WordPress 7.0 is set to land on April 9, 2026, timed to coincide with WordCamp Asia’s Contributor Day. After a turbulent 2025 that saw only two major releases — partly due to the WP Engine lawsuit and Automattic pausing its core contributions — the WordPress project is bouncing back with its most ambitious update in years. Beta 1 dropped on February 19, and the community is already buzzing. Here’s what’s coming and why it matters.
A Quick Recap: Why 7.0 Took So Long
The original 2025 roadmap called for three major releases ending with 7.0 by year’s end. That didn’t happen. Legal battles, organizational shifts, and Automattic stepping back from core contributions slowed everything down. WordPress 6.8 and 6.9 (“Gene”) shipped, but 7.0 got pushed to 2026.
The silver lining? The extra time gave the core team room to think bigger. WordPress 7.0 isn’t just an incremental bump — it marks a genuine turning point for the platform.
Real-Time Collaboration Arrives
(Gutenberg Phase 3)
The headline feature of 7.0 is the official launch of Gutenberg Phase 3: Collaboration. For the first time in its two-decade history, WordPress is evolving from a single-author writing tool into a collaborative platform.
Multiple users will be able to edit content simultaneously with real-time presence indicators showing who’s working where. Visual revisions let you compare page versions side by side, making it easy to review what changed and when. The collaboration features build on the commenting and annotation tools introduced in 6.9, and the team has hinted that deeper co-editing capabilities will continue to roll out incrementally through 7.1 and 7.2.
If you’ve ever juggled Google Docs alongside WordPress just to collaborate with your team, this release is for you.
AI Baked Into Core
WordPress 7.0 introduces a native AI Client and API — a provider-agnostic framework that lets plugins and themes tap into generative AI services without being locked into any single vendor. Think of it as a universal adapter: your site talks to the AI Client, and the Client talks to whichever AI provider you choose.
Even more interesting is the new MCP (Model Context Protocol) Adapter, which allows AI agents like Claude and Cursor to discover and interact with your site’s capabilities directly. Combined with a new Abilities API, this opens the door to AI-powered content generation, site management, and workflow automation that’s deeply integrated rather than bolted on.
The WordPress project has been clear about its principles here: transparency, user control, and alignment with WordPress values come first. AI is opt-in and configurable, not forced.
A Refreshed Admin Experience
The admin interface is getting a meaningful facelift through the continued expansion of DataViews and DataForms. These modern components replace the legacy WP List Tables with a cleaner, more app-like experience featuring inline filtering, flexible layouts, persistent custom views, and better visual consistency between the block editor and classic admin panels.
A new activity layout in DataViews, along with groundwork for registering third-party content types, signals that WordPress is serious about modernizing the admin without breaking backward compatibility. Expect cleaner typography, consistent spacing, and fewer full-page reloads as you manage your content.
New Blocks and Design Tools
Several new and improved blocks ship with 7.0:
- Icons Block — A native way to add and style icons without reaching for a plugin.
- Breadcrumbs Block — Built-in breadcrumb navigation that’s fully customizable within the editor.
- Enhanced Cover Block — Now supports video embed backgrounds for richer hero sections.
- Responsive Grid Block — A more flexible grid layout with proper responsive controls.
- Improved Heading Block — Additional styling and semantic options.
Behind the scenes, WordPress 7.0 also introduces the ability for PHP-only blocks and patterns to be generated server-side and auto-registered with the Block API, giving developers more flexibility in how they build and distribute block-based features.
Under-the-Hood Improvements
The technical changes in 7.0 are substantial:
- React 19 Upgrade — The block editor now runs on React 19, bringing performance gains and access to modern React features like concurrent rendering.
- Client-Side Media Processing — Image resizing and compression now happen in the browser before upload, reducing server load and speeding up the media workflow.
- Iframed Post Editor — The post editor will always render in an iframe regardless of block API version, improving style isolation and reducing conflicts between editor and front-end styles.
- PHP 7.4 Minimum — WordPress 7.0 drops support for PHP 7.2 and 7.3. The recommended version is PHP 8.3 or higher.
The 2026 Roadmap Beyond 7.0
WordPress is returning to a three-release cadence this year. After 7.0 in April, expect WordPress 7.1 around August 19 (timed to WordCamp US) and WordPress 7.2 in early December alongside the annual State of the Word address. Minor maintenance releases will fill the gaps on roughly six-to-eight-week cycles.
What Should You Do Right Now?
If you run a WordPress site, here’s how to prepare:
- Test the beta. Spin up a staging environment and install WordPress 7.0 Beta to check your theme and plugins for compatibility. Don’t run it in production yet.
- Check your PHP version. If you’re still on PHP 7.2 or 7.3, now is the time to upgrade. Talk to your host if you’re unsure. With FluxRunner, you’re in good hands: All FluxRunner WordPress websites get Php 8.4+ and MySQL 8.4+.
- Audit your plugins. The React 19 upgrade and iframed editor may affect plugins that deeply customize the block editor. Test early.
- Get excited about collaboration. If you work with a team, start thinking about how real-time editing could change your content workflow.
The Bottom Line
WordPress 7.0 represents the platform’s biggest leap forward in years. Real-time collaboration, native AI integration, a modernized admin, and serious performance improvements under the hood all point to a WordPress that’s ready for the next decade of the web. After a bumpy 2025, the project is back on track — and April 9 can’t come soon enough.
As for FluxRunner, we’re a modern day WordPress managed hosting service, and we’re ready for 7.0 from get go. You’ll simply enjoy seamless transition to the latest and greatest of WordPress.