---
title: "What's new in Postgres 15?"
description: "PostgreSQL 15, released as a stable version in October 2022, adds security, performance, SQL, replication, logging, compression, and string-processing changes. CREATE permission is revoked from all users except the database owner, views can use caller permissions with security_invoker=on, and sorting is reported up to four times faster for in-memory and on-disk workloads; window functions also improve. The release introduces MERGE, supports two-phase commits and selective data in logical replication, allows conflicting transactions to be skipped or subscriptions disabled, and enables parallel workers for SELECT DISTINCT. It also adds JSON logging, Zstandard and ZL4 compression for WAL and pg_basebackup, and POSIX regexp functions such as regexp_substr() and regexp_count(). The post recommends upgrading for bug fixes and stability, while noting that migrated databases may need manual permission changes and upgrades should be checked for rare manual actions."
---

# What's new in Postgres 15?

[Supabase](https://yomu.fyi/company/supabase) · pavel · Dec 16, 2022

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

PostgreSQL 15, released as a stable version in October 2022, adds security, performance, SQL, replication, logging, compression, and string-processing changes. CREATE permission is revoked from all users except the database owner, views can use caller permissions with security\_invoker=on, and sorting is reported up to four times faster for in-memory and on-disk workloads; window functions also improve. The release introduces MERGE, supports two-phase commits and selective data in logical replication, allows conflicting transactions to be skipped or subscriptions disabled, and enables parallel workers for SELECT DISTINCT. It also adds JSON logging, Zstandard and ZL4 compression for WAL and pg\_basebackup, and POSIX regexp functions such as regexp\_substr() and regexp\_count(). The post recommends upgrading for bug fixes and stability, while noting that migrated databases may need manual permission changes and upgrades should be checked for rare manual actions.

## Context

PostgreSQL 15 was released as a stable version in October 2022. The post reviews its new features and argues that bug fixes in each new version are a major reason to upgrade because some fixes cannot be applied to already-released major versions without changing the ABI, interface functions, or system catalog structures.

## Approach / What changed

The release adds a more restrictive permission model, security-invoker views, faster sorting and window functions, MERGE, expanded logical replication controls, parallel execution for SELECT DISTINCT, JSON logging, additional compression methods, and POSIX regular-expression functions. Upgrade paths mentioned include pg\_upgrade, recommended practices in the official documentation, and manual checks for rare upgrade actions.

## Takeaways

- PostgreSQL 15 revokes CREATE permission from all users except the database owner; migrated databases should also have CREATE permission on the public schema revoked manually.
- Sorting can be up to four times faster for both in-memory and on-disk sorts, and window function performance is also improved.
- MERGE modifies target-table data from a source using conditional processing, covering delete, insert, and update behavior without procedural functions or complex CTE queries.

**Tags:** [Migrations](https://yomu.fyi/topic/migration), [Performance](https://yomu.fyi/topic/performance), [Postgres](https://yomu.fyi/topic/postgres), [Reliability](https://yomu.fyi/topic/reliability)

- Source: [Supabase](https://supabase.com/blog/new-in-postgres-15)
- Source URL: https://supabase.com/blog/new-in-postgres-15
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-08-29T01:15:55.049Z

[Read original post](https://supabase.com/blog/new-in-postgres-15)