I work as a business intelligence analyst and mainly handle data analysis tasks using SQL, Python, and various BI tools. Our restaurant company works with an external development team that built our custom software systems like point of sale and inventory management tools, plus a mobile app for customers.
The developers are running MySQL 5.7 for our database backend, which I believe stopped getting official support last year. This creates problems for me because I cannot use newer data tools or update our analytics platform beyond older versions.
When I brought up moving to MySQL 8, they told me version 5.7 is still popular and we should not worry about security problems. After checking into it more, they decided we should keep using 5.7 because it is more stable.
I suspect they really mean the upgrade would require too much work and they want to avoid the hassle. I understand moving to version 8 would not be simple and could take a long time.
The upgrade would let me use better SQL features and newer versions of our BI tools that have useful capabilities we need.
My main questions are:
- How common is MySQL 5.7 in production today?
- Have most businesses already moved to newer versions?
- Are there real security risks with staying on 5.7 beyond just being inconvenient?
MySQL 5.7 is still quite prevalent in production environments, though adoption of 8.0 has accelerated significantly over the past two years. From my experience managing database infrastructure at a mid-sized company, I’d estimate roughly 40-50% of existing MySQL deployments remain on 5.7, particularly in organizations that prioritize stability over cutting-edge features. Regarding security concerns, while Oracle ended mainstream support in October 2023, they continue providing extended support until October 2025 for paying customers. The real risk isn’t immediate vulnerabilities but rather the gradual accumulation of unpatched issues over time. More critically, third-party tools and libraries are increasingly dropping 5.7 compatibility, which directly impacts your BI platform limitations. Your developers aren’t entirely wrong about stability - 5.7 is indeed rock-solid and well-understood. However, MySQL 8.0 has matured considerably since its rocky early releases. The performance improvements alone, especially for analytical workloads, often justify the migration effort. The JSON functions and window functions you’d gain access to would likely transform your analytics capabilities. I’d recommend pushing for a phased migration plan rather than accepting indefinite 5.7 usage, as the technical debt will only compound.