List of the Top 15 Development Frameworks for Java in 2025

The Axon Framework is built on architectural concepts like Domain-Driven Design (DDD) and Command-Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS), offering essential components for implementing CQRS, which aids in developing scalable and adaptable applications while ensuring consistency across distributed systems. Moreover, its design facilitates the handling of complex business logic by dividing responsibilities effectively.

Vaadin stands out as a powerful platform for crafting web applications using Java, making it easier than ever to build reliable web apps that prioritize an exceptional user experience (UX). Developing an enterprise-level web application often involves navigating through numerous complex components; however, Vaadin simplifies this process with its comprehensive all-in-one development platform specifically designed for Java backends. With an extensive array of components, frameworks, and tools at their disposal, developers can create secure applications that deliver outstanding UX. Research shows that an improved user experience can lead to increased employee engagement, facilitate successful digital transformations, and help avoid costly mistakes. The Vaadin Design System plays a crucial role by providing essential UI components and UX patterns that empower developers to consistently produce high-quality user experiences throughout their applications. Moreover, it offers the flexibility to create custom design systems that align with the unique requirements of any organization. With more than 45 UI components available, Vaadin expedites the development of unified user interfaces, while allowing themes to be customized to embody your brand identity. In addition, Vaadin's components are designed to work seamlessly with screen readers and other assistive technologies, enhancing accessibility for all users. This commitment to both inclusivity and adaptability highlights Vaadin's aim to improve the overall web development journey while ensuring no user is left behind. Ultimately, Vaadin not only fosters innovation in web development but also champions a user-centric approach that is essential in today’s digital landscape.

Helidon is a collection of open-source Java libraries designed specifically for the development of microservices, built on a high-performance web core powered by Netty. The launch of Helidon Níma represents a groundbreaking advancement, being the first Java microservices framework to utilize virtual threads for improved efficiency. Prioritizing ease of use, Helidon provides extensive tooling and numerous examples to ensure a smooth onboarding experience for developers. By functioning as a suite of libraries that runs on a fast Netty core, Helidon minimizes unnecessary overhead and maintains a lightweight structure. It offers full support for MicroProfile and incorporates popular APIs like JAX-RS, CDI, and JSON-P/B. The Helidon Reactive WebServer acts as the foundation for our implementation, featuring a modern functional programming model built on Netty. This lightweight, flexible, and reactive web server delivers an efficient and user-friendly platform for building microservices. Furthermore, Helidon is equipped with crucial features such as health checks, metrics, tracing, and fault tolerance, providing developers with all the essential tools needed to construct cloud-ready applications that integrate seamlessly with systems like Prometheus and Jaeger/Zipkin. With its robust capabilities and exceptional performance, Helidon stands out as an optimal choice for developers aiming to build efficient, scalable, and cloud-native applications that can adapt to evolving technological demands.

Dropwizard is a Java-oriented framework aimed at creating high-performance and operationally efficient RESTful web services. By integrating reliable, well-established libraries from the Java ecosystem, it provides a cohesive environment for developers to focus on implementation. The framework offers built-in functionalities such as advanced configuration, application metrics, logging, and various operational tools, enabling teams to launch a production-ready web service with speed and effectiveness. Serving as a bridge between a library and a framework, Dropwizard strives to deliver reliable and efficient solutions vital for any web application intended for production use. This modular design keeps applications lightweight and focused, which significantly reduces both time to market and long-term maintenance issues. Additionally, recognizing the importance of HTTP in web services, Dropwizard incorporates the Jetty HTTP library, allowing for seamless integration of a high-performance HTTP server into your application. By utilizing these powerful features, developers can improve the quality, performance, and overall user experience of their projects while ensuring they are well-equipped for the demands of production environments. Ultimately, Dropwizard streamlines the web service development process, making it a favorite choice among developers looking for efficiency and reliability.

Vert.x empowers users to manage a higher volume of requests while utilizing fewer resources compared to conventional frameworks that depend on blocking I/O operations. It is designed to perform effectively across diverse execution environments, including those with restrictions like virtual machines and containers. Asynchronous programming can often seem overwhelming, but our goal is to simplify the experience of using Vert.x, allowing you to maintain both accuracy and performance without compromise. By adopting Vert.x, you can increase deployment efficiency and lower expenses, avoiding unnecessary resource consumption. The platform provides a range of programming models tailored to your project’s specifications, such as callbacks, promises, futures, reactive extensions, and (Kotlin) coroutines. Unlike traditional frameworks that are rigid, Vert.x serves as a versatile toolkit, enabling easy composability and embeddability. We prioritize giving you the autonomy to create your application architecture according to your vision. You can select the ideal modules and clients, integrating them seamlessly to construct the application you desire. This adaptability empowers developers to create customized solutions that align perfectly with their individual needs while also fostering innovation in their projects.

The Grails® framework stands out as a comprehensive web application framework that utilizes Groovy and is tailored for the JVM, built on the solid foundation of Spring Boot. By prioritizing convention-over-configuration, it offers intuitive defaults and opinionated APIs, making it especially easy for Java developers to understand and use. The framework capitalizes on the robust features of Spring Boot, including its efficient dependency injection capabilities, which significantly boosts productivity and simplifies the development process. It also facilitates seamless integration and interaction with Java, as well as existing Java EE containers, and the JVM environment itself. Powered by Apache Groovy, Grails is designed to enhance developer productivity through its optional typing and dynamic features, while also accommodating static typing and compilation when necessary. Additionally, the Grails framework includes GORM, a powerful data access toolkit that streamlines interactions with various data sources, providing a rich set of APIs for both relational and non-relational databases. Supporting a variety of implementations, GORM works with well-known databases such as Hibernate (SQL), MongoDB, Cassandra, and Neo4j, making it a flexible option for developers dealing with different data storage needs. As a result, the Grails framework is well-positioned as an essential asset for contemporary web development on the JVM, ensuring developers can create efficient applications with ease and confidence. Its ability to adapt to various project requirements further enhances its appeal in the ever-evolving landscape of web technologies.

Investigate libraries and frameworks that work harmoniously with Native Image to elevate your development process. By leveraging Graal, a cutting-edge optimizing compiler, you can create more efficient and streamlined code that requires fewer computational resources. Compiling Java applications into native binaries in advance allows for instantaneous startup times and peak performance without the need for warmup periods. You can also integrate the best features and libraries from various widely-used languages into a single application with minimal overhead. Moreover, it provides the ability to debug, monitor, profile, and optimize resource consumption not only in Java but across different programming languages as well. The high-performance JIT compiler integrated within GraalVM produces optimized native machine code that enhances execution speed, minimizes the generation of garbage, and lowers CPU usage through advanced compiler optimizations and aggressive inlining techniques. These improvements ultimately result in applications that run faster and utilize fewer resources, leading to a significant reduction in expenses associated with cloud services and infrastructure. This outstanding efficiency not only promotes a more sustainable methodology for software development but also contributes to better resource management practices in the industry. Overall, the combination of these tools and techniques creates a robust environment for developers seeking to maximize performance and efficiency.

Building RESTful web services that effectively manage data exposure in various formats while navigating the intricacies of client-server communication can present significant challenges, particularly when lacking appropriate tools. To simplify the development of RESTful web services and their corresponding clients in the Java ecosystem, the JAX-RS API was introduced as a standardized and versatile solution. The Jersey framework for RESTful web services 3.x stands out as an open-source, production-ready option that fully supports Jakarta RESTful web services 3.0. In addition to acting as the JAX-RS reference implementation, Jersey also provides its own API, which enhances the functionality of the JAX-RS toolkit with supplementary features. It guarantees that the JAX-RS API remains up-to-date by delivering consistent releases of high-quality reference implementations that work harmoniously with GlassFish. Moreover, Jersey offers various APIs that encourage extensions, thereby nurturing a dynamic community of users and developers. Consequently, developers can significantly streamline the process of crafting robust RESTful web services in Java, ultimately leading to the development of more innovative and effective applications in the tech landscape. With these advancements, the potential for creating cutting-edge solutions becomes increasingly attainable.

Spring brings a transformative approach to Java programming by making it quicker, more straightforward, and safer for developers, regardless of their experience. Its focus on productivity and efficiency has led to its rise as the premier Java framework worldwide. Developers everywhere depend on Spring's flexible libraries to meet their needs. Daily, Spring contributes to the improved experiences of countless users, supporting activities from e-commerce to multimedia streaming and a wide range of innovative applications. Offering a vast selection of extensions and third-party libraries, it enables developers to build nearly any application they can imagine. Central to its architecture are the principles of Inversion of Control (IoC) and Dependency Injection (DI), which provide a solid foundation for a multitude of features and functionalities. Whether you are crafting secure, reactive microservices for the cloud or developing complex data streaming solutions for large organizations, Spring provides the essential resources to thrive. Consequently, Spring emerges as a highly adaptable answer to the diverse challenges faced in contemporary software development. As technology continues to evolve, Spring is poised to remain at the forefront, continuously adapting to meet the demands of the future.

There are no associated costs, and it functions seamlessly across various platforms. As an open-source solution, it provides a robust development environment for application creation. You can build native applications for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows all from a single codebase. Developers have the flexibility to write .NET applications using C#, F#, or Visual Basic. Your skills, coding methodologies, and preferred libraries can be utilized in all .NET environments. For those interested in exploring the features of .NET further, there are free video resources available. The open-source aspect of .NET is significantly bolstered by community contributions, which we truly value. This collaborative approach not only promotes innovation but also encourages ongoing enhancements to the platform. Ultimately, the shared effort of many developers leads to a richer and more effective ecosystem for everyone involved.

Upgrade your ships with all essential tools to build a fully operational app that is ready for production. Organize your pages seamlessly, just as you would arrange files in a desktop folder. Employ simple JavaScript functions to efficiently access and store your data. Design reusable components using HTML alongside scoped CSS to enhance organization. Implement client-side interactions specifically where they enhance the user experience. Create server-rendered custom elements that can transition effortlessly into interactive web components. Enhance simplifies the workflow, guiding you to execute tasks correctly. Start with a version that caters to all users and incrementally introduce interactive features from that solid groundwork. The web platform is equipped with everything you need and maintains its timelessness. Move away from traditional throbbers and loading screens by cutting out unnecessary framework bloat, concentrating on only the vital code. As you explore Enhance, you are gaining development skills that will remain relevant as the web evolves. Applications built with Enhance are designed with deployment in mind, ensuring they are ready when the time comes. When you're set to launch, we are here to assist you with Begin, guaranteeing a smooth transition to the live environment. With Enhance, you aren't merely building apps; you are laying the groundwork for a sustainable future in web development, ensuring your projects are both innovative and adaptable. This approach not only fosters creativity but also promotes longevity in your development practices.

Quarkus tailors your application to function effortlessly with both GraalVM and HotSpot, showcasing an exceptionally fast boot time and remarkably low RSS memory consumption that extends beyond just heap size. This design allows for near-instantaneous scaling and efficient memory management within container orchestration systems like Kubernetes, thanks to a strategy known as compile time boot. Quarkus provides a cohesive, enjoyable full-stack framework by harnessing a growing array of over fifty top-tier libraries that are cherished by developers. It cultivates a unified ecosystem aimed at boosting developer satisfaction through consistent configuration and easy native executable creation. With no configuration needed, instant live reload features, and simplified code that addresses 80% of typical use cases while still being flexible for the remaining 20%, Quarkus stands out for its adaptability. The collaboration between Quarkus and Kubernetes creates an ideal setup for building applications that are fast, scalable, and lightweight. In addition, Quarkus significantly boosts developer productivity with its extensive tooling, pre-built integrations, application services, and a variety of extra resources, which ultimately leads to more efficient workflows. Furthermore, Quarkus's commitment to enhancing the developer experience ensures that the application-building process remains not only effective but also enjoyable and engaging for developers at all levels.

In Javalin, classes are rarely extended, and interfaces are seldom implemented, reflecting the framework's minimalist approach. Built upon Jetty, Javalin comprises only a few thousand lines of code, which enables it to achieve performance levels comparable to Jetty's native implementation. Its concise codebase facilitates an easy understanding of the source material for developers. Unlike numerous other web frameworks in Java and Kotlin, which typically offer distinct versions for each language, Javalin is designed for seamless interoperability, allowing developers to create applications in a consistent manner across both Java and Kotlin. Operating on Jetty—one of the most trusted and widely used web servers for the JVM—Javalin provides extensive configuration options, including support for SSL, HTTP/3, and all the features inherent to Jetty. Additionally, while many lightweight web frameworks in Java and Kotlin often lack OpenAPI support, Javalin incorporates this capability, making it a more flexible choice for developers. This unique combination of features positions Javalin as an exceptional option for efficiently building contemporary web applications that can easily adapt to various requirements.

The Everyware Software Framework (ESF) by Eurotech represents a powerful IoT solution specifically crafted for enterprise settings. This robust platform is built upon Eclipse Kura, which is an open-source Java/OSGi middleware designed for IoT gateways, enhancing its capabilities through features such as provisioning, top-tier security, remote access, and diagnostic monitoring. It accommodates a variety of field protocols, including Modbus, OPC-UA, S7, FANUC, J1939, J1979, BACnet, and IEC standards, while also supporting MQTT connectivity. This allows users to efficiently collect data from various sources, process it at the edge, and transmit it to cloud-based IoT platforms. Moreover, integration with Everyware Cloud ensures effective remote management of devices, providing a seamless experience for IoT edge computing applications. Users can easily connect to IoT devices and cloud services using industrial protocols, and they can visually design data flows to manage, analyze, and route information effectively. With such capabilities, this comprehensive framework empowers organizations to optimize their IoT efforts and significantly improve operational efficiency, ultimately leading to better decision-making and resource utilization.

Oorian is a framework built on Java that facilitates the development of dynamic, interactive, and data-centric web applications, enabling developers to leverage the advantages of object-oriented design throughout both the front-end and back-end. With Oorian, you can construct the complete web application using Java, eliminating the need to manage separate codebases for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which streamlines the development process and enhances efficiency. This approach not only simplifies the workflow but also ensures consistency in the application’s design and functionality.