MySQL 26.10 and Calendar Versioning: Which MySQL Should You Run in Production?

If you last looked at MySQL versions a year ago, the current release list can be confusing. After MySQL 8.4 and 9.7 came 26.7 in July 2026, and on 20 October Oracle shipped MySQL 26.10. MySQL has moved to calendar versioning. The change is mostly cosmetic, but it is a good moment to re-check which version your production systems should be on.

How the new version numbers work

• The version is year and month: 26.7 is the July 2026 release, 26.10 is October 2026. The month has no leading zero.
• Innovation releases come out roughly every quarter, each one bumping the number. They carry new features and are aimed at teams that want them early and can upgrade frequently.
• LTS (long-term support) releases come out about every two years and keep their number for their whole life. MySQL 8.4 and 9.7 remain LTS releases with their existing names and support timelines; the next LTS is planned as 28.4 in April 2028.

For people who need to know exactly what is running, MySQL 26.10 adds a "four-part exact release identity": VERSION_WITH_UPDATE() returns the full MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.UPDATE value, while VERSION() keeps returning the familiar three-part version so existing tools do not break.

What is new in 26.10

The official "What is new" page for 26.10 is short. Apart from the release identity it lists finer control over JSON duality views: CHECK/NO CHECK and UPDATE/NO UPDATE annotations at table and column level. Oracle's release announcement also highlights more capabilities in Community Edition and new options for building REST applications. None of this is a reason on its own to move a stable production system to an Innovation release.

Which version should production run?

• Still on MySQL 8.0? Oracle ended support for 8.0 in April 2026. This is the most urgent case: plan a move to 8.4 LTS, or to 9.7 LTS if you want newer features and your tools support it.
• On 8.4 LTS: you are fine. Keep applying the quarterly updates and plan the next LTS jump on your own schedule.
• Considering Innovation releases (26.x): only if you have the automation and testing to upgrade every quarter. An Innovation release is not meant to be installed once and left alone for years.
• Cloud-managed MySQL: check which versions your provider offers. Managed services usually follow LTS releases, and support timelines for older engines often come with extra charges.

Upgrade checklist

1. Check application drivers and ORMs against the target version, especially authentication: mysql_native_password is disabled by default in 8.4 and removed from 9.x onwards.
2. Run MySQL Shell's upgrade checker (util.checkForServerUpgrade()) against each server.
3. Test on a copy of production data and compare query plans for your heaviest queries.
4. Upgrade replicas first, then switch the primary, so you always have a known-good fallback.

And if a forced upgrade has you asking whether MySQL is still the right engine, our MySQL to PostgreSQL migration guide covers what such a move involves.