Azul Prime Beats OpenJDK 25 by 21.8% in Performance Benchmark
Event summary
- Azul Prime on JDK 25 (26.02) runs 21.8% faster than OpenJDK 25.0.1 and 38.8% faster than OpenJDK 11.0.30 baseline.
- Azul’s Java Performance Engineering Lab tested code speed across OpenJDK distributions and Azul Prime versions.
- OpenJDK 25 gained 16.4% over the baseline, with most improvement from three of its 18 JEPs, primarily AOT optimizations and compact object headers.
- Azul Prime includes Zing, an enhanced, TCK-verified build of OpenJDK that delivers gains through better resource utilization and reduced warm-up time.
The big picture
Azul’s benchmark report underscores the growing performance gap between its optimized Java platform and standard OpenJDK distributions. As enterprises increasingly prioritize speed and efficiency in AI and cloud-first environments, Azul’s ability to deliver continuous performance improvements without code changes positions it as a critical player in the enterprise Java market. The report highlights the strategic advantage of Azul’s approach over the static performance of OpenJDK between long-term support releases.
What we're watching
- Performance Differentiation
- How Azul Prime’s continuous improvements between LTS releases will affect its market positioning against static OpenJDK versions.
- Adoption Trends
- Whether enterprises will prioritize upgrading to Azul Prime for sustained performance gains over waiting for OpenJDK LTS releases.
- Technical Innovation
- The pace at which Azul can maintain its performance lead through enhancements like Zing’s resource utilization and garbage collection optimizations.