Crystal Reports end of life, explained
SAP Crystal Reports 2020 reaches end of mainstream maintenance on December 31, 2026. Here's exactly what that means for your reports and your options going forward.
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Crystal Reports 2016
End of support
Crystal Reports 2020
End of mainstream maintenance
Crystal Reports 2025
End of mainstream maintenance
Your reports keep running. That's the trap.
End of mainstream maintenance is the date SAP stops mainstream maintenance for a Crystal Reports version, including security updates, bug fixes and product enhancements. Reports keep running after that date; the version no longer receives those updates.
What people assume
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Reports still generate as expected.
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Existing workflows continue uninterrupted.
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Current users remain unaffected.
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Security isn't an immediate concern.
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Support won't be needed anytime soon.
What actually changes
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Security maintenance may be reduced.
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Product support becomes more limited.
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Compliance reviews become more challenging
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Platform compatibility becomes less predictable.
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Future migrations require greater effort.
Risk profile
Who feels this first?
Organizations dependent on Crystal Reports may experience the impact differently. These groups often face the earliest pressure to evaluate migration and modernization options.
Compliance-focused organizations
Healthcare, financial services, government, and other regulated sectors often need software to stay vendor-supported to satisfy security and patching controls under their internal policies and regulatory frameworks. As Crystal Reports approaches end of maintenance, these teams may need to reassess security, supportability, and compliance requirements more closely.
.NET modernization initiatives
Organizations moving to ASP.NET Core, modern .NET (8+), Blazor, cloud-native applications, or other modern architectures often encounter reporting challenges during modernization. Evaluating a modern reporting platform can help align reporting capabilities with current development standards and long-term roadmap goals.
Web, embedded, & self-service reporting
Teams delivering reports through web applications, customer portals, or SaaS products often need scalable embedded reporting experiences. Modern reporting platforms provide browser-based access, API-driven integration, and self-service capabilities that are increasingly expected by today's users across multiple business environments.
Your options
What should you do before Crystal Reports 2020 maintenance ends?
Teams running Crystal Reports 2020 have three paths before mainstream maintenance ends on December 31, 2026: continue on the current version, upgrade to Crystal Reports 2025 (mainstream maintenance currently scheduled through December 31, 2027), or migrate the reports to RDL with Bold Reports.
Continue with your current deployment
Keep running your existing Crystal Reports environment without upgrading or migrating. This may avoid immediate project costs, but it can increase long-term operational, security, compatibility, and support challenges as technology requirements evolve over time, making future transitions more difficult and expensive.
Upgrade to Crystal Reports 2025
Extend vendor-supported usage. Crystal Reports 2025 is under mainstream maintenance through December 31, 2027. This can provide additional time for planning, but it does not address modernization goals such as web-based reporting, embedded analytics, cloud adoption, or modern .NET application development requirements.
Migrate to a modern reporting platform
Move off the proprietary .rpt format readable only by SAP's Crystal tooling to RDL, the widely supported format behind SQL Server Reporting Services. Because RDL isn't tied to a single vendor, you trade lock-in for portability. With Bold Reports you gain browser-based access, embedded reporting, deployment flexibility, and ongoing updates for modern app architectures.
Why Bold Reports
A reporting platform built for organizations moving beyond Crystal Reports
As Crystal Reports approaches the end of mainstream maintenance, organizations need a reporting solution that supports modern application architectures, flexible deployment, and long-term scalability. Bold Reports helps teams modernize reporting while maintaining control over their reporting environment.
Simplify Report Modernization
Bold Reports converts Crystal Reports (.rpt) files to RDL and embeds the converted reports in ASP.NET Core, ASP.NET MVC, Blazor, Angular, React and JavaScript web applications.
Scale for Future Growth
Bold Reports Enterprise Reporting supports multi-site deployment managed by administrators, so report volumes and users can grow across sites.
Embedded Reporting Platform
Embed interactive and paginated reports directly into web applications using APIs, SDKs, and flexible integration options.
Deploy on Your Terms
Bold Reports is available as Cloud Edition, Managed Private Cloud or On-Premises Edition, and the on-premises build runs on Windows Server, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Microsoft Azure or AWS.
Enterprise-Ready Administration
Centralize report management with role-based access, scheduling, permissions, and administration tools designed for enterprise environments.
Pixel-Perfect Report Output
Create highly formatted invoices, statements, operational reports, and business documents with consistent output across PDF, web, and print formats.
