OpenSearch End of Life - Dates and Lifecycle

If you run OpenSearch through Amazon's managed service, there are actually two separate timelines to track, not one. The open-source project sets its own maintenance schedule, and Amazon OpenSearch Service runs a distinct Standard and Extended Support schedule on top of that, which doesn't always match the upstream dates.

OpenSearch Lifecycle Explained

OpenSearch follows semantic versioning, with active development always happening on the newest major version. When a breaking change forces a new major version, the final minor release of the previous major enters a maintenance window, receiving bug fixes and security patches but no new features. By default, that maintenance window lasts until the next major version itself enters maintenance, or one year, whichever is longer, so OpenSearch 2.x's exact end date isn't fixed yet, it depends on when OpenSearch 4.0 arrives and matures.

Amazon OpenSearch Service Has a Separate Timeline

AWS has explicitly stated it will provide at least 12 months of Standard Support after the open-source project's own end of support date, or 12 months after the next minor version ships on the service, whichever is longer, followed by at least 12 more months of Extended Support. AWS originally announced OpenSearch versions 1.0 through 1.2 and 2.3 through 2.9 would have Standard Support ending November 7, 2025, and Extended Support ending November 7, 2026, then later extended that Extended Support window by an additional 12 months, through November 7, 2027, to give customers more time to migrate. Extended Support carries an additional per-instance-hour fee on top of standard usage costs.