WordPress and PHP 8.5 Compatibility: Tested on Real Websites

Yes, WordPress runs on PHP 8.5. WordPress 6.9, 7.0 and 7.1 support it officially, and we run it for real: on 10 November 2026, all 25 live WordPress sites we host were on PHP 8.5, 15 of them with WooCommerce.

Is WordPress compatible with the latest PHP? Like every year, we were curious. And like every year, we tried it on our own sites first. We switched a few simple WordPress sites to PHP 8.5. Fatal errors: zero. Then the complex ones. Then the stores. Rinse and repeat.

To be clear: at Web Aloha we don’t “test” PHP compatibility on a fresh WordPress install with a default theme. Honestly, who needs that? That’s like testing a car by turning the engine on and off and calling it a day.

Below you’ll find real WordPress sites owned by real businesses, the plugins they run on PHP 8.5, and the checklist we use when we switch a site. Don’t take our word for it: every site here can be checked with our free PHP Version Checker.

Security update, 21 October 2026: PHP 8.5.12 contains fixes for two critical runtime vulnerabilities, and it is the release our sites report below. See the fixed versions and host confirmation checklist. Running PHP 8.5 without the patch is not enough; confirm the installed release or vendor backport.

Official support boundary

The WordPress Core PHP compatibility matrix lists PHP 8.5 as supported by WordPress 6.9, 7.0 and 7.1, and not by WordPress 6.8 or earlier:

WordPress first prepared PHP 8.5 support in 6.9. In May 2026, the project retired the older beta-support label and documented 6.9 and 7.0 as fully supporting PHP 8.5. The current matrix also lists 7.1.

So the order matters: update WordPress first, switch PHP second.

WordPress websites running on PHP 8.5

On 10 November 2026 we checked every WordPress site on our own server from the outside: response headers, page source and the public REST API index. Here is what came back:

• 25 of 25 run PHP 8.5.
• 24 of 25 report PHP 8.5.12 in a public response header. The last one hides that header and sits on the same server.
• 15 of 25 run WooCommerce.
• Every site that shows its WordPress version is on WordPress 7.1.
• All 25 are served by LiteSpeed.

Go ahead and double-check us. Paste any domain below into the checker and it reads the same header we did. The WordPress Version Checker shows the WordPress version a site reveals.

Check a site’s PHP version

WordPress websites using PHP 8.5

• Scorpio Agencies: textile agents and suppliers, New Zealand
• Doublerum: fishing charters in Auckland, New Zealand
• iFit West Cork: gymnastics classes, Ireland
• Gavort: shipbuilding and industrial services
• Art and Real Trust: product site for the XLGuard rope protector
• LoretaFoods: food business, site in German
• Vespa ir Jūra: Vespa scooter rental, Lithuania
• Baldų Duomenys: furniture restoration, Lithuania
• Mantas Junevičius: real estate broker, Lithuania
• Kiek kainuoja jūsų NT: property valuation, Lithuania

WooCommerce websites using PHP 8.5

• Mileti Hats: handmade hat store, Lithuania
• Trouble Maker: linen clothing for children, Lithuania
• Kėdė Stalas: online furniture store, Lithuania
• Juodasis Alksnis: furniture store, Lithuania
• Benefits of Nature: natural health and beauty products, Lithuania
• Maistas yra Vaistas: health articles, shop and festival, Lithuania
• Mąstau ką valgau: nutrition coaching, Lithuania
• Skanus Žmogus: plant-based recipe blog, Lithuania
• Pajūrio Masažai: massage studio and gift vouchers, Lithuania
• LLL Wellness: wellness retreats, Lithuania
• Kikoi Connection: community organisation, United Kingdom
• JanBeauty: eyelash extensions, trainings and products, United Kingdom
• Dryness New Zealand: incontinence products, New Zealand
• Auckland Face Masks: face masks, New Zealand
• Trundlerbeds: trundler beds, New Zealand

All 25 are built with Elementor, so they double as the proof in our Elementor and PHP compatibility guide.

If you read an earlier version of this article, you’ll notice a few names are gone. Web Aloha itself, Wat Pa Tam Wua, Wellington House Repiling and Spetsnaz Security moved from WordPress to Astro, where there is no PHP to update at all. WordPress vs Astro for business compares the two head to head.

WooCommerce on PHP 8.5

WooCommerce’s server requirements ask for PHP 8.3 or greater and say WooCommerce is tested up to PHP 8.4. PHP 8.5 is not listed there yet (checked 10 November 2026).

We didn’t wait for the paperwork. Our 15 WooCommerce sites run on PHP 8.5: product pages, cart, checkout, the whole flow. The payment and delivery plugins on them include Paysera (7 sites), WooCommerce Stripe Gateway, Montonio and Inbank.

Still, a store is where a PHP switch can cost real money. Treat staging as your own PHP 8.5 test: place a full order, check the payment callback and the order emails, and keep PHP 8.4 one click away as the fallback.

