As an open source project, we don't have committed release dates. The
page literally says "no earlier than":
> meaning we expect to release no earlier than September 9 2026
The AK 4.4.0 release is in code freeze, and a first RC was cut. But some
blocker bugs were found, and need to be fixed before the next RC can be
prepared.
If you want to monitor the progress more closely, you can follow the dev
mailing list (or the corresponding email thread on the archive in case
you don't want to subscribe).
At this point, I would think we need _at least_ two more weeks...
-Matthias
On 9/8/26 9:52 PM, Mayank Maheshwari M via users wrote:
Hi Kafka Team,
Appreciate your response to the email below.
We have a release planned for the end of September and are planning to include
this Kafka version with the vulnerability fixes in the release.
//Mayank
From: Vivek Agarwal B <[email protected]>
Sent: 08 September 2026 09:16 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Ashish Verma V <[email protected]>; Mayank Maheshwari M
<[email protected]>
Subject: Kafka 4.4.0 formal release date
Hi,
As per Release Plan 4.4.0 - Apache Kafka - Apache Software
Foundation<https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/spaces/KAFKA/pages/429064575/Release+Plan+4.4.0>,
the formal release for Kafka 4.4.0 is planned for 9th Sep.
Could you please confirm that the release date remains unchanged and that there
are no updates to the current schedule?
Regards
Vivek
