Finding a PHP version compatible with PrestaShop is a fairly common question on the general topics of PrestaShop forums. PrestaShop developers always need to find a suitable PHP version for their server when updating to the latest version of PrestaShop.

Meeting the system requirements for PrestaShop will help keep your online store from encountering unexpected errors.

Switching your current PHP version to the latest will definitely make your store faster; however, each PrestaShop version only supports certain PHP.

Let's see what version of PHP your online store will be ready with.

PrestaShop 1.6 supports PHP version 5.2 to 7.1

This PS version was released in 2014. This PS supports PHP 5.2 to PHP 7.1. At that time, upgrading from PS 1.5 to 1.6 was a painful, nearly "shattering to reconstruct" process.

PrestaShop 1.7 is compatible with PHP version 5.4 to 7.4

The first stable version of PS 1.7 was released in November 2016. You can install PHP 5.4 to PHP 7.4 on your web server to host your online store.

The 3 most commonly used at the moment are PHP 7.2, PHP 7.3 and PHP version 7.4.

PrestaShop 8 needs PHP 7.2.5 to 8.1 on your server.

The newest version of PrestaShop has been released in November 2022. This latest PrestaShop package (now PrestaShop 8.0.3) works as an open source project and supports the latest PHP version 8.1. It's also compatible with PHP 7.3 as well as compatible with PHP 7.4.

Our recommendation? It would be worthwhile to upgrade to the latest version 8.0 because at least it can significantly accelerate the performance of your PrestaShop store.

Are the supported versions of PHP not ready on your hosting? You need to contact your hosting provider to update PHP or change PHP version to a newer one for your account. If it's impossible, backup your website and find a better hosting.

You might want to access this link to learn more about new features on PrestaShop 8, or download this file to get the new version for PrestaShop installation.