Helidon
Shares rank 50 of 63 web frameworks by recommenders
A Java framework rebuilt on virtual threads, praised as a clean, modern, lighter alternative to Spring. Critics call it only one of several big players, not a strong recommendation.
A Java framework rebuilt on virtual threads, praised as a clean, modern, lighter alternative to Spring. Critics call it only one of several big players, not a strong recommendation.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Built on virtual threads from the ground up
“It supports virtual threads from the ground up and comes with clean, function, mostly annotation free APIs.”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Java 26 is here, and with it a solid foundation for the future” “the biggest thing for me was it was rewritten on virtual threads from grounds up”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “JEP 401: Value Objects (Preview) merged to OpenJDK master” Modern, lighter alternative to Spring
“There is quarkus, helidon and micronaut for slimmer more modern backend frameworks.”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Java 26 is here, and with it a solid foundation for the future” “The Helidon framework, for example, is a breath of fresh air compared to Spring.”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “JEP 401: Value Objects (Preview) merged to OpenJDK master” Clean APIs that are easy to understand
“It supports virtual threads from the ground up and comes with clean, function, mostly annotation free APIs.”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Java 26 is here, and with it a solid foundation for the future” “Powerful, modern, fast, modularised, and easy to understand.”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “JEP 401: Value Objects (Preview) merged to OpenJDK master”
Other web frameworks people recommend
The four most recommended other web frameworks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby on Rails | 337 | 145 | 70% | 12 | 14 yrs38 owners | Approved |
| Django | 277 | 97 | 74% | 12 | 15 yrs38 owners | Approved |
| Next.js | 127 | 256 | 33% | 12 | 3 yrs6 owners | — |
| Phoenix Framework | 85 | 11 | 89% | 12 | 8 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| HelidonThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Quarkus, Micronaut, Helidon are all the big players.”
“the biggest thing for me was it was rewritten on virtual threads from grounds up”
“Looks nice at first sight!”
“Powerful, modern, fast, modularised, and easy to understand.”
“The Helidon framework, for example, is a breath of fresh air compared to Spring.”
“It supports virtual threads from the ground up and comes with clean, function, mostly annotation free APIs.”
“with neither of those being strong recommendations”
“There is quarkus, helidon and micronaut for slimmer more modern backend frameworks.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.