OpenWrt version history

The OpenWrt project started in January 2004. The first OpenWrt versions were based on Linksys GPL sources for WRT54G and a buildroot from the uClibc project. This version was known as OpenWrt stable release and was widely in use.

In the beginning of 2005 some new developers joined the team. After some months of closed development the team decided to publish the first experimental versions of OpenWrt. The experimental versions use a heavily customized build system based on buildroot2 from the uClibc project.

OpenWrt uses official GNU/Linux kernel sources and adds patches for the system on chip and drivers for the network interfaces. The developer team tries to re-implement most of the proprietary code inside the GPL tarballs of the different vendors. There are free tools for writing new firmware images directly into the flash (mtd), for configuring the wireless lan chip and to program the VLAN-capable switch via the proc filesystem.

Below is a historical listing of the major stable releases of the OpenWrt project. Pre-built images of the final stable image for each release are in the Downloads column at the right. Information about the various types of builds is available on the Choosing an OpenWrt version page.

OEM devices may indicate a specific OpenWrt or LEDE release name in banners or other locations that are built using Qualcomm Atheros' QSDK. These builds, while based on OpenWrt code are not OpenWrt and are often not compatible with OpenWrt configuration approaches. QSDK builds are often very good builds, incorporating proprietary code from Qualcomm Atheros. Support for these OEM builds is best sought from the OEM.

2007: The codename of the first OpenWrt release is White Russian, named after the popular cocktail. Subsequent release names in 2007-2016 were based on other cocktails, and the recipe was shown in /etc/banner.

Subsequent releases continue the version scheme without the .0 prefix, and with the version number derived roughly from the year in which the release falls.

White Russian is no longer maintained or supported.

2006-2010: Substantial improvements to the build environment were made under the Buildroot-NG fork in August and September 2006, and these were merged back into the main Kamikaze development branch in mid-October 2006 and became the first official Kamikaze release. OpenWrt 7 and 8, both in the Kamikaze stream, were released throughout 2007-2008.

Kamikaze and Buildroot-NG are no longer maintained or supported.

2010-2011: The first Backfire release, OpenWrt 10.03, was released in April 2010:

• Release notes

Backfire is no longer maintained or supported.

2013: Attitude Adjustment (AA) was released on 25 April 2013:

• Release notes
• Release notes
• Announcement
• Changelog
• Downloads
• Code revision: r36088

Attitude Adjustment is no longer maintained or supported.

2014: Barrier Breaker (BB) was released in October 2014:

• Release notes
• Announcement / Release notes
• Downloads
• Code revision: r42625

Barrier Breaker is no longer maintained or supported.

2015-2016: Chaos Calmer (CC) was compiled at the end of January 2016, but hardware problems delayed the release until March.

The maintenance release of Chaos Calmer was released on 16 March 2016:

• Release notes
• Announcement / Release notes
• Downloads
• Code revision: r48532
• Linux kernel: 3.18

Chaos Calmer is no longer maintained or supported.

2017-2018: The final 17.01 release was 17.01.6 in September 2018:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r3979-2252731af4
• Linux kernel: 4.4

LEDE 17.01 is no longer maintained or supported.

The OpenWrt 18.06 series highlights:

• Flow offloading support for targets using kernel 4.14
• IPv6 improvements
• SQM & cake qdisc improvements from network flow controlling

2018-2020: The last 18.06 release was the final service release 18.06.9 in December 2020:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r8077-7cbbab7246
• Linux kernel: 4.9 / 4.14 depending on target

OpenWrt 18.06 was declared End-of-Support in December 2020 and is no longer maintained or supported.

The OpenWrt 19.07 highlights:

• bringing all supported targets to Linux kernel version 4.14
• initial device tree based ath79 support (for ar71xx devices)
• initial WPA3 support for wireless networking for openssl based images
• conversion to client-side rendering on LuCI web interface

2020-2022: The last 19.07 release was the final service release 19.07.10 in April 2022:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r11427-9ce6aa9d8d
• Linux kernel: 4.14

OpenWrt 19.07 was declared End-of-Support in April 2022 and is no longer maintained or supported.

The OpenWrt 21.02 highlights:

• WPA3 support in default images
• TLS and HTTPS support by default
• initial DSA support for switch config on some targets
• network config clarifications

2021-2023: The last 21.02 release was the final service release 21.02.7 in May 2023:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r16847-f8282da11e
• Linux kernel: 5.4

OpenWrt 21.02 was declared End-of-Support in May 2023 and is no longer maintained or supported.

The OpenWrt 22.03 highlights:

• migration from iptables based firewall3 to the nftables based firewall4
• more DSA support
• year 2038 date problem fix via 64-bit time_t in musl C lib

2022-2024: The last 22.03 release was the final service release 22.03.7 in July 2024:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r20341-591b7e93d3
• Linux kernel: 5.10.221

OpenWrt 22.03 was declared End-of-Support in July 2024 and is no longer maintained or supported.

The OpenWrt 23.05 highlights:

• Support for WiFi 6E (6GHz)
• More 64bit ARM targets

2023-2025: The last 23.05 release was the final service release 23.05.6 in August 2025:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r24106-10cc5fcd00
• Linux kernel: 5.15.189

OpenWrt 23.05 was declared End-of-Support in August 2025 and is no longer maintained or supported.

The OpenWrt 24.10 highlights:

• Improved support for WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and initial support for WiFi 7 (802.11be)
• TLS 1.3 support in default images

2024-2026: The current 24.10 release is the 24.10.7 service release in June 2026:

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r29197-ab4c7d6af7
• Linux kernel: 6.6.141

Old-stable release OpenWrt 24.10 will go End-of-Support in September 2026.

The OpenWrt 25.12 highlights:

• apk replaced opkg as the package manager
• Attended sysupgrade package enabled by default
• wifi handling scripts rewritten in ucode

2025-Current: The current 25.12 release is the 25.12.5 release in July 2026.

• Release notes
• Announcement
• Downloads
• Code revision: r33051-f5dae5ece4
• Linux kernel: 6.12.94

The “bleeding edge” aka trunk (SVN age term) where the main development occurs is called as the main branch (formerly “master”) in the Git repository. Snapshot images made from the main branch are considered unstable and potentially can brick the device, so they should be used by developers or experienced users only.

Buildbot compiles 'main' snapshots daily.

OpenWrt follows this branch strategy:

• All development happens in 'main'. It progresses with new features and device support, but no stable releases are made directly from it.
• Stable releases are branched from 'main' typically once a year. They are named based on the year and month of the branch, with a third number used for periodic point releases. No major new features are added to the release branch at this point, but it receives bug and security fixes throughout its lifecycle.

List of recent stable release branches with their approximate branch dates:

• 18.06: May 2018
• 19.07: June 2019
• 21.02: February 2021
• 22.03: March 2022
• 23.05: May 2023
• 24.10: October 2024
• 25.12: December 2025

In the picture below, you can see 23.05, 24.10, and 25.12 branches with the releases made from them.