9.0 Release Notes
Download Now or go to Utilities > Update WHMCS
Release Highlights
WHMCS 9.0 introduces a new Nexus cart experience, AI Domain Namespinning, CSV support for ImportAssist, and credit and debit notes.
Version History
| Latest Update | Version | Release Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-20 | 9.0.0 | General Availability |
| 2025-12-16 | 9.0.0 | Release Candidate |
Upgrade Requirements
Before upgrading to this WHMCS version, make certain that your system meets the following requirements:
| Dependency | Minimum Requirement | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| ionCube® Loader | ionCube Loader 13.0.2 | ionCube Loader 14.4.0 |
| MySQL® | MySQL 5.2 | MySQL 8.0 |
| PHP | PHP 8.2 | PHP 8.3 |
- Updates only appear at Utilities > Update WHMCS if you are running a compatible PHP version.
- For more information and a list of required PHP extensions and other requirements, see System Requirements.
New Features
Credit and Debit Notes
We have introduced credit and debit notes to our invoicing system. Starting with WHMCS 9.0, non-Draft invoices are immutable. This means that you cannot edit transactions on an invoice, and you cannot add items to or remove items from an invoice. This improvement can help you with invoice management and tax compliance by making sure all invoices list transactions consistently.
The Transactions section of an invoice is now called the Ledger. The Ledger is where you will see all the transactions associated with an invoice, including credit and debit notes.
New Role Permissions for Credit and Debit Notes.
We have added new role permissions related to credit and debit notes:
List Credit and Debit Notes– Allow admins to list individual credit and debit notes.Create Credit or Debit Note– Allow admins to create credit or debit notes for a client.View Credit or Debit Note– Allow admins to view details of a credit or debit note.Manage Credit or Debit Note– Allow admins to publish a credit or debit note, and edit a note while it is in Draft status.Delete Credit or Debit Note– Allow admins to delete a credit or debit note from the system.
Improved VAT Compliance
WHMCS 9.0 includes several new features for improved VAT compliance and VAT number validation:
New VAT Number Validation Options
In addition to validating VAT numbers with the relevant tax authorities, WHMCS can now check whether VAT numbers use a valid format for the following countries during checkout: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
New options for the VAT Number Validation setting at Configuration () > System Settings > Tax Configuration allow you to choose whether to validate VAT number format during checkout, validate VAT numbers with the relevant authority, both, or neither.
When you upgrade from WHMCS 8.13 to WHMCS 9.0:
- If you had previously set VAT Number Validation to ON, this setting will default to Validate with Relevant Authority.
- If you had previously set VAT Number Validation to OFF, this setting will default to Do Not Validate (Disabled).
Automatic Updates for VAT Rules
You can now enable the new Automatically Update VAT Rules setting at Configuration () > System Settings > Tax Configuration to automatically check for and apply updates to your VAT rules. This check occurs as part of the daily system cron run.
New Nexus Cart Experience
We have added a new shopping cart with improved UI for your clients. The new Nexus cart is dynamic, so clients can see changes without refreshing the page. This makes it easier for your clients to view new items in their cart, add promo codes, and recalculate taxes without leaving the page. The Nexus cart also supports AI-powered searches for domain name suggestions.
To enable the Nexus cart, set Nexus as your system theme, then set the Nexus Cart as your default order form template.
CSV Support for ImportAssist
The ImportAssist addon module now supports client imports using CSV files. This allows you to import client data from any system directly into WHMCS.
- A new
--ImportAssisttask processes new import files as part of the system cron job. - CSV import files must use the correct import file format.
New System Health Check for Two-Factor Authentication Encryption
We have added a new check at Configuration () > System Health that identifies if you have an unencrypted Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) storage configuration. You can migrate to an encrypted 2FA storage configuration by following the link in this alert and clicking Begin Migration.
Rate Limiting for User Login Attempts
We have introduced rate limiting for user login attempts in the Client Area. When a user makes 10 failed login attempts within a 10-minute period, the system temporarily blocks them from logging in.
Technology Preview: AI Support Copilot Addon Module
You can now preview our upcoming AI Support Copilot addon module. This tool will help support agents by creating AI-generated response suggestions for interacting with your customers. It will also help you remove Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from responses.
To enable the preview, contact support to request a license.Then you can preview the addon module at Addons > AI Support Copilot.
The full release of this module is coming in 2026.
