3.16.0 schedule

The dates below use a 17-month development period that results in a 12-month release cadence between feature versions, as defined by PEP 602.

Actual:

• 3.16 development begins: Thursday, 2026-05-07

Expected:

• 3.16.0 alpha 1: Tuesday, 2026-10-13
• 3.16.0 alpha 2: Tuesday, 2026-11-10
• 3.16.0 alpha 3: Tuesday, 2026-12-15
• 3.16.0 alpha 4: Tuesday, 2027-01-12
• 3.16.0 alpha 5: Tuesday, 2027-02-09
• 3.16.0 alpha 6: Tuesday, 2027-03-09
• 3.16.0 alpha 7: Tuesday, 2027-04-13
• 3.16.0 beta 1: Tuesday, 2027-05-04 (No new features beyond this point.)
• 3.16.0 beta 2: Tuesday, 2027-05-25
• 3.16.0 beta 3: Tuesday, 2027-06-15
• 3.16.0 beta 4: Tuesday, 2027-07-13
• 3.16.0 candidate 1: Tuesday, 2027-07-27
• 3.16.0 candidate 2: Tuesday, 2027-08-31
• 3.16.0 final: Tuesday, 2027-10-05

Subsequent bugfix releases every two months.

3.16 lifespan

• Python 3.16 will receive bugfix updates approximately every second month for two years.
• Around the time of the release of 3.18.0 final, the final 3.16 bugfix update will be released.
• After that, it is expected that security updates (source only) will be released for the next three years, until five years after the release of 3.16.0 final, so until approximately October 2032.