Blesta 6.0 Beta Released
With much anticipation, we are pleased to announce that Blesta 6.0.0 BETA 1 has been released! This is the biggest update we’ve shipped in over a decade — tens of thousands of lines of new code, an entirely new admin interface, AI features built across the platform, real-time notifications, signed upgrades, and a long list of changes under the hood.
Can I participate in the beta?
If you have an owned or monthly license with us directly, you may download blesta-6.0.0-b1.zip in the client area now (Login Required). If you obtained your license from a reseller or distributor, you may be able to participate. Contact your reseller to find out. As with any beta, and especially a major release like this one, this release is for non-production use only and is unsupported. DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR PRODUCTION. During installation, choose to start a free trial, open a ticket to request a trial key, or use your dev license if you have one. Direct license holders can request a dev license by opening a ticket.
Once you are up and running, head to the forums or the Discord beta channel to report any issues and let us know what you think! If you have a license and are verified or become verified on our Discord chat, you’ll have access to the license holder only beta channel.
Visit the Beta Forums! Visit Discord Chat!
Trying the AI features
Blesta 6 introduces optional AI features through Blesta AI, powered by the latest leading models. To try this out during beta, open a ticket from your client account to request a Blesta AI API key. Beta keys are issued manually at our discretion and are temporary: they’ll be revoked once 6.0 is officially released. At that point, you’ll be able to request a new key directly from your account.
So what is new in 6.0?
Blesta 6 isn’t just an update — it’s a re-imagining. We’ve rebuilt the admin panel from the ground up on Bootstrap 5 with Paradigm, a sleek new UI with dark mode designed in (not retrofitted), a customizable icon bar, contextual side panels, and a redesigned dashboard. A brand-new AI-powered admin chatbot and Blesta AI features extend across support tickets, HTML email templates, and package descriptions. The client profile has been overhauled, and near real-time notifications keep your team in sync without ever refreshing the page. Under the hood, upgrades are now cryptographically signed, utf8mb4 is the default collation, optional Redis caching is available for dedicated environments, and CKEditor’s HTML source option is back. If you missed our earlier previews, take a look at the Paradigm announcement and the admin preview walkthrough for a closer look at the new UI, and the AI features preview for a deeper look at what Blesta AI brings to the platform.
Paradigm: the new admin UI
Paradigm is a complete rebuild of the admin panel on Bootstrap 5. Dark mode and light mode are first-class, with a single click to switch between them. A new three-tier layout — customizable icon bar, collapsible side navigation, and contextual side panels — gives you more room to work and adapts to what you’re doing. The icon bar supports drag-and-drop reordering, any Bootstrap icon, and custom links, so you can shape the admin experience around your workflow. Plugins can now declare their own navigation icons too, so the icon bar feels native no matter what you have installed.
The dashboard has been redesigned and automation tasks now include a new task execution timeline so you can see automation runs at a glance. Configurable options have been completely reworked — drag-and-drop reordering, copy and paste between groups, keyword filtering, and image uploads on option values. Settings have been reorganized with a searchable navigation that filters in real time as you type, refined icons throughout, and richer metadata behind the search. Step-up authentication, introduced in 5.13, has been refined as well — sessions can now be extended, with a visual timer badge appearing when there’s less than five minutes remaining. The calendar has been redesigned to match the new look, and the entire admin JavaScript has been converted to vanilla JS, with jQuery removed from the build pipeline.
Blesta AI
An API key is required, available manually via support ticket during beta.
Blesta AI is a new optional layer of intelligence woven throughout the platform. A brand-new admin chatbot — never released until now — lives in the admin panel, accessible from the icon bar, and helps staff generate SQL for custom reports, ready-to-use API calls in curl or PHP, and module or plugin scaffolding code through dedicated prompt modes. The Support Manager gains an AI summarize feature for long ticket replies, and an opt-in AI auto-reply that suggests or sends ticket replies as a first line of support. HTML email and template editing can now generate content with AI as well, helping you draft or improve templates faster, and package descriptions can be AI-generated too — taking the chore out of writing copy for new offerings.
