MySQL 8.0 End of Life: What AWS Forgot to Tell You (And What It'll Cost If You Wait)

Published October 31, 2025 · 8 min read · by Eric Wilson · in rds

AWS says MySQL 8.0 reaches end of standard support in July 2026. But they conveniently forgot to mention which version you should actually upgrade to. Spoiler: It's 8.4, and here's why.

I woke up this morning to one of those AWS Health notifications that immediately makes your coffee taste bitter:

[Action Required] Amazon RDS MySQL 8.0 will reach end of standard support on July 31, 2026 [AWS Account: xxxxxxxxx401036] [US-EAST-1]

Great. Nothing says "good morning" like a reminder that your database is about to become a monthly surcharge.

The TL;DR (Because You're Busy)

MySQL 8.0 reaches end of standard support: July 31, 2026
Extended Support kicks in: August 1, 2026 (translation: extra charges)
You need to upgrade to: MySQL 8.4 (but AWS won't tell you this directly)
Cost if you don't: Per-vCPU-per-hour charges for up to 3 years
Best move: Plan your upgrade now, test it, and avoid the rush

What AWS Actually Said

Here's the gist of the AWS Health email (minus the 900 words of legal cover):

MySQL 8.0 community support ends April 2026
RDS for MySQL 8.0 standard support ends July 31, 2026
After that, you have two choices:
- Upgrade to a newer major version (free, but requires work)
- Use Extended Support (paid, buys you time)
If you do nothing, AWS will automatically enroll you in Extended Support and start charging you per vCPU per hour starting August 1, 2026

What AWS Conveniently Forgot to Mention

Here's the thing that drove me nuts about this email:

They never actually tell you which version to upgrade to.

The email says "upgrade to a newer major version" about seventeen times but never once mentions MySQL 8.4 — which is the actual next Long-Term Support (LTS) version you should target.

Now, I get it. MySQL's versioning is... creative. We go from 8.0.x straight to 8.4 (skipping 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 entirely). Even though it looks like a minor version bump, 8.4 is considered a major version and it's the one with LTS.

You don't have to jump to MySQL 9.x. In fact, you probably shouldn't unless you enjoy living on the bleeding edge.

Upgrade to MySQL 8.4. That's the answer AWS should have put in bold at the top of the email.

The Extended Support Trap

Let's talk about what happens if you ignore this and let AWS auto-enroll you in Extended Support.

What is Extended Support?

Extended Support means AWS will keep patching critical security issues and bugs for MySQL 8.0 for up to three years after the community EOL. That sounds nice, right?

Except it's not free.

What Does It Cost?

Per vCPU per hour.

AWS doesn't give exact numbers in the email (of course they don't), but based on historical Extended Support pricing for other database engines, expect something like:

Year 1 (2026-2027): ~$0.10/vCPU/hour
Year 2 (2027-2028): ~$0.20/vCPU/hour
Year 3 (2028-2029): ~$0.40/vCPU/hour

Let's say you have a db.t3.small (2 vCPUs) running 24/7:

Year 1 cost: ~$175/month extra
Year 2 cost: ~$350/month extra
Year 3 cost: ~$700/month extra

For a small RDS instance, that's potentially $15,000+ over three years just to not upgrade.

And that's the trap. Extended Support isn't a solution — it's a very expensive snooze button.

The Real Timeline (With Dates You Can Actually Use)

Here's what's happening and when:

Date	What Happens	What You Should Do
Now - July 31, 2026	Normal operations, standard pricing	Test your upgrade path to MySQL 8.4
April 2026	MySQL community ends support	Start making noise internally about upgrades
July 31, 2026	RDS standard support ends	Complete your upgrade or prepare for charges
August 1, 2026	Extended Support charges begin	Start paying extra if not upgraded
August 2029	Extended Support ends	AWS will force upgrade you (good luck)

How to Actually Do the Upgrade (Without Crying)

Option 1: The "Cowboy" Method (Not Recommended)

Just click upgrade in the console and pray.

Pros: Fast
Cons: Downtime, potential data issues, no rollback plan, career risk

Option 2: The "I Value My Job" Method (Recommended)

Take a snapshot of your production database
Restore it to a test environment
Upgrade the test database to MySQL 8.4
Test everything — queries, performance, application compatibility
Time the upgrade — note how long it takes
Use RDS Blue/Green Deployments for the production upgrade

What Are Blue/Green Deployments?

