Spring Boot version history - what is the latest Spring Boot version?

This article summarizes major Spring Boot versions with key features, important updates and changes in each version. You'll also find the current stable version of Spring Boot, which is updated regularly.

You know, Spring Boot is a framework significantly simplifies development of Java applications that are based on The Spring framework. It allows developers to create stand-alone, production-grade Spring-based applications running on an embedded server (Tomcat, Jetty or Undertow). Spring Boot uses the concepts of starter dependencies and automatic configurations to reduce development time and increase productivity for developers. 

1. What is current version of Spring Boot?

As of March 2025, the latest version of Spring Boot is 3.4.4 which was released on March 20, 2025 (See release notes). This version of Spring Boot is upgraded with Spring framework 6.2.5, Spring Kafka 3.3.4, Spring Integration 6.4.3, Spring Security 6.4.4, Hibernate 6.6.11.Final, Tomcat 10.1.39, …

2. Spring Boot version history

Spring Boot has been around for more than a decade and it has been making developers' life much easier with its features like starter dependences and automatic configuration. The following table lists all versions of Spring Boot till date. Note that only major versions and branches are listed:

Note that there’s the word RELEASE after version number for Spring Boot versions 1.0.0 to 2.3.x. From version 2.4.x, the word RELEASE is dropped.

3. Key Features in Each Spring Boot Version

Find below key features, important changes, updates and enhancements in each major version of Spring Boot, which gives you understand how it has been evolving over time.

1. Spring Boot 1.x

Initial Release: April 2014
Key Features:

• Auto-Configuration: Automatically configures Spring applications based on the dependencies present.
• Embedded Servers: Integration with embedded Tomcat, Jetty, and Undertow to run applications with java -jar.
• Spring Boot Starters: Dependency management with starter POMs that bundle together common libraries.
• Production Ready Features: Includes metrics, health checks, and other services to ensure production readiness.
• CommandLineRunner and ApplicationRunner: Interface for running code upon application startup.

End of Support: Ended in August 2019.

2. Spring Boot 2.0.x

Release Date: March 2018
Key Features:

• Reactive Programming Support: Full support for building reactive web applications with Spring WebFlux.
• Java 8+ Required: Dropped support for Java 7, now requires Java 8+.
• Actuator Improvements: Enhanced Actuator endpoints, including the ability to expose them over HTTP and better security configurations.
• Micrometer Integration: Standardized metrics collection with support for Prometheus, Datadog, and other monitoring systems.
• Kotlin Support: First-class support for Kotlin language.
• Improved Testing: Enhanced support for testing with embedded web servers and slicing techniques for faster tests.
• Embedded Netty Support: Option to use Netty as an alternative to Tomcat, Jetty, or Undertow.

End of Support: Ended in November 2021.

3. Spring Boot 2.1.x

Release Date: November 2018
Key Features:

• Java 11 Support: Full support for Java 11.
• Actuator Improvements: Enhanced flexible security for Actuator endpoints.
• JDK HTTP/2 Support: Enabled HTTP/2 support via the JDK HTTP client.
• Lazy Initialization: Option to enable lazy initialization to reduce startup time.
• Gradle 5 Support: Support for building projects with Gradle 5.

4. Spring Boot 2.2.x

Release Date: October 2019
Key Features:

• Java 13 Support: Added support for Java 13.
• Improved Startup Time: Optimized the startup time of Spring applications, including lazy initialization improvements.
• Docker Layered Jars: Support for building Docker images with layered jars to optimize rebuild times.
• Actuator Enhancements: More monitoring and management options available via Spring Boot Actuator.
• Kubernetes Probes Support: First-class support for Kubernetes liveness and readiness probes.

5. Spring Boot 2.3.x

Release Date: May 2020
Key Features:

• Java 14 Support: Added support for Java 14.
• Native Images: Introduced support for building Spring Boot applications into GraalVM native images (via spring-native).
• Layered Docker Image Support: Improved Docker image creation and layered jars for faster rebuilding.
• Graceful Shutdown: Support for graceful shutdown in embedded servers.
• RSocket Support: Added support for RSocket in Spring Boot applications.

6. Spring Boot 2.4.x

Release Date: November 2020
Key Features:

• Java 15 Support: Added support for Java 15.
• New Configuration Property Binding: Improved property binding and configuration handling.
• Simplified Startup Config: Enhanced spring.config initialization and improved profiles support.
• Actuator Prometheus Updates: Integration with Prometheus metrics improved.
• spring.config.import: Introduced the spring.config.import mechanism for external configuration, improving multi-source configurations.