Nervous about flipping the PHP switch on a live store? Fair: a broken checkout is real money leaking out. We move WooCommerce stores on staging first, with payments, shipping and emails tested before production. See our WordPress PHP update service. 🤙

WordPress plugins we run on PHP 8.5

No lab list here. This is what the page source and public REST API index of those 25 sites showed on 10 November 2026, with the number of sites running each plugin:

On one site each: WooCommerce Stripe Gateway, Montonio, Inbank, Omniva shipping, Contact Form 7, All in One SEO, Yoast SEO, Smush, PixelYourSite, Ocean Extra, Cookie Notice, Smash Balloon Instagram Feed, MailerLite for WooCommerce, Extra Custom Product Options, TaxoPress and 3D FlipBook.

Themes: Hello Elementor on 24 sites and OceanWP on one. Both love PHP 8.5.

That’s only what a site shows from the outside, so the real list is longer. Want to see what any WordPress site runs? Try our WordPress Theme and Plugin Detector.

What “supported” does not mean

Core support means the WordPress project tests its own code on PHP 8.5. It says nothing about the plugin somebody installed in 2019 and forgot about. When a PHP upgrade breaks a WordPress site, it’s almost always one of these, not WordPress core:

• an abandoned plugin, or a theme that stopped getting updates;
• page-builder add-on packs;
• WooCommerce payment, shipping, tax and subscription extensions;
• custom snippets and integrations;
• a PHP extension the new branch doesn’t have enabled (see PHP extensions for WordPress).

Best case, you get deprecation notices in the log and the site works fine. Worst case, a fatal error takes the checkout down. That’s what staging is for.

PHP 8.5 deprecations that show up in plugins

PHP 8.5’s migration guide deprecates several patterns that older plugin and theme code still uses. Deprecations log notices rather than stop the site, but a log full of them hides real errors and points at code that a later PHP version will break:

• null as an array offset: $array[null], and passing null to array_key_exists(). Use an empty string instead.
• curl_close(), imagedestroy() and finfo_close(): these now do nothing, because PHP frees cURL handles, GD images and finfo objects automatically. Remove the calls.
• Non-canonical casts: (integer), (boolean), (double) and (binary). Use (int), (bool), (float) and (string).
• The backtick operator: `command` as a shortcut for shell_exec().
• __sleep() and __wakeup(): soft-deprecated in favour of __serialize() and __unserialize(). Nothing is logged yet, but plugin authors are expected to move.

A static scan with PHPCompatibilityWP, as described in the PHP 8.2 upgrade plan, finds most of these in custom code before you switch.

PHP 8.5 staging checklist

This is the checklist we run when we move a site. Before you start, paste your Site Health report into the free WordPress PHP Upgrade Readiness Checker. It flags core-version conflicts, stale plugins and missing rollback steps for your target PHP version, and the report is analyzed in your browser.

1. Update WordPress, maintained themes, and maintained plugins on staging.
2. Confirm that every critical vendor supports PHP 8.5 or provides a testable release.
3. Back up files and database and verify the host’s PHP rollback.
4. Switch staging to PHP 8.5 with the same required extensions as production.
5. Test public templates, admin editing, media, search, forms, logins, emails, APIs, webhooks, and scheduled jobs.
6. For commerce, test product variations, cart, checkout, tax, shipping, payment callbacks, order emails, refunds, and subscriptions where used.
7. Review PHP, WordPress, server, and application logs for fatals, warnings, and deprecations.
8. Deploy in a monitored window and repeat the critical checks.

If everything works and the logs stay clean, you’re ready to go live.

How long PHP 8.5 is supported

PHP 8.5 is the newest stable branch on the PHP support table, checked on 10 November 2026. It gets active support, with regular bug and security fixes, until 31 December 2027, then security fixes only until 31 December 2029. That’s the longest runway of any PHP version you can pick today.

PHP 8.6 is still a pre-release, with a scheduled stable release on 19 November 2026. Like every year, we’ll run it on our own sites before we tell you anything about it. A release candidate doesn’t belong on a production WordPress site.

PHP 8.5 versus PHP 8.4

If your host and your plugins are ready, PHP 8.5 is the better pick: it’s newer and it has the longest support ahead of it.

PHP 8.4 is the fallback, not the outdated one. Use it when one specific plugin blocks 8.5, write down which one, and set a date to try again. Our PHP 8.4 compatibility guide covers that route.

If you are moving up from PHP 8.2, whose security support ends on 31 December 2026, the PHP 8.2 end-of-life upgrade plan covers backups, staging, testing and rollback for the whole move. The recommended PHP version guide explains how we pick a branch.

Summary: WordPress is compatible with PHP 8.5

So yep, WordPress and WooCommerce run on PHP 8.5. And we didn’t install WordPress, activate a default theme and call it a day. We run it on 25 real, actively used sites.

Need help moving your WordPress site to PHP 8.5? Our WordPress PHP update service does it on staging first, or get in touch with Web Aloha. 🤙