Mautic first introduced a release strategy with the 3.0 series, where we established a regular cadence of quarterly feature releases, monthly bug fix releases and an annual major release. While this brought us some benefits in terms of regularity of release cycles, it has also been quite a challenge for businesses who have needed to regularly update Mautic and their third party plugins, and for our Product Team.

We’ve listened to a lot of feedback from across the community and we have decided to slightly adjust our release strategy to better streamline our processes without stifling innovation.

Our goals with this updated release strategy are:

• Predictable releases which are on-time 
• Ensure Mautic is always up to date with releases from our major dependencies
• Rapid release of bug fixes and new features when fully tested and reviewed
• Longer support periods for major versions, with minor releases for 12 months followed by a long period of feature stability

 In summary, we will:

• Move to a 24-month release cycle between major releases, which is aligned with that of Symfony - Mautic’s primary dependency and underlying framework
• Move to time-based releases (from a mix of time and feature based)
• Extend support for each Major version so that it’s supported for at least 18 months
• Continue with monthly patch (bug-fix) releases during the active support period
• Provide one security release each quarter during the active and security support period, where fixes are ready to release (and any urgent out-of-cycle releases as deemed necessary by the Security Team)

Below you will find a detailed explanation of our new release strategy.

Establishing a Long Term Support (LTS) version

To date Mautic has never had an official Long Term Support (LTS) version - we continually shipped feature releases quarterly until a new release was out, and then we stopped supporting the previous version within a matter of months. 

This is painful for businesses with complex installations or agencies supporting large numbers of versions, because:

• They want stability more than continuous change, and 
• They need time to test and update the new Major release for their instances (and sometimes have to wait for third party plugins to be available and mature) however bug fixes are no longer provided for their current versions.

Now, we’re going to ensure that the previous version of Mautic is supported for at least six months after the General Availability release of the next Long Term Support version.

Generally speaking after Mautic 6.0 (which is a special series - more on that later) the Long Term Support version will be the *.3 release of any series, unless there is some unexpected need to issue more minor releases.

For example, Mautic 7.3 will be the LTS release in the 7.x series, and that will receive bug fix updates through until the end of 2026 when it will then receive security fixes for another year.

This means that going forward each release series will eventually be actively supported for at least three years from the General Availability release, when you consider active support and security support.

Establishing an Extended Long Term Support (ELTS) program

Following debate within the community, an Extended Long Term Support (ELTS) program is being developed which aims to launch in Q1 2025. This will see us offering a paid service which provides subscribers with security fixes for an additional period of two years (paid in annual subscriptions) from the end of security support, after which that release series reaches End of Life.

The ELTS will be an annual subscription which is paid at the beginning of the calendar year for the following 12 months, on a per-instance basis. More details on this will be released by the ELTS working group in due course.

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Establishing a clearly defined release cadence

In the past we had aimed to release at the end of the month on the last Monday, but recently this has become more sporadic as we fell into the trap of trying to get specific features or bug fixes merged into a release, resulting in delays. 

Now, we’re going to move to a strictly time-based release process. Whatever is ready, tested, documented and merged on release day will be included in the release. Everything else will have to wait for a later release. The Product Team will continue to have a bounties fund which they can use to incentivize fixing specific bugs which need to be addressed and where there isn't existing interest.

Major releases have a clearly documented Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate feature freeze - if features are not ready, they will not be considered for that release. Minor releases will have a Release Candidate freeze the month prior to release and no further features will be considered after this date.

We will also ensure that the second release in a quarter is a security release where there are security fixes ready to be released. This gives Mautic users more clarity on when to expect these fixes to come over, and also means the security team are primed with clear dates in mind to get their work deployed to Mautic users.

Catching up with Symfony releases

Since Mautic 3 we’ve been playing catch up with Symfony releases, which has meant that Mautic has only just managed to deploy a new version before security support ends for a series of Symfony releases. This is quite painful for larger businesses who require their software to be running on actively supported versions, and it also puts a great deal of pressure on the Product Team to cram a lot of changes into a release with very tight deadlines.

We are planning to address this in a couple of ways:

1. We will make Mautic 6.0 - which supports Symfony 6.x - a ‘bridging release’ which will only be supported for 21 months from the General Availability release, plus one year of ELTS support rather than two.
    
   • Mautic 6.0 General Availability will be released in Q1 2025
      
   • This will be the LTS version of Mautic 6.x - there won’t be any other feature releases in this series, only patch releases
      
   •  Mautic 6.x will become End of Life after 12 months of ELTS support, in October 2027, with Symfony 6.x being End of Life in November 2027.
      
2. After 6.0 is released, all future features will be on the 7.x branch
   • Mautic 7.x will support Symfony 7.x 
   • Mautic 7.3 will be the LTS version
   • Security support ends at the end of 2027

ELTS support will extend until the end of 2029, when both Mautic 7 and Symfony 7 will reach end of life.

Sponsored releases

The biggest blocker for Mautic's ability to sustain its progress is having the resources to lead and support releases.

Going forward, we will have the option for companies and organizations to sponsor a release, which means their logos and links will be prominently linked on the release notes and the website, along with all communications associated with the release.

In exchange, they can either fund or provide in kind the services of a developer who will work with the release team, moving that release through from planning to deployment.

Conclusion

To wrap up, we're really looking forward to implementing this new release strategy to better serve our community. By moving towards a 24-month release cycle, focusing on time-based releases and extending support for each major version, we're taking steps towards a more predictable, stable future for Mautic from which all benefit.

The introduction of an official Long Term Support (LTS) version and providing a paid-for Extended Long Term Support (ELTS) program demonstrates our commitment to providing greater stability for those users who require it, without sacrificing innovation.

By catching up and keeping pace with Symfony releases, we can ensure we're always providing the latest technology and features while removing technical debt, ensuring Mautic is using the latest versions of the secure and modern framework on which we depend.

We're confident that these changes will help to streamline our processes, enhance our product and inspire future growth and innovation. This is an exciting new chapter in Mautic's journey and we're looking forward to embarking on this journey together with our community. Here's to a bright future for Mautic!