7. Spring Boot 2.5.x

Release Date: May 2021
Key Features:

• Java 16 Support: Full support for Java 16.
• New Support for HTTP/2 Push in WebFlux: HTTP/2 server push capabilities.
• Enhanced Docker Image Creation: Improved Docker image creation with buildpacks.
• Java Records Support: Support for Java records as Spring Data entities.
• PathPatternParser: New PathPatternParser-based matching strategy, improving path matching in Spring MVC.

8. Spring Boot 2.6.x

Release Date: November 2021
Key Features:

• Java 17 Support: Full support for Java 17.
• Configuration Data Migration: Further improvements in spring.config.import to support Kubernetes secrets, AWS parameter store, etc.
• Actuator Enhancements: Added support for observing and modifying the state of application through HTTP tracing and custom health groups.
• Deprecation of the @Scheduled fixed-delay attribute: The behavior of @Scheduled annotations was refined.
• Docker Build Enhancements: Simplified Docker image builds using new native packaging commands.

9. Spring Boot 2.7.x

Release Date: May 2022
Key Features:

• Native Executable Support: Improved support for native executable images using GraalVM.
• Java 18 and 19 Support: Added compatibility with Java 18 and Java 19.
• Actuator Integration: Enhanced actuator monitoring capabilities with custom endpoint support.
• Observability Improvements: Enhanced support for distributed tracing and metrics.

10. Spring Boot 3.0.x

Release Date: November 2022
Key Features:

• Java 17 Baseline: Spring Boot 3.0 requires Java 17 as the minimum version.
• Jakarta EE 9+: Transitioned to use `jakarta.*` package names, aligning with the Jakarta EE 9 specification.
• AOT Compilation: Introduced Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation for optimizing Spring Boot applications for GraalVM native images.
• Improved Kotlin Support: Updated Kotlin features, improving developer productivity for Kotlin users.
• Performance and Memory Optimizations: Substantial performance improvements with native and JIT compilation.
• Spring Framework 6.x Compatibility: Designed to work with Spring Framework 6.x, with better support for cloud-native applications.

11. Spring Boot 3.1.x

Release Date: May 2023
Key Features:

• Virtual Threads (Java 19+): Enhanced support for Java Virtual Threads for scalability improvements.
• Observability Framework Integration: Enhanced observability and monitoring features through better integration with Micrometer.
• Optimized Cloud-Native Support: More cloud-native capabilities with enhanced Kubernetes, Docker, and CI/CD support.
• Security Enhancements: Improved default security settings and better integration with OAuth2 and OpenID Connect.

12. Spring Boot 3.2.x:

Release Date: November 2023

Key Features:

• Introduced full support for Java 21 and virtual threads (Project Loom), allowing improved scalability for concurrent applications
• New RestClient for handling HTTP requests with a more modern and functional API
• Expanded observability features, leveraging Micrometer for metrics and Micrometer Tracing for distributed tracing
• Initial support for Project CRaC (Checkpoint/Restore), allowing Spring Boot applications to pause and resume with minimal overhead

13. Spring Boot 3.3.x:

Release Date: May 2023
Key Features:

• Enhanced Security: WT Authentication auto-configuration enhancements simplify security setups for OAuth2 and JWT-based authentication
• Native Support for Additional Services: Spring Boot 3.3 adds native service connection support for Apache ActiveMQ, LDAP, and other services, including Bitnami Docker images
• Flyway and Infinispan Updates: Flyway 10.10 introduces more modular database migration support, and Infinispan 15 enhances cache and persistence management

14. Spring Boot 3.4.x:

Release Date: November 2024
Key Features:

• Structured Logging: Supports ECS, Logstash, and GELF formats.

• Observability Enhancements: New spring.application.group, improved /actuator/info and /actuator/scheduledtasks.

• Virtual Threads Support: Improved performance with Undertow and other components.

• Enhanced Docker Integration: Additional arguments for Docker Compose, new container images support.
• Improved Graceful Shutdown: Default graceful shutdown for embedded web servers.

You can also watch this video to see version history of Spring Boot in more visual way:

References:

• Spring Boot project page
• Spring Boot Reference Documentation
• Spring Boot API Docs

Learn more about Spring Boot on CodeJava:

• What is Spring Boot actually about? (and what it is not)
• Spring vs. Spring Boot Differences
• All Spring Boot Tutorials

About the Author:

Nam Ha Minh is certified Java programmer (SCJP and SCWCD). He began programming with Java back in the days of Java 1.4 and has been passionate about it ever since. You can connect with him on Facebook and watch his Java videos on YouTube.