.What PHP, MySQL/MariaDB, and Composer versions does Shopware 6 require?

Shopware 6 runs on a modern PHP stack and is stricter about version compatibility than many merchants expect. Most current Shopware 6 releases require PHP 8.2 or newer, MySQL 8.0+, MariaDB 10.11+, and Composer 2. You’ll also need matching PHP extensions enabled on both your web and CLI environments—otherwise installations, updates, or scheduled tasks fail in inconsistent ways.

The exact requirements change slightly between Shopware versions. That’s the part many upgrades miss. A store running correctly on Shopware 6.5 can still break during a 6.6 update because the hosting stack stayed on an older PHP or MariaDB release. We normally recommend checking Shopware’s target version requirements before every major or minor upgrade—not just during the initial build.

Typical supported versions

For most active Shopware 6 stores in 2026, these are the safe baseline versions:

• PHP: 8.2 or 8.3
• MySQL: 8.0+
• MariaDB: 10.11+
• Composer: Composer 2

PHP 8.3 is usually the better choice for new builds because hosting support is now mature and performance is slightly better under heavy catalog loads. But older plugins sometimes lag behind PHP releases for a few months. If your store uses many third-party extensions, PHP 8.2 is still the safer middle ground.

How Shopware uses these components

PHP runs the storefront, admin panel, API, message queue workers, and scheduled tasks. Composer manages dependencies and plugin packages. MySQL or MariaDB stores product data, customer accounts, orders, indexing tables, and cache metadata.

Shopware is noticeably more database-intensive than many small Shopify-style setups. Large catalogs, Elasticsearch integrations, dynamic pricing, and B2B rules all increase database load fast. That’s why outdated MariaDB versions tend to become a bottleneck long before CPU usage does.

Common compatibility issues

The biggest issue we see is mismatched environments. Your web server may run PHP 8.2 while CLI commands still use PHP 8.1. Composer installs dependencies against one version, then cron jobs execute on another. That creates random cache errors and broken admin workers that are difficult to trace.

Another common problem is using unsupported MariaDB releases on managed hosting. Some budget hosts still default to older 10.5 or 10.6 versions even when Shopware recommends newer builds. The store may install successfully—but indexing and search performance degrade as catalog size grows.