Which Version of JDK Should I Use? | whichjdk.com Which Version of JDK Should I Use? English 한국어 To build and run Java applications, a Java Compiler, Java Runtime Libraries, and a Virtual Machine are required that implement the Java Platform, Standard Edition (“Java SE”) specification. The OpenJDK is the open source reference implementation of the Java SE Specification, but it is only the source code. Binary distributions are provided by different vendors for a number of supported platforms. These distributions differ in licenses, commercial support, supported platforms, and update frequency. This site gives independent, yet opinionated recommendations. TL;DR ✅ Recommendation: Use Adoptium Eclipse Temurin 25 and ensure that your local version matches the CI and production version. Releases Under the current JDK release model, a new feature release with a new major version number is planned every six months, in March and September. Additionally, there are quarterly bug fix updates. Every two years, the September release will be a Long-Term-Support (LTS) release, which gets updates for at least three years. JDK Version Type Release Date Highlights Recommendation 8 LTS 03/2014 Lambdas Last LTS version under previous release model. Free updates by Oracle ended, but still maintained by others. Upgrade to 25 now! 9 Feature 09/2017 Modules New release model was introduced. EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 10 Feature 03/2018 var EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 11 LTS 09/2018 New HTTP Client Upgrade to 25 now! 12 Feature 03/2019   EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 13 Feature 09/2019   EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 14 Feature 03/2020 Switch expressions EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 15 Feature 09/2020 Text blocks EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 16 Feature 03/2021 Records EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 17 LTS 09/2021 Sealed Classes It’s time to upgrade to 25. 18 Feature 03/2022 UTF-8 by Default EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 19 Feature 09/2022   EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 20 Feature 03/2023   EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 21 LTS 09/2023 Pattern Matching, Virtual Threads Still supported, but upgrading to 25 is not a bad idea. 22 Feature 03/2024   EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 23 Feature 09/2024 Markdown Documentation Comments EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 24 Feature 03/2025 Ahead-of-Time Class Loading EOL. Upgrade to 25 now! 25 LTS 09/2025 Flexible Constructor Bodies This is currently the best choice. 26 Feature 03/2026 HTTP/3 for the HTTP Client API Latest feature release. Stick with 25 unless you want to upgrade every six months. You have to decide if you want to stick with the latest LTS version, or if you go with the latest feature release and upgrade every six months. Both options are okay, but if you’re uncertain, stick with the latest LTS version. The OpenJDK project itself is managed on openjdk.java.net where you can find specifications, source code, and mailing lists, but there are no builds that you can download. You need to choose a distribution. Distributions OpenJDK builds by Oracle (jdk.java.net) Oracle Java SE Development Kit (JDK) Adoptium Eclipse Temurin AdoptOpenJDK Azul Zulu Azul Zing BellSoft Liberica JDK IBM Semeru Runtime Amazon Corretto Microsoft Build of OpenJDK Alibaba Dragonwell SapMachine Red Hat OpenJDK GraalVM OpenJDK builds by Oracle (jdk.java.net) Website | Releases | Docker Images (n/a) Oracle provides OpenJDK builds for Linux, macOS and windows in a compressed archive format. These builds will only be updated for a 6-month period. Updates and security patches will not be available after this short period. This also applies for LTS versions! e.g., the latest OpenJDK 11 build was 11.0.2+9 while the current OpenJDK version is 11.0.12+7. ⛔️ Recommendation: Do not use OpenJDK builds by Oracle, particularly if you plan to stick with LTS versions. Oracle Java SE Development Kit (JDK) Website | Releases | Docker Images (n/a) Oracle provides a commercial version of the OpenJDK, which are based on the exactly same sources of the OpenJDK: The Oracle Java SE Development Kit (JDK). Oracle provides updates regular updates and security patches for these builds. The main issue with these builds is Oracle’s licensing policy: Until version 10, builds were published under the Oracle Binary Code License Agreement, which effectively allowed the builds to be used for commercial projects. With version 11 to version 16 builds were published under the Oracle Technology Network License Agreement for Oracle Java SE, which require a fee-based license for usage in production. This is why many new distributions of the OpenJDK have emerged. Version 17 is published under the Oracle No-Fee Terms and Conditions (NFTC), which allows the usage of the builds for running internal business operations. Unfortunately, the phrase “internal business operations,” is not defined and is a very vague phrase (is a public-facing website running internal business operations?). Also, based on this volatile licensing history, it is not predictable, how future version will be licensed. ⛔️ Recommendation: Do not use Oracle Java SE Development Kit (JDK) before consulting your lawyer. Adoptium Eclipse Temurin Website | Releases | Docker Images Eclipse Adoptium is a top-level project under the Eclipse Foundation, which provides resources and a professional governance model for open source software. The Adoptium Working Group consists of major companies and organizations that have a strategic interest in the Java technology, including Red Hat, IBM, Microsoft, Azul, and the iJUG. The former AdoptOpenJDK project has moved to Eclipse Adoptium. The Adoptium OpenJDK builds are called Eclipse Temurin to distinguish the project from the builds. Eclipse Temurin builds are high-quality, vendor-neutral, and TCK-tested under a permissive license. Adoptium states, it will continue to build binaries