Joomla still has a future in 2026 if you need a native multilingual, ACL-heavy, or custom CMS, not a blog starter. The project is 21 years old. Joomla 6.1.3 is the current 6.x line. Joomla 5.4.8 is still supported. Market share is small next to WordPress. The architecture is not.
A friend still asks the same two questions I hear every year: do people still use Joomla, and why would anyone pick it when WordPress and Shopify dominate? Those questions are fair. The 2025 answers are not. This is the 2026 version.
I have built on Joomla since the Mambo days. At Infyways we still ship Joomla work and extensions. If the CMS had no future, we would have stopped. We have not.
What you will learn
- Where Joomla stands in 2026: versions, support dates, and market share
- Why people still choose Joomla over WordPress for complex sites
- What Joomla 6 actually changed after the 14 October 2025 launch
- Who should pick Joomla now, and who should not
Joomla in 2026: the facts, not the nostalgia
Joomla launched from the 17 August 2005 Mambo fork. It turned 21 on 17 August 2026. That history is in our separate piece on Joomla at 21. This article is about whether the CMS still deserves a new build this year.
According to W3Techs, Joomla powers about 1.2% of all websites and roughly 1.7% of sites with a known CMS. WordPress is in a different league on those charts. Popularity is not the same as fit.
| Signal (August 2026) | What it means |
|---|---|
| Current 6.x | Joomla 6.1.3 (series started 14 October 2025) |
| Current 5.x | Joomla 5.4.8, bugfix only |
| 5.x regular support ends | 13 October 2026 |
| 5.x security-only ends | 12 October 2027 |
| 6.x regular support ends | 17 October 2028 |
| 6.x security-only ends | 16 October 2029 |
| Next minor on the calendar | Joomla 6.2.0 aimed at 13 October 2026 |
Those dates come from the official Joomla roadmap (updated 18 August 2026). If you are still on 5.x, the clock to move toward 6.x is real. If you are on 6.1.3, you have a supported major line into the late 2020s.
Why people still use Joomla
Not because it wins the blog market. Because a few core jobs are still easier in Joomla than in a plugin pile.
Native multilingual
Joomla still ships multilingual in core. If you run a government, university, or multi-country site, that is not a nice extra. It is the product.
ACL and structured content
Granular permissions, Custom Fields, and template overrides let you build portals and membership systems without bolting on half a store of plugins. That is why agencies still recommend Joomla for permission-heavy builds.
Security that lives in core
Joomla is not magic. You still patch. The difference is how much you outsource to third-party plugins. We cover that trade in Joomla security in 2026. Core updates and a smaller essential-plugin surface still matter.
No corporate owner
Joomla is still community-run. There is no single vendor who can flip the license. For public-sector and long-lived intranet work, that governance is a feature.
What is new in Joomla 6
Stop treating Joomla 5.0 (October 2023) as the news. That was two major lines ago.
On 14 October 2025 the project shipped Joomla 6.0 and Joomla 5.4 together. 5.4 is the bridge. 6.x is the current major line, with automatic core updates and a Backward Compatibility 6 plugin so upgrades are less of a cliff.
Joomla 6.1 (April 2026) added items such as POW-captcha, a graphical workflow editor, and new media custom fields for audio, video, and documents. 6.1.3 landed on 18 August 2026. 6.2 is scheduled for 13 October 2026.
If your mental model of Joomla is still “hard upgrades and a dusty admin,” you are describing 3.x to 4.x scars, not the 5.4 to 6.x path.
Who should choose Joomla in 2026
| Choose Joomla when | Choose something else when |
|---|---|
| You need native multilingual and deep ACL | You need the fastest possible brochure blog |
| The site is a portal, membership, or public-sector system | The whole business is a Shopify-style storefront |
| Developers will own the template and components | You only want a page builder and a theme shop |
| You can stay on supported 6.x (or finish a 5.x to 6 plan) | The site is abandoned on Joomla 3 with no budget to upgrade |
WordPress and Shopify are the right tools for a lot of work. Joomla is the right tool when the CMS has to behave like an application, not a newsletter.
If you need that kind of build, see our Joomla development and Joomla support and maintenance work. For content that has to show up in AI answers, pair the CMS with GEO for Joomla.
Bright or bleak: Joomla’s next years
Bleak if you only watch share of all websites. Bright if you watch whether 6.x is maintainable. Automatic core updates and a dated support window through 2028 and 2029 are the confidence signal the last decade was missing.
What still has to improve is the same list as before, just more urgent: easier onboarding, healthier extension businesses, and clearer marketing for the project types Joomla actually wins. The community does not need to become WordPress. It needs more developers who stay.
Key takeaways
- Joomla in 2026 is Joomla 6.1.3, with 5.4.8 still on a closing support clock.
- Small market share does not cancel native multilingual, ACL, and core security posture.
- Joomla 5.4 to 6.x is a different upgrade story than the painful 3 to 4 years.
- Pick Joomla for complex, multilingual, permission-heavy sites. Pick WordPress or Shopify when those products fit better.
- The future is real for teams that will stay on supported 6.x and keep investing in extensions.
Frequently asked questions
Does Joomla have a future in 2026?
Yes, as a specialist CMS for multilingual, ACL-heavy, and custom sites. It will not overtake WordPress on raw market share. It does not need to.
What is the current Joomla version in 2026?
Joomla 6.1.3 on the 6.x line, and Joomla 5.4.8 if you are still on 5.x. 5.x regular bugfix support ends 13 October 2026. Plan the move to 6.x.
Is Joomla still worth using instead of WordPress?
Use Joomla when you need core multilingual, deep permissions, and a flexible architecture. Use WordPress when publishing speed and the plugin/theme market matter more than those native tools.
Should I start a new site on Joomla 5 or Joomla 6?
Start on Joomla 6 unless an extension forces a short stay on 5.4. New projects should not begin on a line that leaves regular support in October 2026.
Did Joomla die after WordPress took the market?
No. It lost the mass-blog market. It kept the niches where core ACL and multilingual still beat a plugin stack. That is a smaller future, not a dead one.
Conclusion
Joomla in 2026 is not the 2015 story and not the 2023 Joomla 5 launch story. It is a 21-year-old CMS on a 6.x line with a published support calendar. If your next site needs that kind of control, it still deserves a serious look. If you only need a theme and a checkout, pick the tool that already won that job.