two and $0.200 from year three. Check your region's rate.
The Bottom Line
If you are on RDS MySQL 8.0, you are paying for Extended Support right now. The 8.4 upgrade usually takes one to two engineer-weeks and pays for itself quickly. If you want a senior backend or DevOps engineer to run it, request a shortlist. The .NET 8 and Python 3.10 deadlines may be on your list too.
Roberto Espinoza is CEO of Ruzora, which helps US startups hire pre-vetted senior LATAM engineers, with a vetted shortlist in 72 hours. See available engineers.
