# Java HttpClient

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Java HttpClient and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Built-in Java HTTP client with a clean builder API, so projects need no extra dependency. One critic says the newest client has blatant problems and suggests wrapping it with Methanol.

## Why people recommend it

- Clean builder-pattern API (3 comments): "It's a clean builder pattern, the response is returned directly from send." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47516352)) "since Java 11 there is the HttpClient with a convenient API" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47599686)) "Java's JDK has a nice, modern HTTP Client" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47515146))
- Built into the JDK (2 comments): "It's standard lib only got better since then (e.g. `HttpClient`)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48131435)) "Java's JDK has a nice, modern HTTP Client" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47515146))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Requests (Python library)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/requests.md): 23 recommend
- [Axios](https://hackerapproved.com/p/axios.md): 21 recommend
- [Go net/http](https://hackerapproved.com/p/go-net-http.md): 12 recommend
- [libcurl](https://hackerapproved.com/p/libcurl.md): 10 recommend
- [httpx](https://hackerapproved.com/p/httpx.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Java HttpClient", https://hackerapproved.com/p/java-httpclient/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).