Node.js 24 drops to maintenance LTS today, Node 26 takes over in 8 days
Node 24 moves from Active LTS to security-only Maintenance on 20 October, with end-of-life set for April 2028. Node 26 becomes the new Active LTS line on 28 October.
Node.js 24 moves from Active LTS to Maintenance today, 20 October, according to the project’s release schedule. Active LTS started on 28 October 2025, so the line gets exactly a year of full feature and bug-fix support before dropping to Maintenance, where it will only receive critical bug fixes and security patches until its end-of-life date of 30 April 2028.
Node.js 26, which has been in “Current” status since its initial release on 5 May, takes over as the new Active LTS line on 28 October, eight days from now. Until then, 24 remains the recommended version for anyone not ready to move to 26.
node --version
# plan to be on 26.x before 28 October if you want Active LTS supportWhy it matters: Maintenance mode means new features stop landing on 24, and the release team will only backport fixes that help migration or close security holes. If you’re deploying Node 24 in production, nothing breaks today, but it’s the point to start testing against 26 rather than waiting for the next incident to force the move.
The caveat: the project notes that exact LTS transition dates are “subject to change” and are only finalised on the first day of the month they take effect, so treat 28 October for Node 26 as the planned date rather than a guarantee.