Move from Crystal Reports in three simple steps
Bold Reports includes a free migration toolkit and guidance to help convert Crystal Reports (.rpt) to RDL. Instead of rebuilding reports from scratch, you can automate much of the conversion process and focus only on validation and final refinements.
Assess & Prepare
Review your report inventory and identify the reports you want to migrate. Our team provides free migration guidance to help you plan the process and prioritize business-critical reports.
Convert Automatically
Use the free Crystal Reports migration tool to convert .rpt reports into RDL format. The automated process preserves layouts, parameters, expressions, and report structure while reducing manual effort.
Validate & Deploy
Open the converted RDL reports in Bold Reports, verify data and formatting, make the required adjustments, and publish them for web-based, embedded, or enterprise reporting.
Here's why our customers love us
See how Bold Reports is used in business reporting, as shared by customers in reviews on G2, Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice.
Bold Reports is a user-friendly and powerful reporting tool. The desktop designer and writer for .NET Core make report creation easy, and connecting to databases is seamless. It’s a great solution for generating offers, invoices, and reports in our CRM app.
Muhammed Y
Co-Founder & Full-Stack Developer
We switched from SSRS with little effort. It works great in our WPF and Blazor applications, supports our old reports, and lets developers create new ones easily. The pricing is fair for ISVs, and the support team is fast and helpful. Onboarding was smooth and responsive.
Aaron S
CEO
Bold Reports was easy to integrate and works smoothly. It creates clean, professional-looking reports, and the documentation is clear with plenty of helpful examples. I had no issues during setup and it was a great experience overall.
Domenico D
Funzionario
Bold Reports is easy to use, enabling both teams and business users to modify reports confidently. Setup is quick and smooth. It integrates well with SQL Server, Microsoft Fabric, and other tools, reduces infrastructure complexity, and works reliably for recurring reports.
Brad M
Chief Information Officer
Bold Reports is a user-friendly and powerful reporting tool. The desktop designer and writer for .NET Core make report creation easy, and connecting to databases is seamless. It’s a great solution for generating offers, invoices, and reports in our CRM app.
Muhammed Y
Co-Founder & Full-Stack Developer
We switched from SSRS with little effort. It works great in our WPF and Blazor applications, supports our old reports, and lets developers create new ones easily. The pricing is fair for ISVs, and the support team is fast and helpful. Onboarding was smooth and responsive.
Aaron S
CEO
Bold Reports was easy to integrate and works smoothly. It creates clean, professional-looking reports, and the documentation is clear with plenty of helpful examples. I had no issues during setup and it was a great experience overall.
Domenico D
Funzionario
Bold Reports is easy to use, enabling both teams and business users to modify reports confidently. Setup is quick and smooth. It integrates well with SQL Server, Microsoft Fabric, and other tools, reduces infrastructure complexity, and works reliably for recurring reports.
Brad M
Chief Information Officer
Recognition
Get the Details You Need
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Crystal Reports 2020 will continue to function after December 31, 2026. What ends is SAP's mainstream maintenance period, including security updates, bug fixes, product enhancements, and a reduction in standard technical support. Your existing reports can still run, but this version will no longer receive mainstream maintenance, which may increase operational and security risks over time. Many organizations use this transition period to evaluate modern reporting platforms such as Bold Reports, which provides ongoing product updates, embedded reporting, and modern application support.
Upgrading to Crystal Reports 2025 is an option if you need short-term continuity, as mainstream maintenance is currently scheduled through December 31, 2027. However, it does not fundamentally change the underlying architecture or modern application integration capabilities. Organizations planning to adopt ASP.NET Core, cloud-native architectures, embedded analytics, or modern web reporting often view it as a temporary extension rather than a long-term modernization strategy. For these organizations, Bold Reports offers a modern reporting platform with embedded reporting, flexible deployment options, and support for today's development frameworks.
Yes. Bold Reports provides free migration utilities and expert guidance to simplify Crystal Reports migration and reduce manual effort.
Our migration approach includes:
- Free RPT-to-RDL conversion utilities
- Expression conversion assistance for Crystal Reports formulas
- Layout, parameter, and dataset migration support
- Report validation guidance after conversion
- Dedicated migration expertise for complex report scenarios
While some reports may require adjustments because Crystal Reports and RDL use different architectures, the Bold Reports migration tools automate much of the conversion process, so teams validate and refine converted reports instead of rebuilding each one by hand.
No. In most cases, organizations do not need to start from scratch.
