We want to address the recent WHMCS 9.0 Release Candidate announcement and how it affects SwiftModders products.
The Situation
WHMCS recently released version 9.0 as a Release Candidate, skipping the traditional beta testing phase that developers rely on to prepare their products. This release includes significant technical changes:
- Minimum PHP 8.2 requirement (PHP 8.3 recommended)
- ionCube Loader 13.0.2+ requirement
- Upgrade to Smarty 4.5.3 template engine
- Removal of legacy SmartyBC compatibility
- Substantial changes to core dependencies and libraries
These aren’t minor updates. This is one of the most significant WHMCS releases in years, with fundamental changes that affect every theme and module in the ecosystem. You can review the full details in the official WHMCS 9.0 release notes.
Why We’re Taking Our Time
We won’t be rushing to support WHMCS 9.0 immediately upon its stable release. Here’s why:
1. No Beta Phase = Increased Risk
The lack of a public beta means the first real-world testing is happening now, in the RC phase. History shows that major releases typically contain bugs that only surface through widespread community use. We’re not willing to compromise the stability of your installations by rushing untested updates.
2. Incomplete Documentation
WHMCS released this RC without updated developer documentation for the breaking changes. Theme developers are essentially reverse-engineering the changes rather than following official guidance. This isn’t how professional software development should work.
3. Quality Over Speed
SwiftModders has built its reputation on reliable, well-tested products. That reputation is worth more than being first to market with a half-baked update. We’d rather take the time to fully understand what’s changed, test thoroughly, and deliver updates that actually work.
What This Means for You
- Don’t rush to upgrade to WHMCS 9.0 when it releases. There’s no compelling reason to be an early adopter of this version.
- WHMCS 8.x remains fully supported and will continue to receive security updates from WHMCS for the foreseeable future. Our WHMCS themes currently support WHMCS 8.13.1.
- SwiftModders themes will continue working perfectly on supported WHMCS 8.x versions.
- Updates are coming. We will be updating all SwiftModders WHMCS themes for WHMCS 9.0 compatibility, but only after we’ve had adequate time to test and ensure quality. You can track all theme updates on our changelog.
Timeline
We’ll be monitoring the WHMCS 9.0 release closely. Once the stable version is released and we’ve had time to thoroughly review all breaking changes, test each theme against the new platform, ensure complete compatibility, and verify there are no major bugs affecting theme functionality, we’ll release updated versions with full WHMCS 9.0 support.
Moving Forward
We understand this might be frustrating if you’re eager to upgrade. But we’ve been doing this since 2007, and we’ve learned that patience in these situations protects everyone. The WHMCS community deserves better than what we’re getting with this release process, and the best way we can advocate for that is by not playing along with the rush.
Your installations are stable. Your themes work perfectly. There’s no emergency. Let’s do this right.
If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out through our support system.