May 26th, 2023: Qt 5.15 Standard Support for Legacy License Holders Ends Today

Standard support for the last release of the Qt 5 series ends for term and perpetual license holders today. Customers distributing applications and embedded devices using Qt 5 series software should evaluate how to access technical support and maintenance releases which may include security and major bug fixes.

Customers with subscription licenses, customers using exclusively Qt 6 series software, and customers with Extended Support do not need to act today. Customers with legacy licenses wishing to access technical support and keep their Qt 5 series software safe with security patches should contact their Qt account representative or contact us through the Qt customer portal.

The Qt 5 series was initiated over a decade ago with the Qt 5.0.0 release on December 19th, 2012. Meanwhile, Qt 5 transformed how we use consumer devices, in-flight entertainment, and smart TVs every day. Qt 5 has contributed to the largest disruption in this century in the automotive industry, making electric cars available to the masses. Qt 5-enabled medical devices helped millions of people to get through the recent global pandemic. Qt 5 also changed how we communicate over social media across various mobile devices. Furthermore, Qt 5 took part in the democratization of CAD drawing applications and business analytics software.

The last minor release of the Qt 5 series, Qt 5.15 LTS, was published on May 26th, 2020. Qt 5.15 LTS was a Long-Term Support release with three years of standard support ending today May 26th, 2023. The last patch release Qt 5.15.14 under standard support terms for commercial customers with legacy licenses was published yesterday, May 25th 2023.

The Qt 6 series, based on learnings from the Qt 5 series, has been unleashing innovations since December 2020. The more powerful and greatly enhanced Qt 6 series takes productivity, user experience, and scalability for cross-platform C++ applications to the next level. Tighter toolchain integration with design and quality assurance tools, immersive visual effects, and new target platform support such as WebAssembly help customers to be at the forefront of innovation and disruption in the coming decade.

Qt 6 installations by commercial customers represent the majority since Q4 2021 and are more than two-thirds of all installations nowadays. The recently published Qt 6.5 LTS release will be supported under standard support terms at least until April 2026.

Legacy license holders who intend to extend their ability to maintain and secure their Qt 5-enabled devices and applications can choose among the following two options:

• Convert legacy developer licenses to subscription licenses for as many developers as required to maintain the products. Subscription license holders receive 2 additional years of Qt 5.15 support without any additional fees. During these two years Qt 5.15 continues to be supported with security updates and error corrections. We plan to create at least two patch releases annually for customers with this option until May 2025.
• Purchase Extended Support for each project/product and Qt minor release needed.Note: We recommend converting to subscription licenses. Extended Support does not grant access to the new patch level releases, only technical support.

We’d love to see your great products being supported and secure for years to come. If you haven’t done so yet, then do get in touch with us to discuss the best option going forward.