LTS vs. STS in .NET

.NET releases a new major version every year.¹ Each release follows one of two support tracks:

• LTS - Long Term Support
• STS - Standard Term Support

The main difference between them is how long Microsoft supports the release. LTS and STS releases have the same quality standards; STS does not mean “beta” or “unstable.”

Long Term Support (LTS)

LTS releases are supported for three years.

They are useful when an application needs to remain on the same major .NET version for a longer period while continuing to receive official support and patches.

For example, .NET 10 is an LTS release:

.NET 10
Released:        November 2025
Support ends:    November 2028

During its support lifecycle, .NET 10 continues receiving servicing updates, including security and reliability fixes.

Standard Term Support (STS)

STS releases are supported for two years.

They provide another opportunity to adopt a new major .NET release between LTS versions, but require upgrading to a newer version sooner to remain supported.

For example, .NET 9 is an STS release:

.NET 9
Released:        November 2024
Support ends:    November 2026

STS releases receive the same quality standards and servicing policies as LTS releases while they are supported.

Release cadence

.NET releases a new major version every November and alternates between LTS and STS releases:

flowchart LR
    NET8[".NET 8<br/><b>LTS</b><br/>2023"]
    NET9[".NET 9<br/><b>STS</b><br/>2024"]
    NET10[".NET 10<br/><b>LTS</b><br/>2025"]
    NET11[".NET 11<br/><b>STS</b><br/>2026"]

    NET8 --> NET9 --> NET10 --> NET11

    classDef lts fill:#2e7d32,color:#fff,stroke:#1b5e20
    classDef sts fill:#1565c0,color:#fff,stroke:#0d47a1

    class NET8,NET10 lts
    class NET9,NET11 sts

This means that, under the current release model:

• Even-numbered versions are LTS releases.
• Odd-numbered versions are STS releases.

LTS vs STS at a glance

LTS does not mean “more stable” and STS does not mean “experimental.” The primary difference is the support period.

One important detail: LTS doesn’t mean “don’t update”

Choosing an LTS release does not mean that we install it once and leave it unchanged for three years.

Microsoft publishes servicing updates throughout a .NET version’s support lifecycle. To remain supported, systems should stay current with the available patch updates.²

For example:

.NET 10.0
   │
   ├── 10.0.1
   ├── 10.0.2
   ├── 10.0.3
   │    ...
   └── latest supported patch

The major version remains .NET 10, while patch releases provide fixes and updates.