Spring Framework 7 and Spring Boot 4 officially arrived, marking a key milestone for the Java ecosystem. From improved startup performance and modularization to native-image readiness, enhanced observability and support for generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI), this release signals a major turning point that will define the next years of JVM-based development. Also, this major update reaffirms the role of Spring Framework and Spring Boot as a popular choice for enterprise and cloud-native Java applications.
What’s New in Spring Boot 4 and Why it Matters
Spring Framework and Spring Boot continue to be among the most widely used technologies in Java. The latest versions introduce several key improvements that could make them even stronger choice for building modern Java applications. More precisely, among other capabilities, Spring Boot 4 offers:
Optimized modularization of the codebase, providing smaller and more focused jars that can reduce memory footprint, enhance performance and startup. In practice, it is estimated that a typical Spring Boot 4 microservice can achieve a 20–30% reduction in startup time.
Enhanced observability through improved metrics, tracing and compatibility with OpenTelemetry 2
Compatibility with Java 25 (whilst retaining Java 17 compatibility), including Virtual Thread support
AI integration support, with auto-configured connectors for major large language models (LLMs) and platforms
Support for API Versioning and HTTP Service Clients for REST based applications in production
Stronger native-image and AOT support. Better alignment with GraalVM and cloud-native deployment models means that a typical Spring Boot 4 service can o generate native binaries up to 35% faster than previous versions.
Jakarta and Spring: Interoperability Made Practical
There’s another reason Spring Boot 4 is so significant, one that matters deeply to enterprise teams: Spring Boot 4 is now aligned with Jakarta EE 11, factor that is set to strengthen interoperability across the Java ecosystem. In practice, developers can combine technologies more easily and minimize fragmentation, as modern enterprise teams rarely rely on a single framework. Many maintain Java EE and Jakarta EE applications while adding new Spring- or Quarkus-based microservices.
With Spring Boot and Jakarta EE advancing side by side, teams increasingly want a platform that allows both technologies to run smoothly together without having to juggle multiple setups, configurations and tools.
Payara Qube support for Spring
At Payara, we’re excited about what the latest release means for developers, as Payara Qube delivers exactly that. In effect, our latest runtime now supports Spring/Spring Boot applications to give teams a way to run such workloads, alongside Jakarta EE and Quarkus setups.
While full support for Spring Boot 4 and Jakarta EE 11 is not available in Payara Qube just yet, our solution already supports previous stable versions, making it easy for teams to:
run Spring Boot and Jakarta EE applications together side by side
modernize services incrementally
consolidate DevOps processes
quickly deploy Java applications without spending considerable time managing Kubernetes
enjoy built-in scaling, monitoring, logging and security
The combination of Jakarta EE 10 compatibility and Spring Boot 3 support means Payara Qube is well positioned to offer an even smoother experience once Spring Boot 4 support lands.
Deploy Spring Applications on Payara Qube Now
Getting started with Payara Qube is as simple as upload, deploy and run! Don’t believe it? Check our recorded demo:
Looking Ahead
Spring Boot 4 is an exciting milestone for the Java community, and Payara Qube is evolving in parallel. Our team is working to help developers adopt it in a cloud-native, production-ready environment.
Full Spring Boot 4 support is coming, and when it arrives, interoperability with Jakarta EE 11 will make the transition smoother than ever. Until then, teams can confidently run existing Spring and Jakarta applications on Payara Qube, benefitting from a unified runtime while preparing for a future where Java frameworks work together even more seamlessly.
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