CiviCRM Extended Security Release (ESR) has slowly grown in popularity as a very stable version of CiviCRM that isn’t too far removed from many of the great features that have shown up in the latest stable version, namely SearchKit, FormBuilder, and the River framework.
For organizations that want to avoid the monthly upgrade process, CiviCRM ESR is a good potential option.
However, unlike the latest monthly stable release, CiviCRM ESR requires a subscription that is purchasable either directly at https://civicrm.com/extended-security-release or via a supporting Partner.
To be perfectly clear, and as a reminder, CiviCRM ESR is not a ‘better’ version or a ‘professional’ version of CiviCRM. It’s a different approach to the latest stable release in that it prioritizes stability over new features.
The change will include an increase in the subscription price as well as introduce a new model for CiviCRM partners that better supports bulk pricing.
Why the price increase?
We understand that price increases are not fun. We don’t like them either. However, there are a few factors that we must contend with, specifically:
- Security costs - Artificial intelligence has impacted the number and pace of security issues reported, affecting various systems around the world. This puts more strain on our security team and requires more effort on the Core Team’s part. Obviously, security is a priority, so we have to resource it properly and, of course, cover the costs to do so.
- Project sustainability - Subscription income from ESR, CiviAcademy and CiviCRM Spark has grown over the past few years and is now a significant portion of our budget. Meanwhile, community funding has remained flat. In order to sustain the project, therefore, we have to pivot to a model that is showing progress. After all, it’s in everyone’s interest to keep the project sustainable.
Note: We would very much prefer that end user organizations join CiviCRM as members and help sustain the project. A few do. However, it’s too few and the effort to convince end users that supporting CiviCRM is in their best interest is surprisingly high. Too high, in fact. The result is that we have a funding gap that we really must solve.
New pricing
The following prices for end user organizations and/or providers will be in effect as of August 5, 2026:
- Tier 1 (For organizations with budgets less than $500,000) - $360 per year or $30 per month
- Tier 2 (For organizations with budgets between $500,000 and $2 million) - $840 per year or $70 per month
- Tier 3 (For organizations with budgets greater than $2 million) - $1,440 per year or $120 per month
CiviCRM Members receive 50% off the subscription price, in addition to receiving additional benefits such as access to CiviAcademy, event discounts and access to contract with the CiviCRM Core Team.
CiviCRM Partners have access to an alternate pricing model whereby pricing is geared towards managing many licenses on behalf of clients.
Roll out process
On August 5th, 2026, we will introduce new pricing for CiviCRM ESR.
- All monthly subscriptions will be valid through the current cycle’s expiration date at which point users will need to renew at the new rate.
- All annual subscriptions will be valid through their current expiration date at which point users will need to renew at the new rate.
We will communicate these changes with each current subscriber and CiviCRM Partner.
Release Window Extended
CiviCRM Extended Security Release will be extended from it's current 6 month window to a 9 month cycle. The next version of Extended Security Release is version 6.16 and is slated for August, 2026. The 9 month cycle places the following release to drop in April of 2027.
* Edited 24/7 - we mistakenly indicated that the next version of ESR would be version 6.17 in the original post. That is incorrect. The next version is 6.16.