RDS Blue/Green is AWS's fully managed way to upgrade databases with minimal downtime. Here's the magic:

AWS creates an identical copy of your database (Green)
Upgrades the Green environment to MySQL 8.4
Keeps it in sync with your production database (Blue)
When you're ready, switches traffic to Green in under a minute
Rolls back if something goes wrong

It's like having a safety net made of clouds and money.

Cost: You pay for the Green environment while it exists, but it's worth it for peace of mind.

The Gotchas (Because There Are Always Gotchas)

1. Deprecated Features & Breaking Changes

MySQL 8.0 to 8.4 removes some features. Here are some of the more notable changes (though this is not an exhaustive list):

Removed Features:

mysql_native_password authentication plugin - Now disabled by default, can be enabled with --mysql-native-password=ON [MySQL 8.4 Release Notes]
START SLAVE/STOP SLAVE statements - Replaced with START REPLICA/STOP REPLICA [MySQL 8.4 Release Notes]
SHOW SLAVE STATUS - Replaced with SHOW REPLICA STATUS [MySQL 8.4 Release Notes]
CHANGE MASTER TO - Replaced with CHANGE REPLICATION SOURCE TO [MySQL 8.4 Release Notes]
default_authentication_plugin system variable - Replaced with authentication_policy [MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual]
--ssl and --admin-ssl server options - Replaced with --tls-version and --admin-tls-version [MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual]
FLUSH HOSTS statement - Use TRUNCATE TABLE performance_schema.host_cache instead [MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual]

Removed System Variables:

binlog_transaction_dependency_tracking - Functionality now internal to server [MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual]
group_replication_recovery_complete_at - Policy now always TRANSACTIONS_APPLIED [MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual]
have_ssl and have_openssl - Removed, use TLS version options instead [MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual]

Removed Server Options:

--skip-host-cache - Use --host-cache-size=0 instead [MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual]
--innodb and --skip-innodb - InnoDB is now always enabled [MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual]
--language - Deprecated since MySQL 5.5, now removed [MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual]

Partitioning Changes:

Index prefixes in partitioning keys - Now explicitly disallowed [MySQL 8.4 Release Notes]

Important: This is only a partial list of the more well-known changes. Always review the official MySQL 8.4 upgrade guide and release notes and test thoroughly in a non-production environment before upgrading.

2. Application Compatibility

Test your application thoroughly. Some queries might behave differently.

3. Maintenance Windows

The upgrade process will restart your database (possibly multiple times). Plan accordingly.

4. Snapshot Surprise

If you restore a MySQL 8.0 snapshot after July 31, 2026, AWS will automatically upgrade it to an Extended Support version and start charging you immediately.

Even your backups aren't safe from the Extended Support charges.

What You Should Do Right Now

If You're Running MySQL 8.0:

Check your RDS instances — Do you even remember if you're on 8.0?
Review the MySQL 8.4 release notes — What's new, what's removed
Create a test plan — Snapshot, restore, upgrade, test
Schedule the work — Don't wait until July 2026
Consider Blue/Green — It's worth the extra cost for production

If You're Starting a New Database:

Don't choose MySQL 8.0. Just... don't.

Start with MySQL 8.4 and save yourself the migration headache.

The AWS Leadership Principle They Forgot

Customer Obsession (Sort Of)

"Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust."

You know what would have earned my trust? Putting "Upgrade to MySQL 8.4" in the first paragraph of the email.

Instead, I got a 900-word essay that mentions "Extended Support" 47 times but never once tells me the actual target version.

Come on, AWS. We can do better.

The Bottom Line

MySQL 8.0 support ends July 31, 2026
Upgrade to MySQL 8.4 (not 9.x, unless you're adventurous)
Extended Support is expensive — don't use it as a long-term plan
Test first, upgrade second — Blue/Green is your friend
Start planning now — July 2026 will be here before you know it

Pro Tips

Set a calendar reminder for January 2026 to start your upgrade project
Budget for Blue/Green if you're running production databases
Document your upgrade process — you'll thank yourself during the next EOL
Check for other MySQL 8.0 instances — dev, staging, that one test box you forgot about
Subscribe to MySQL release notes — stay ahead of the next EOL curve

Next Steps

Don't wait until AWS starts auto-enrolling you in Extended Support. Plan your upgrade, test it thoroughly, and save yourself thousands of dollars in unnecessary charges.

And if you're wondering whether to pay upfront for your next Reserved Instance after the upgrade? Well, I wrote a whole article about that.

Happy upgrading! 🚀

Have you already upgraded to MySQL 8.4? Run into any gotchas? Drop a comment or reach out — I'd love to hear your war stories.

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