At the backend of 2024, WordPress core contributor Héctor Preito shared key dates for the 2025 WordPress release schedule. Similarly to what was delivered last year, 2025 promises three major releases that aim to solidify WordPress’s mission to further advance the platform’s functionality and improve overall user experience. We unpack what we know so far.
2025 release dates
- WordPress 6.8 – General release on April 15th
- WordPress 6.9 – General release on August 5th
- WordPress 7.0 – General release on November 11th
The release dates, planned by the WordPress Core Team, were carefully assigned to fit around major holidays as well as key dates within the WordPress calendar such as WordCamp Europe and WordCamp US. Although the WordPress 6.8 dates and details are not fully confirmed, it is likely to comprise Gutenberg 20.4 and encompass a maximum of 11 releases. As the first planned release of the year, WordPress 6.8 is also expected to act as the foundational release and focus on stability and performance improvements, specifically tackling database enhancements, site speed, security and compliance. A follow on from the the unveiling of the Twenty Twenty Five WordPress theme we saw last year as part of the WordPress 6.7 release, 6.8 is also expected to fine tune the theme and provide an enhanced user experience, a detailed timeline of the release can be found below:
WordPress 6.8 schedule
| Milestone | Date |
| Beta 1 | March 4, 2025 |
| Beta 2 | March 11, 2025 |
| Beta 3 | March 18, 2025 |
| Release Candidate 1 | March 25, 2025 |
| Release Candidate 2 | April 1, 2025 |
| Release Candidate 3 | April 8, 2025 |
| Dry Run | April 14, 2025 |
| WordPress 6.8 General Release | April 15, 2025 |
In the month lead up to each WordPress release, any new features are frozen so each individual release’s performance and quality is prioritised, we’ll be keeping up to date as things progress with WordPress 6.8 and provide a detailed overview of what to expect from the latest release.
