We believe in giving developers the flexibility they need, even when that means supporting legacy environments. While we don’t recommend running end-of-life (EOL) PHP versions in production, we’ve included HardenedPHP to help you do it as safely and securely as possible.

Sure, the newer PHP versions can deliver significant performance increases, but we get it. Whether you’re maintaining decade-old code full of mysql_* calls or supporting a project your boss refuses to upgrade, we’ve got you covered.

HardenedPHP on Hawk Host lets you safely run legacy apps on PHP versions from 4.4 through 7.4.

It’s available on all our non-cloud compute plans, just choose your preferred PHP version right from your control panel. No extra cost. No hassle.

What is HardenedPHP?

HardenedPHP lets you run older versions of PHP while backporting in security patches from the newest releases. This means you keep the flexibility of using older syntax and libraries, without being exposed to nasty exploits.

When should I use this?

• You’re locked into an old PHP version due to vendor code or critical legacy systems.
• Refactoring your existing codebase isn’t feasible due to budget or time constraints.
• The developer who built it left a decade ago - and you’re still the one keeping it alive.

How can I change my PHP version?

Click here to view the guide on our knowledgebase!

Popular Apps/Scripts for EOL PHP Versions

PHP 4.4

• Legacy versions of phpBB forum software
• The earliest versions of WordPress (2.x and earlier)

PHP 5.1

• Drupal 5
• Joomla! 1.5

PHP 5.2

• Magento 1.x
• CodeIgniter 1.x

PHP 5.3

• Laravel 3
• Symfony 2
• WordPress 3.2 (many plugins of the time break with later versions)

PHP 5.4

• CakePHP 2.x
• SilverStripe 3.x

PHP 5.5

• OctoberCMS (early versions)

PHP 5.6

• Drupal 8.0–8.4
• Magento 2.0

PHP 7.0

• Symfony 3
• Laravel 5.1 (Long Term Support)

PHP 7.1

• WordPress 4.7
• CodeIgniter 3.x

PHP 7.2

• Nextcloud 13
• TYPO3 CMS 8

PHP 7.3

• Laravel 6 (LTS)
• Symfony 4.3

PHP 7.4

• WordPress 5.6
• Drupal 9.0–9.3

Thanks for reading—and hey, maybe now you can finally update that legacy code… or not.