Updates and Improvements
Expanded API Coverage
WHMCS now includes expanded API coverage, allowing template and module developers additional options for creating custom buyflows and shopping cart experiences.
New Localization Step in the Getting Started Wizard
You can now choose localization options when you configure your WHMCS installation using the Getting Started Wizard. These options determine the language that you see in the Admin Area and the language that clients and visitors see by default in the Client Area.
Streamlined MarketConnect Product Access
WHMCS now supports backward-compatible MarketConnect offerings, enabling users to access new products without updating WHMCS.
WHMCS AI Domain Namespinning
WHMCS Namespinning now includes AI-powered domain name suggestions. When clients purchase a domain, they can use a keyword or description to search for the best domain name. Clients can also still search for an exact domain name.
You can configure WHMCS Namespinning for your clients at Configuration () > System Settings > Domain Pricing.
Support for Shorter SSL Certificate Renewal Periods
Digicert is gradually reducing the maximum lifetime of SSL certificates. To make sure you can still automatically reissue SSL certificates, WHMCS now checks for expiring SSL certificates more frequently. If the system cannot automatically reissue a certificate, it will send you an email explaining how you can manually reissue the certificate.
Improved marketgoo Landing Page
We have updated the landing page that your customers see in the Client Area when you sell marketgoo using WHMCS MarketConnect.
Updated Configurable Options Merge Fields
We have updated the available merge fields for configurable options at Configuration () > System Settings > Email Templates.
Scheduled Actions in the Activity Log
The Activity Log at Configuration () > System Logs now includes scheduled actions. You can review the log to see when an admin edited or canceled a scheduled action, or when a scheduled action failed.
Improved Sidebar Ticket Count Display
We have improved the logic that the Admin Area sidebar uses to display the number of tickets for each ticket status.
Skrill Secret Word Requirement
The Skrill payment gateway module now requires that you specify a Secret Word value in your configuration at Configuration () > System Settings > Payment Gateways.
WorldPay Payment Response Password Requirement
The WorldPay payment gateway module now requires that you add the Payment Response Password value at Configuration () > System Settings > Payment Gateways to your WorldPay account.
Updated Checkout Experience
Displayed tax rates now refresh automatically when customers change their country or state during checkout.
Updated Language Files
We have updated WHMCS’s language files to correct the spelling of the following language names:
- Portuguese
- Portuguese-br
- Ukrainian
When you update to WHMCS 9.0, the system will replace your existing language files with the new, corrected files.
Updated OpenSRS Dependencies
We have removed PEAR dependency from the OpenSRS domain registrar module.
Updated Smarty Support
We have updated WHMCS to use Smarty 4.0.
We have also removed support for:
- Smarty
fetchtags. For more information, see Smarty fetch Tags. - Legacy Smarty PHP tags and the settings that enabled their use. We deprecated Smarty PHP tags in WHMCS 8.7. For more information, see Smarty PHP Tags.
Deprecations
N/A
Removals
PHP 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 8.1 Support
To improve security in WHMCS, we have removed support for the following PHP versions:
- PHP 7.2
- PHP 7.3
- PHP 7.4
- PHP 8.1
These PHP versions have already reached end-of-life (EOL). Continuing to use them may incur security risks.
As part of this removal, we have also removed the related support for ionCube Loader 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, and 12.0.
Smarty fetch Tags
We have removed the ability to use Smarty {fetch} tags in customizations. We strongly recommend updating any customizations that use {fetch} tags before updating to WHMCS 9.0.
Smarty PHP Tags
We have removed support for legacy Smarty PHP tags and the settings that have enabled their use since we deprecated them in WHMCS 8.7.
Password Authentication for Google®
We no longer support password authentication for Google email importing or for Google as a mail provider.
We have removed the Password authentication option for Google in the following locations:
- Configuration () > System Settings > Support Departments.
- Mail tab at Configuration () > System Settings > General Settings.
If you want to use Google for email importing or as a mail provider, you must now use OAuth2, which provides more security.
TPP Wholesale Debug Mode
We have removed the Debug option from TPP Wholesale configurations at Configuration () > System Settings > Domain Registrars.
You can continue to find logged information for this module in the Module Log section at Configuration () > System Settings > System Logs.
TrustCommerce
We have removed the TrustCommerce payment gateway module.
For Developers
Template Changes
For a list of changed files and a graphical view of the exact changes between WHMCS 8.13.1 and WHMCS 9.0.0, see our GitHub® repositories:
Last modified: 2026 January 22