Configuring AI is done from a new settings screen, with an explicit disclaimer and confirmation when you turn it on. Bypass protection prevents prompts from being abused, and there’s a per-user option to hide the AI icon from the icon bar entirely if you’d rather not see it.
For a deeper look at the AI features — package descriptions, email templates, the admin chatbot, and Support Manager integration — see our dedicated AI features preview.
Notifications
A brand new notification system surfaces orders, tickets, and other events as near real-time notifications in the admin UI — no page refreshes required. The Support Manager and Order Manager are wired in to notify staff when relevant events happen, and plugin developers can integrate their own events into the same system.
Client Profile
The client profile view has been overhauled with a refreshed sidebar, last-seen caching, a dedicated contacts widget and listing, and a new Quick Jump search to navigate around the profile faster. Order forms now include an optional recurring billing consent checkbox to satisfy processor requirements, and we’ve added Cancel buttons across invoice, quote, service, transaction, and payment account edit screens for a consistent way out of any form.
Modules, plugins & gateways
Every official Blesta extension has been converted to Paradigm — Support Manager, Domain Manager, CMS, Order, Mass Mailer, Webhooks, Download Manager, Import Manager, Auto Cancel, IP Unblocker, Sitebuilder, PHP IDS, Reassign Pricing, Client Documents, Extension Generator, and the rest. Other notable changes:
- OVH module updated to v3 of the official client library.
- OpenProvider module updated to v2 of its REST client.
- OpenSRS — fixes for expiration/registration date handling, nameservers, and additional TLDs.
- Coinbase Commerce gateway has been removed as the service is shutting down.
- Gateways, Modules, and Plugins listings now support filtering.
- Plugins can declare a Bootstrap icon for navigation.
- Domain Groups and Domain Options are now hidden from Packages > Configurable Options where they don’t belong.
For developers
The new Example Objects Library is a standalone utility that produces realistic sample data for plugin and module development — no more cobbling together fixtures. Composer has been moved to v2, the default HTML email template is now used across the board, and the entire admin JavaScript has been converted to vanilla JS with jQuery removed from gulpfile.js. Button language across the admin UI has been standardized, settings metadata is internationalized for search, and while there’s more to do, we’ve worked through deprecation remediation for PHP 8.2 through 8.4 in the core.
Operations & infrastructure
- Signed upgrades — releases are now distributed with a manifest file and verified with public/private key signing.
- CLI upgrade can be initiated right inside Blesta, making upgrades simpler for supported environments.
- utf8mb4 is now the default collation for new installs, with conversion handled during upgrade.
- Redis caching is available as an option for performance in dedicated environments.
- New system integrity check utility for verifying your installation.
- New utility to clear all file caches in one shot.
- File logs are now accessible under Tools > Logs alongside everything else.
- CKEditor has been upgraded — the HTML source option is back.
- Installer requirements check has been updated to match modern environments.
See the release notes for the full list of changes.
Client Template Changes
- /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_accounts_credithandling.pdt updated
- /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_main_getcurrencyamounts.pdt updated
- /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_managers.pdt updated
- /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_managers_accounts.pdt updated
- /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_pay_confirm.pdt updated
- /app/views/client/bootstrap/client_services_cancel.pdt updated
- /app/views/client/bootstrap/partials/client_query_logger.pdt new
- /app/views/client/bootstrap/structure.pdt updated
Note Regarding PHP
Many 3rd party or custom extensions may not yet be compatible with the latest PHP versions. If upgrading Blesta, it is best to use a PHP version that is compatible with both the release you are upgrading from and the release you are upgrading to. Test third party integrations and customizations.
Report any PHP-related issues for Blesta or official extensions on our forums or Discord #beta channel.
Is there something you want to see in Blesta? Create a new feature request or upvote an existing one!
When is the final release?
Version 6.0 will be officially released after the beta phase has completed. Given that 6.0 is a major release, we expect there will be more betas than typical with a minor release. Once we deem 6.0 stable for production, a final release will be issued. You can help speed things along by participating in the beta!