Bold Reports provides migration tools, conversion utilities, and expert guidance that help automate large portions of the migration process. Existing report layouts, parameters, formulas, and datasets can often be converted and validated with substantially less effort than manual redevelopment. This approach helps organizations reduce migration costs, shorten project timelines, and accelerate their move to a modern reporting platform.
Bold Reports does not publish a fixed cost comparison, because both totals depend on the number and complexity of your reports. Upgrading to Crystal Reports 2025 involves SAP's licence or maintenance terms for that version plus re-testing existing .rpt reports, and the same decision returns when its mainstream maintenance ends, currently scheduled for December 31, 2027. Migrating to a web-based platform such as Bold Reports involves a Bold Reports licence (see the Bold Reports pricing page), conversion with the free .rpt to RDL migration utility, and validation of the converted reports. A free 30-minute migration assessment estimates the conversion effort for your own report inventory.
Bold Reports is one option for .NET teams replacing Crystal Reports: it converts .rpt files to RDL with a free migration utility and embeds the reports in ASP.NET Core, ASP.NET MVC and Blazor applications, as well as Angular, React and JavaScript front ends. For teams on Crystal Reports 2020, the date to plan around is the end of mainstream maintenance on December 31, 2026. A workable sequence is to inventory the reports, convert them, validate the output in Bold Reports, and deploy before that date.
Yes. Bold Reports supports fully on-premises deployment, allowing organizations to maintain complete control over their reporting environment, data, security policies, and infrastructure. This makes it suitable for regulated industries, government organizations, healthcare providers, and private-network deployments. For teams seeking greater scalability and reduced infrastructure management, Bold Reports also offers cloud deployment options.
Yes. One of the key advantages of migrating to Bold Reports is its embedded reporting capability. Reports can be integrated into:
- ASP.NET Core applications
- ASP.NET MVC applications
- Angular applications
- React applications
- Blazor applications
- JavaScript web applications
This enables organizations to deliver reporting and analytics directly inside their business applications, customer portals, and SaaS products instead of relying on separate reporting tools.
The timeline depends on the number and complexity of your reports. While Crystal Reports 2020 maintenance ends on December 31, 2026, and Crystal Reports 2025 maintenance is currently scheduled through December 31, 2027, migration projects typically involve report assessment, conversion, validation, user acceptance testing, and deployment planning. Starting early gives teams greater flexibility and reduces project risk. With Bold Reports' migration tools, free conversion assistance, and expert guidance, organizations can begin modernizing at their own pace instead of waiting until maintenance deadlines create urgency.
SAP manages Crystal Reports version by version, and its published lifecycle schedule lists Crystal Reports 2025 with mainstream maintenance currently scheduled through December 31, 2027. This page describes SAP's version-by-version lifecycle: specific versions (such as Crystal Reports 2020) reach end of mainstream maintenance on set dates, while newer versions stay supported. It is not a statement that the product as a whole is ending — only that the version you may be running is approaching the end of its maintenance window. For the authoritative status of each version, refer to SAP's official lifecycle documentation.
Teams that decide to move off Crystal Reports can convert their .rpt files to RDL with the free Bold Reports migration utility, then validate the converted reports and publish them in Bold Reports Cloud Edition, Managed Private Cloud or On-Premises Edition. The Crystal Reports migration guide describes the steps.
Bold Reports summarises it this way: .rpt reports on Crystal Reports 2020 keep running after December 31, 2026, but that version stops receiving SAP's mainstream security updates, bug fixes and enhancements. Keeping the reports in .rpt format means moving to a Crystal Reports version still under mainstream maintenance, such as Crystal Reports 2025, currently scheduled through December 31, 2027. The alternative is converting the .rpt files to RDL with the free Bold Reports migration utility, after which the reports open in Bold Reports and other RDL-based tools.
Bold Reports' view is that the answer depends on the version you run and where your reports need to appear. Crystal Reports 2025 is listed in SAP's lifecycle schedule with mainstream maintenance through December 31, 2027, so it remains a maintained option for teams whose reports run in SAP's Crystal tooling. Crystal Reports 2020 reaches the end of mainstream maintenance earlier, on December 31, 2026. Teams whose roadmap includes ASP.NET Core, Blazor, browser-based or embedded reporting often evaluate an RDL-based platform such as Bold Reports instead.
Get a migration plan before the deadline sets one for you
Book a free 30-minute assessment. We’ll review your Crystal Reports inventory, flag the complex conversions, and map a realistic path to RDL.
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