Updated Heroku Postgres version support policy

Change effective on 14 November 2023

We updated our Heroku PostgreSQL version support policy to support the latest 3 major versions. This update allows us to always deliver the latest features to our customers.

When we release a new major version, we deprecate the third major version released before it. This policy change will start with the deprecation of Heroku PostgreSQL 13, which occurs when we release Heroku PostgreSQL 16. When we deprecate Postgres 13, we’ll support Postgres 16, 15, and 14. We aim to have this cycle take place between March and May each year.

Under the new policy:

  • On the deprecation date, we send a deprecation warning to database customers.
  • Three months after the deprecation date, Heroku prevents provisioning new databases on the deprecated version. Creating forks and followers of existing databases is allowed.
  • Five months after the deprecation date, Heroku schedules forced upgrades for deprecated databases.
  • The end-of-life date of each version occurs six months after its deprecation date. We start restricting database access and deleting databases for non-compliance after this date.

You can find version deprecation announcements in the Changelog.