Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series — End-of-Life & EOSL Dates
Stackable enterprise access switch. Copper and fiber SKUs were retired on separate schedules — copper support ended in 2025, fiber runs to 2027.
Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series has mixed lifecycle status. Some SKU groups are already past Cisco end of service while others run until Apr 2027. Confirm the exact part number before any support or refresh decision. For past-EOSL units, weigh third-party maintenance, spares, replacement, or a documented run-to-failure. Cisco’s named migration path: Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series / Cisco Catalyst 9300/9300X and 9500.
Available
Jan 2013
End of sale
Oct 2020 – Apr 2022
Last date of support
Oct 2025 – Apr 2027
Part numbers
49
29
of 49 part numbers are past support
Why this score
- Past end of service life — 10 months ago
- Vendor-published date, source-linked
- Mixed status across SKU groups — some past EOSL, some still supported
- Vendor-named replacement / migration path available
- Category: stackable access switch
Support-lifecycle timing and source confidence only. Higher means more runway. It is not a risk, safety or compliance rating. How it is calculated
Part numbers in this family
Dates vary across 2 groups in this family, so every row carries its own. Find your exact part before you plan.
| Part number | End of sale | Last support | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| WS-C3850-24T-L | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24T-S | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24T-E | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48T-L | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48T-S | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48T-E | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24P-L | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24P-S | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24P-E | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48P-L | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48P-S | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48P-E | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48F-L | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48F-S | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48F-E | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24U-L | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24U-S | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24U-E | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48U-L | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48U-S | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-48U-E | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-12X48U-L | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-12X48U-S | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-12X48U-E | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24XU-L | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24XU-S | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-24XU-E | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| C1-WSC3850-12X48UL | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| C1-WSC3850-24XUL | Oct 2020 | Oct 2025 | Past support |
| WS-C3850-12S-E | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-12S-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-12XS-E | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-12XS-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-16XS-E | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-16XS-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-24S-E | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-24S-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-24XS-E | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-24XS-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-32XS-E | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-32XS-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-48XS-E | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-48XS-F-E | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-48XS-F-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| WS-C3850-48XS-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| C1-WS3850-12XS-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| C1-WSC3850-24XS-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| C1-WSC3850-48XS-FS | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
| C1-WSC3850-48XS-S | Apr 2022 | Apr 2027 | Ending soon |
Retired OS trains for this hardware
The software running on a device ages on its own clock. These Cisco OS trains tied to this product by Cisco's own bulletins have announced end-of-life dates — a unit capped on one of them can be unpatched even while the hardware is still supported.
Security fixes ended Aug 4, 2021 · support ended Feb 28, 2025 — details + source →
Security fixes ended Jul 10, 2020 · support ended Jan 31, 2025 — details + source →
Security fixes ended Jul 31, 2021 · support ended Jul 31, 2024 — details + source →
Security fixes ended Mar 31, 2019 · support ended Sep 30, 2023 — details + source →
Security fixes ended Aug 1, 2020 · support ended Jul 31, 2023 — details + source →
Security fixes ended Mar 1, 2019 · support ended Feb 28, 2023 — details + source →
Security fixes ended May 1, 2018 · support ended Apr 30, 2022 — details + source →
Security fixes ended May 1, 2019 · support ended Apr 30, 2022 — details + source →
Options from here
29 Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series part numbers are past Cisco end of service while 20 remain supported (to Apr 2027). For the past-EOSL units, these are the usual paths:
Keep it in production past the OEM cutoff with an independent maintainer.
Buy spares now, while units still circulate on the secondary market.
It is unsupported today. Set a migration timeline and budget.
Low-criticality role: document the risk, harden backups, retire on your terms.
Independent and informational. EOSL.ai sells no hardware and no maintenance, and lists no paid placements. Third-party maintenance keeps unsupported gear in production past the OEM cutoff; whether it fits depends on the role the asset plays.
Catalyst 3850 Series — questions
Is the Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series end of life?
Partly. Some 3850 Series SKU groups are past end of service life while others are still supported. See the dates by SKU group below.
What is the last date of support for the 3850 Series?
Last dates of support across 3850 Series SKU groups range from Oct 2025 to Apr 2027.
Where do these 3850 Series dates come from?
Every end-of-sale and end-of-service-life date on this page links to the official Cisco EOL bulletin it was taken from.
What is the replacement for the 3850 Series?
Cisco's end-of-life bulletins list Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series and Cisco Catalyst 9300/9300X and 9500 as the recommended migration path for the 3850 Series. Exact per-part-number replacements are in the linked bulletins.
More Cisco Catalyst · compare all 29 models →
On the same timetable
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