Products can reach the end of their lifecycle for a number of reasons. For example, this can happen due to market demands, technology innovations that drive changes in the product, or products maturing over time and being replaced by functionally richer technologies.
To help customers better manage this end-of-life transition and to understand the role that Sitecore can play in helping customers use the latest Sitecore platforms and technologies, the Sitecore Product Support Lifecycle policy is explained here.
For the Sitecore products listed in this article, support packages (the Support Type) offer up to 8 years of support from the general availability date (the initial release date). Support for updates or service packs terminates with the end of support of the initial release.
The following table describes differences between phases of the Sitecore Product Support Lifecycle:
| Support Type | Mainstream Support Phase | Extended Support Phase | Sustaining Support Phase |
| Sitecore online documentation, knowledge base, and discussion forums access | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Assistance with product version upgrades | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Assistance with production incidents | ✓ | ✓ | $ |
| Security updates and fixes | ✓ | ✓ | - |
| Assistance with errors or unexpected behavior during installation or development | ✓ | $ | - |
| Addressing product defects as hotfixes or patches | ✓ | $ | - |
| Compatibility fixes for supported technology platforms | ✓ | - | - |
| Timeline for each support phase, counted from the product's general availability date | 3 years | 6 years | 8 years |
Legend:
| ✓ | Included |
| $ | Contact regional office for support options |
| - | Not available |
Note: For more information about the Sitecore Versioning Policy, visit KB0077333.
The following table describes current phases of the Sitecore Product Support Lifecycle for various Sitecore products, as well as the expected dates for transitioning to the subsequent support phases.
| Product | Initial Release Date | Mainstream Support End Date | Extended Support End Date | Sustaining Support End Date |
| Sitecore 10.4 | Apr 2024 | 31-Dec-2027 | 31-Dec-2030 | 31-Dec-2032 |
| Sitecore 10.3 | Dec 2022 | 31-Dec-2025 | 31-Dec-2028 | 31-Dec-2030 |
| Sitecore 10.2 | Nov 2021 | 31-Dec-2024 | 31-Dec-2027 | 31-Dec-2029 |
| Sitecore 10.1 | Feb 2021 | 31-Dec-2023 | 31-Dec-2026 | 31-Dec-2028 |
| Sitecore 10.0 | Aug 2020 | 31-Dec-2023 | 31-Dec-2026 | 31-Dec-2028 |
| Sitecore 9.3 | Nov 2019 | 31-Dec-2022 | 31-Dec-2025 | 31-Dec-2027 |
| Sitecore 9.2 | Jul 2019 | 31-Dec-2022 | 31-Dec-2025 | 31-Dec-2027 |
| Sitecore 9.1 | Nov 2018 | 31-Dec-2021 | 31-Dec-2024 | 31-Dec-2026 |
| Sitecore 9.0 | Oct 2017 | 31-Dec-2020 | 31-Dec-2023 | 31-Dec-2025 |
| Sitecore 8.2 | Aug 2016 | 31-Dec-2019 | 31-Dec-2022 | 31-Dec-2025 |
| Sitecore 8.1 | Oct 2015 | 31-Dec-2018 | 31-Dec-2022 | 31-Dec-2023 |
| Sitecore 8.0 | Dec 2014 | 31-Dec-2018 | 31-Dec-2022 | 31-Dec-2023 |
| Sitecore 7.5 | Oct 2014 | 31-Dec-2017 | 30-Jun-2021 | 31-Dec-2022 |
| Sitecore 7.2 | Feb 2014 | 31-Dec-2017 | 30-Jun-2021 | 31-Dec-2022 |
| Sitecore 7.1 | Sep 2013 | 31-Dec-2016 | 31-Dec-2019 | 31-Dec-2021 |
| Sitecore 7.0 | Apr 2013 | 31-Dec-2016 | 31-Dec-2019 | 31-Dec-2021 |
| Sitecore 6.6 | Sep 2012 | 31-Dec-2015 | 31-Dec-2018 | 31-Dec-2020 |
| Sitecore 6.5 | Jun 2011 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2017 | 31-Dec-2020 |
| Sitecore 6.4 | Oct 2010 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2016 | 31-Dec-2020 |
| Sitecore 6.3 | Jul 2010 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2016 | 31-Dec-2020 |
| Sitecore 6.2 | Oct 2009 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2015 | 31-Dec-2020 |
| Sitecore 6.1 | Jun 2009 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2015 | 31-Dec-2020 |
| Sitecore 6.0 | Jun 2008 | 30-Jun-2015 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2016 |
| Sitecore 5.3 | 2006 | - | - | 30-Jun-2015 |
| Sitecore 5.2 | 2006 | - | - | 30-Jun-2015 |
| Sitecore 5.1 | 2005 | - | - | 30-Jun-2015 |
| Sitecore 4.3 | 2004 | - | - | 30-Jun-2015 |
Sitecore Intranet Portal | ||||
| Sitecore Intranet Platform 4.1 | 2013 | 30-Jun-2016 | 31-Dec-2019 | 31-Dec-2021 |
| Sitecore Intranet Platform 4.0 | 2013 | 30-Jun-2016 | 31-Dec-2019 | 31-Dec-2021 |
| Sitecore Intranet Portal 3.3 | 2011 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2017 | 31-Dec-2019 |
| Sitecore Intranet Portal 3.2 | 2011 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2017 | 31-Dec-2019 |
| Sitecore Intranet Portal 3.1 | 2010 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2016 | 31-Dec-2018 |
| Sitecore Intranet Portal 3.0 | 2009 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2015 | 31-Dec-2017 |
Sitecore Foundry | ||||
| Sitecore Foundry 3.0 | 2009 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2015 | 31-Dec-2017 |
| Sitecore Foundry 2.1 | 2008 | 30-Jun-2015 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2016 |
| Sitecore Foundry 2.0 | 2008 | 30-Jun-2015 | 30-Jun-2015 | 31-Dec-2016 |
Prior to introducing new products, technologies, or features to be covered by the Mainstream Support Phase, Sitecore might decide to make them available under the Experimental Support label.
The Experimental Support label means that the product or technology is currently at the early stage of its lifecycle. Even though the product has been proven to work, Sitecore might not currently provide extensive documentation, services, or training materials, and might not have fully integrated the product into the company's quality assurance process.
For Experimental Support products or features, Sitecore provides assistance with troubleshooting associated technical issues. There is, however, no guarantee that a solution might be available. Sitecore does not guarantee that Experimental Support products or features will be adopted into the Mainstream Support Phase at a later date, or that appropriate upgrade paths to a Mainstream Supported version of the product or technology will be provided.
The following references contain additional information about the support lifecycle for Sitecore Products: