whichdevtool?
Menu
StacksDirectory Pricing changes Glossary
VPS and cloud servers App hosting and PaaS Managed databases Transactional email APIs Email marketing and newsletters Domain registrars CDN, DNS and edge security Monitoring, uptime and error tracking Auth and identity Frontend and full-stack frameworks Backend frameworks UI component libraries AI model APIs File and object storage Payments and billing Background jobs, queues and workflows ORMs and database toolkits

Java and Kotlin application framework · by Broadcom (Tanzu) and the Spring community

Spring Boot

The opinionated way to build stand-alone Spring applications in Java or Kotlin, with embedded servers, starter dependencies, auto-configuration and production metrics, plus paid Tanzu Spring support.

Visit spring.io ↗ Alternatives Open source Open source Self-hostable
Spring Boot homepage
§1

Overview

Spring Boot makes it easy to create stand-alone, production-grade Spring applications that you can just run. It takes an opinionated view of the Spring platform: starter dependencies bring in compatible libraries, auto-configuration sets up Spring and third-party components whenever possible, and an embedded Tomcat, Jetty or Undertow removes the need to deploy WAR files. There is no code generation and no XML configuration requirement.

Production features such as metrics, health checks and externalised configuration are built in. Spring Initializr generates new projects, and the wider Spring portfolio covers data access, security, batch, messaging, GraphQL and cloud patterns.

Spring Boot 4.0 (November 2025) began a new generation on Spring Framework 7, with a modularised codebase, JSpecify null safety, first-class Java 25 support while keeping Java 17 compatibility, API versioning and HTTP service clients. A migration guide covers the move from 3.5.

Broadcom's Tanzu division stewards Spring; all committers for Spring Boot and Spring Framework are on the Tanzu team. Its paid Tanzu Spring subscription offers enterprise releases, extended support for versions past open-source end of life, compliance extensions and 24x7 support.

§2

Pricing and plans

Plan Price What you get
Spring Boot Free Open source
Tanzu Spring Custom Enterprise releases, extended support past OSS end of life, patches, Application Advisor, 24x7 support

Spring Boot is free and open source. Tanzu Spring (Broadcom) is a paid subscription whose price is not published; it adds extended support for versions past open-source support, verified patches and upgrade tooling.

Source: spring.io/projects/spring-boot · prices as published, excluding tax.

§3

What it does

Starters
Opinionated dependency sets for web, data, security, messaging and more.
Auto-configuration
Configures Spring and third-party libraries based on what is on the classpath.
Embedded servers
Tomcat, Jetty or Undertow inside a runnable jar.
Production features
Metrics, health checks and externalised configuration.
Spring Initializr
Generate a new project with chosen dependencies.
Tanzu Spring
Paid extended support, patches and upgrade automation from Broadcom.
§4

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Huge ecosystem covering almost every enterprise need
  • Mature, widely known in enterprise hiring
  • Commercial extended support available
  • Works with Java and Kotlin

Limitations

  • Major versions (such as 3 to 4) require migration work; the project publishes migration guides
  • Support for versions past open-source end of life requires the paid Tanzu Spring subscription
  • Auto-configuration and annotations hide a lot of behaviour, which takes time to learn
  • Tanzu Spring pricing is not published; you must contact Broadcom
§5

Who it suits

Good for

  • Enterprise Java or Kotlin back ends
  • Teams already invested in the Spring ecosystem
  • Organisations needing vendor support contracts

Look elsewhere if

  • Small hobby APIs where a lightweight framework is enough
  • Teams wanting to avoid the JVM
§6

Pricing history

  • Spring Boot 4.0 released

    Released 20 November 2025 on Spring Framework 7: a modularised codebase, JSpecify null safety, first-class Java 25 support with Java 17 still supported, API versioning and HTTP service clients. Source ↗

§7

Alternatives to Spring Boot

Tool From Free option Stages
Encore Backend framework with infrastructure from code
$49/mo Free tier
NestJS Structured TypeScript server framework
$12/mo Open source
Actix Web Rust web framework
— Open source
ASP.NET Core .NET web framework
— Open source
Ruby on Rails Full-stack Ruby web framework
— Open source
Laravel Batteries-included PHP framework
$5/mo Open source

All backend frameworks →

§8

Questions

Is Spring Boot free?

Yes. Broadcom sells optional Tanzu Spring support and extended releases.

What Java version does Spring Boot 4 need?

It retains Java 17 compatibility and adds first-class Java 25 support.

Who maintains Spring Boot?

The Spring team within Broadcom's Tanzu division, with community contributors.

Does Spring Boot need an application server?

No. It embeds Tomcat, Jetty or Undertow in the application.

Sources read for this page