for LTS releases as long as the corresponding upstream source is actively maintained. ✅ Recommendation: Adoptium Eclipse Temurin OpenJDK builds are highly recommended. AdoptOpenJDK Website | Releases | Docker Images The AdoptOpenJDK project was the predecessor of Eclipse Adoptium and provided high-quality OpenJDK builds, both for the default HotSpot and the OpenJ9 virtual machine. The website and older releases are kept online to access archived releases. ⛔️ Recommendation: Do not use AdoptOpenJDK anymore. Use Adoptium Eclipse Temurin instead. Azul Zulu Website | Releases | Docker Images Azul Zulu Builds of OpenJDK are no-cost, production-ready open-source, TCK-tested, and certified OpenJDK distributions. They are available for a wide range of hardware platforms and operating systems and are compatible with special requirements, such as stripped-down JREs and builds, including OpenJFX and Coordinated Restore at Checkpoint (CRaC). They are supported as part of Azul Platform Core, which provides stabilized security updates for rapid, assured deployment into production and solution-oriented engineering assistance. A downside of these builds is the dependency to a single company, that may suddenly change its license or update policies. ✅ Recommendation: Azul Zulu Builds of OpenJDK are a good choice. Azul Zing Website | Releases | Docker Images Azul Zing Builds of OpenJDK (Zing) are commercial optimized builds of OpenJDK, currently marketed as Azul Platform Prime. Zing is free for evaluation but requires a commercial contract with Azul Systems for production use. Zing takes OpenJDK as its base and replaces several key components with optimized versions. The major additions are the C4 Pauseless Garbage Collector (the only generational, production tested pauseless garbage collection available for all major Java versions, including Java 8 and 11), the Falcon JIT Compiler (optimizes code for faster throughput, lower response latencies, and greater carrying capacity), the ReadyNow Warmup Optimizer (learns from previous runs of your application to bring applications to full speed as quickly as possible), and Azul Optimizer Hub (a separate component that offloads JIT compilation from your client machines and lets JVMs learn from each other to reach maximum speed as quickly as possible). Zing is a good choice for latency-sensitive applications that need to guarantee low median latency and minimum latency outliers, applications that aggressively scale up and down and need to be ready to handle traffic as soon as possible, and large fleets of JVMs running an application where the cost of infrastructure is an issue. ⚠️ Recommendation: Consider Azul Zing / Azul Platform Prime when GC pause times, slow warmup, and large on-prem infrastructure or Cloud costs are a problem. Do not use it in production without a license. BellSoft Liberica JDK Website | Releases | Docker Images Similar to Azul, BellSoft has specialized in professional Java technologies and commercial support for JDK. Also, BellSoft has a high industry reputation and is engaged in various working groups to evolve the Java platform. BellSoft provides open source OpenJDK builds called Liberica JDK for pretty much all operating systems and architectures. The popular Spring Boot framework chose Liberica JDK as runtime for their buildpack. A downside of these builds is the dependency to a single company, that may suddenly change its license or update policies. ✅ Recommendation: BellSoft Liberica JDK builds are a good choice. IBM Semeru Runtime Website | Releases | Docker Images (n/a) IBM developed its own version of the Java Virtual Machine, called J9 and it was open-sourced as Eclipse OpenJ9. It is an alternative to the default HotSpot Java Virtual Machine, but it has never gained much popularity. IBM now provides builds called Semeru Runtime based on the Eclipse OpenJ9 Java Virtual Machine and some OpenJDK class libraries. OpenJ9 has a low memory footprint and starts fast with shared classes, but lower throughput compared to Hotspot Virtual Machine. ⚠️ Recommendation: Use IBM Semeru Runtime only if you know that you need the OpenJ9 Virtual Machine. Amazon Corretto Website | Releases | Docker Images Since Oracle changed the support and license policy for its OpenJDK builds, major cloud providers decided to establish their own managed OpenJDK builds and providing long-term updates. Apparently, this is to avoid risks, especially lawsuits against Oracle. In 2018, AWS published Corretto, yet another OpenJDK build. AWS includes back ports of bug fixes from newer OpenJDK versions and claims that they would add patches that might not yet be integrated in the OpenJDK project. Amazon has implemented an alternative crypto provider that has been optimized for their services. It is planned to be used as the default crypto implementation in Corretto. Amazon provides releases for major development platforms and an optimized version for its own Amazon Linux 2. ✅ Recommendation: Corretto builds are a good choice, particularly if you run Java applications directly on Amazon Linux 2 in AWS. Microsoft Build of OpenJDK Website | Releases | Docker Images In 2021, Microsoft published Microsoft Build of OpenJDK, yet another OpenJDK build. Microsoft may include back ports of bug fixes from newer OpenJDK versions and claims that they would add patches that might not yet be integrated in the OpenJDK project. Microsoft provides releases for major development platforms. ⚠️ Recommendation: Use Microsoft Build of OpenJDK, only if you run Java applications directly on Azure. There are more established options available. Alibaba Dragonwell Website | Releases | Docker Images Alibaba provides an OpenJDK build which includes back ports and some extra features. ⛔️ Recommendation: Do not use Alibaba Dragonwell, unless you are forced by your government. SapMachine Website | Releases | Docker Images SapMachine is yet another OpenJDK Build, maintained by SAP. ⚠️ Recommendation: Use SapMachine only if you are running Java applications on SAP servers. There are more established options available. Red Hat OpenJDK Website | Releases | Docke…