PHP version stats: July, 2026

This article provides a detailed analysis of PHP version adoption rates across the Packagist ecosystem as of July 2026. It includes historical data from 2025 and 2026, showing the percentage of projects using various PHP versions (7.4 through 8.5). Key insights include the adoption speed of PHP 8.5 after six months (16%) compared to previous versions, and a broader view of supported versus unsupported version usage. The data is based on Packagist statistics, offering a representative snapshot of the PHP community's upgrade behavior. The post also examines minimum version requirements for popular packages, highlighting how the ecosystem drives version adoption. Note: The article contains sponsorship mentions for Private Packagist.