diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index d388b739..1c4300a2 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-# [Choice] Python version (use -bullseye variants on local arm64/Apple Silicon): 3, 3.10, 3.9, 3.8, 3-bullseye, 3.10-bullseye, 3.9-bullseye, 3.8-bullseye, 3-buster, 3.10-buster, 3.9-buster, 3.8-buster
-ARG VARIANT=3.8
+# [Choice] Python version (use -bullseye variants on local arm64/Apple Silicon): 3, 3.10, 3-bullseye, 3.10-bullseye, 3-buster, 3.10-buster
+ARG VARIANT=3.10
 FROM mcr.microsoft.com/vscode/devcontainers/python:${VARIANT}
 
 # [Choice] Node.js version: none, lts/*, 16, 14, 12, 10
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ RUN git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv.git .pyenv
 ENV PYENV_ROOT="/home/vscode/.pyenv"
 ENV PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/shims:$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"
 
-RUN pyenv install 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13
-RUN pyenv local 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13
+RUN pyenv install 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13
+RUN pyenv local 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13
 RUN pyenv global ${VARIANT}
 
 # Set up pyenv-virtualenv
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index 2407beed..6aa35428 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 		"dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
 		"context": "..",
 		"args": {
-			// Update 'VARIANT' to pick a Python version: 3, 3.13, 3.12, 3.11, 3.10, 3.9, 3.8
+			// Update 'VARIANT' to pick a Python version: 3, 3.13, 3.12, 3.11, 3.10
 			// Append -bullseye or -buster to pin to an OS version.
 			// Use -bullseye variants on local on arm64/Apple Silicon.
 			"VARIANT": "3.10",
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8aaf531c..a9d61359 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-
 ## Unreleased (v7.0.0)
 * (Major): Python 3.10 or newer is required. Support for Python 3.8 and 3.9 has been dropped.
 * (Major): `UnleashClient` and `AsyncUnleashClient` take their settings as option groups: `identity=IdentityOptions(...)`, `http=HttpOptions(...)`, `mode=PollingOptions(...)` or `mode=StreamingOptions()`, and `metrics=MetricsOptions(...)`. Every argument after `url` and `app_name` is keyword-only. `ExperimentalMode` has been removed. See the [v7 migration guide](./v7_MIGRATION_GUIDE.md).
 * (Major): Settings can no longer be changed on an existing client. The `unleash_*` settings properties and the `strategy_mapping` and `connector_mode` properties have been removed, together with their setters.
 * (Major): The API token is passed as `api_key="<API token>"`. An `Authorization` header in `HttpOptions.headers` raises `ValueError`.
 * (Major): The deprecated `environment` setting has been removed. The `environment` field of the evaluation context and the impact metrics `environment` label come from the API token, or are `"default"` when the token doesn't name one.
+* (Major): Upgraded to yggdrasil-engine 3, new engine built with PyO3 for better performance.
 * (Minor): New `FETCH_COMPLETED` event, emitted after every feature fetch with how it ended: `CHANGED`, `NOT_CHANGED`, `UNAUTHORIZED`, `RATE_LIMITED`, `UNAVAILABLE` or `INVALID_RESPONSE`.
 
 ## v6.9.1
diff --git a/UnleashClient/_payloads.py b/UnleashClient/_payloads.py
index 3f9aa1a4..728b726e 100644
--- a/UnleashClient/_payloads.py
+++ b/UnleashClient/_payloads.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 from platform import python_implementation, python_version
 from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
 
-import yggdrasil_engine
+from yggdrasil_engine.engine import UnleashEngine
 
 from UnleashClient.config import UnleashConfig
 from UnleashClient.constants import CLIENT_SPEC_VERSION, SDK_NAME, SDK_VERSION
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ def _client_metadata(config: UnleashConfig) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         "connectionId": config.connection_id,
         "platformName": python_implementation(),
         "platformVersion": python_version(),
-        "yggdrasilVersion": yggdrasil_engine.__yggdrasil_core_version__,
+        "yggdrasilVersion": UnleashEngine.get_core_version(),
         "specVersion": CLIENT_SPEC_VERSION,
     }
     if config.identity.sdk_flavor:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 4c8c53e2..f0a26c95 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ dependencies=[
     "importlib_metadata",
     "python-dateutil",
     "semver < 4.0.0",
-    "yggdrasil-engine >= 2.0.0, < 3.0.0",
+    "yggdrasil-engine >= 3.0.0a1, < 4.0.0",
     "launchdarkly-eventsource",
 ]
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index c0d68be2..84384e59 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ mmhash3
 python-dateutil
 requests
 semver
-yggdrasil-engine==2.0.0
+yggdrasil-engine==3.0.0a1
 launchdarkly-eventsource
 aiohttp