Updating and upgrading Shopware without breaking your webshop
The longer a Shopware update waits, the bigger the jump gets. We bring your shop back to the latest version, with your plugins and custom code, and measure before and after to make sure it has not become slower. Then we keep it current every month.
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Why updates get left behind
Almost every Shopware webshop that comes to us is a few versions behind. Not out of unwillingness, but because updating always has to fit in somewhere: between a campaign, a busy period and the next feature that takes priority. The result is that a routine job of a few hours slowly grows into a project with risk.
That risk rarely sits in Shopware itself. It sits in everything around it: plugins not yet compatible with the new version, custom code relying on something that has changed, and a PHP version on the server that is no longer supported. The more versions you skip, the more of those come into play at once.
This page explains the difference between an update and an upgrade, where Shopware stands with 6.7 and 6.8, how we catch up a backlog, and how to stop it happening again.
Update or upgrade: the difference
Shopware works with major versions, such as 6.6 and 6.7, and smaller releases within them, such as 6.7.14 and 6.7.15. We call those smaller releases updates: they bring security fixes, bug fixes and often new features, and Shopware ships them almost every month. Moving to a new major version is an upgrade. More changes under the hood, and every plugin and custom theme needs a version that works with the new major.
The practical difference: an update is manageable as long as you keep up. An upgrade needs preparation, because you can only move once everything your shop uses can move with it.
Where Shopware stands: 6.7, 6.8 and support for 6.6
Shopware 6.7 is the current major version, and the monthly releases appear within it. Shopware has moved the next major version, 6.8, to 2027, focusing on stability, performance, security and new AI functionality.
In the same announcement Shopware extended the extended support for 6.6: it stays active until 6.8 is available. So there is no fixed end date, but there is a hard event. If you are still on 6.6, it is wise to complete the move to 6.7 before 6.8 arrives. That way you do not have to bridge two major versions at once, at a moment your own planning does not decide.
How we bring your shop back to the latest version
Inventory
Which Shopware version, which plugins, which custom code and which PHP version are running today?
Plugin check
Per plugin: is there a compatible version, a better replacement, or can it go?
Updating custom code
We adapt your own code and theme to the new version, following Shopware Store standards.
Baseline
Before the upgrade we record speed and technical behaviour in RUMvision and Tideways.
Testing on staging
First on a copy of your shop, along the real customer path: search, product, basket, checkout.
Go-live at a quiet moment
Not just before a peak, and with a plan to roll back if needed.
Measuring after go-live
We compare with the baseline, so you know your shop has not become slower.
Where it goes wrong in practice
Plugins without maintenance. A plugin whose maker has stopped, or that has no version for the new major yet, holds up your entire upgrade. Sometimes there is a replacement, sometimes the feature is now standard in Shopware and the plugin can go. You would rather decide that during the inventory than on go-live day.
Custom code relying on what changes. Code that reaches deep into the platform, overridden templates or modified core files: those are the places that break during an upgrade. The more your custom work follows Shopware's standard paths, the less every upgrade costs you. That is also the subject of our page on plugin and extension development.
A server that can no longer keep up. New Shopware versions set requirements for the PHP version and other parts of your hosting environment. An upgrade is therefore often a good moment to review your hosting as well. More on hosting and performance.
Upgrading just before a peak. An upgrade in the weeks before Black Friday or a big campaign is an avoidable risk. Plan the step in a quiet period, and keep a deployment freeze around your busiest days.
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After the upgrade: staying current
Catching up a backlog is a one-off job. Stopping it from returning takes a rhythm. That is what our maintenance package is for: updating Shopware and your plugins every month, measuring after every update in RUMvision and Tideways, and at least once a month a report with an improvement proposal, for €750 per month excluding VAT. The condition for joining is exactly what this upgrade delivers: a shop on the latest Shopware version. The monthly updates within your major version are in the package; a later move to a new major version, such as 6.8, is estimated separately, so you know in advance what it costs.
That way you pay for catching up once, and the steps afterwards become small enough to be routine again.
Proof: why Memo can do this
We keep our own extensions compatible with every new version. As a Shopware Extension Partner we have six extensions in the official Shopware Store, with a five star average. Every new Shopware version is a moment for us to check and update those extensions, for shops we have never seen. The official PostNL plugin for Shopware 6, which we develop and maintain, is the best known example.
We measure instead of hoping. As a partner of RUMvision and Tideways we see with every release what it does to speed for your visitors and to server behaviour. The same measure-first approach made the Kempers.de shop three times faster in load time, together with hosting partner Hypernode, without a migration. Read the Memo and Hypernode case study.
For more on what we do around Shopware, see the Shopware hub.
How many versions is your shop behind?
Send us your current Shopware version and your list of plugins, or book an introduction straight away. We will tell you what it takes to catch up, and how the maintenance package keeps you current afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a Shopware update and an upgrade?
An update is a release within the same major version, for example from 6.7.14 to 6.7.15. An upgrade is the move to a new major version, for example from 6.6 to 6.7. In an upgrade every plugin and your own theme need a version that works with the new major, and that takes preparation.
How long will Shopware 6.6 be supported?
Shopware has extended support for 6.6 until 6.8 is available, and 6.8 is planned for 2027. So there is no fixed end date. Our advice: complete the move to 6.7 before 6.8 arrives, so you do not have to bridge two major versions at once.
Do I need to move to Shopware 6.8 as soon as it is released?
Not on day one. A new major version needs time before the plugins you use are compatible. It is wise to plan the move, though, because the last 6.7 release enters extended support when 6.8 arrives and new features land in 6.8 from then on. If you are on our maintenance package, we estimate that move separately and plan it together with you.
Can I update Shopware myself?
Technically an update can often be started from the administration or the development environment. The risk lies in what happens next: a plugin that stops working, custom code that breaks or a page that gets slower. Without a test on a copy of your shop and without measuring before and after, you only find out something is wrong when customers notice.
What does it cost to bring my Shopware webshop up to date?
That depends on how many versions you are behind, how many plugins you use and how much custom code your shop contains. That is why we do not quote a fixed amount, but prepare a separate quote after the inventory. How we build up costs is explained on the costs page.