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Apache Spark vs Spring Boot comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache Spark
Ranking in Java Frameworks
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Hadoop (1st), Compute Service (5th)
Spring Boot
Ranking in Java Frameworks
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Java Frameworks category, the mindshare of Apache Spark is 10.0%, up from 7.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Spring Boot is 33.2%, down from 40.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Java Frameworks Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Spring Boot33.2%
Apache Spark10.0%
Other56.8%
Java Frameworks
 

Q&A Highlights

MT
Works at Verizon
Aug 28, 2023
 

Featured Reviews

Devindra Weerasooriya - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Architect at Devtech
Provides a consistent framework for building data integration and access solutions with reliable performance
The in-memory computation feature is certainly helpful for my processing tasks. It is helpful because while using structures that could be held in memory rather than stored during the period of computation, I go for the in-memory option, though there are limitations related to holding it in memory that need to be addressed, but I have a preference for in-memory computation. The solution is beneficial in that it provides a base-level long-held understanding of the framework that is not variant day by day, which is very helpful in my prototyping activity as an architect trying to assess Apache Spark, Great Expectations, and Vault-based solutions versus those proposed by clients like TIBCO or Informatica.
reviewer2759913 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Software Developer at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
Has improved application monitoring and supports modular development with built-in configuration features
Spring Boot has many valuable features. First, it requires less coding and less configuration. The configurations are already in-built. The security features in Spring Boot are in-built, so we don't need to use any external third-party applications for security. In Spring Boot, the robust configuration capabilities help in adapting to diverse deployment scenarios because there is a minimum configuration required for developing any applications. The auto-configuration feature is available in Spring Boot. When we start any application, there is a property file where we mention the keys, securities, DB connections, and all other configurations. When we start any application, it loads the application properties first, which include the credentials and security files. I am using Spring Boot starter projects. I assess Spring Boot's auto-configuration feature as highly efficient in managing application setup. The application.properties file allows us to specify the server settings, such as the port we want to start the server on. For example, the default is 8080, but we can configure it to 8081. Additionally, we can store connection details such as the driver class, data source URL, username, and password in the application.properties file.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Spark is used for transformations from large volumes of data, and it is usefully distributed."
"The best features in Apache Spark that I appreciate are the fast database access, the data transformation, and the data exchange."
"The data processing framework is good."
"Apache Spark can do large volume interactive data analysis."
"It provides a scalable machine learning library."
"The scalability has been the most valuable aspect of the solution."
"One of Apache Spark's most valuable features is that it supports in-memory processing, the execution of jobs compared to traditional tools is very fast."
"The most valuable feature of Apache Spark is its memory processing because it processes data over RAM rather than disk, which is much more efficient and fast."
"This solution is really user friendly. In terms of prototyping, it's really fast to build the applications we want to test to complete a proof of concept."
"Spring Boot facilitates the use of Java which is open source. We use Github and other libraries that are available which assist in the building we need to do."
"The API gateway and cloud configuration allows us to configure the properties outside of the service with respect to enrollment."
"Spring Boot provides an all-in-one solution for the libraries needed to create a Win app. It covers all the aspects, including validation, security, etc. It provides all those features out-of-the-box. You can do almost everything with Spring Boot."
"The most valuable features of Spring Boot include being able to check all the logs and doing health checks for applications. We can also do monitoring more quickly, and use Spring Boot for production support, so when production goes up or down, we can bring up the application very quickly through Spring Boot."
"It gives you confidence in a readily available platform."
"We like that it is an open-source tool."
"We like that the product is open-source."
 

Cons

"The solution must improve its performance."
"The solution’s integration with other platforms should be improved."
"The solution needs to optimize shuffling between workers."
"Stability in terms of API (things were difficult, when transitioning from RDD to DataFrames, then to DataSet)."
"The basic improvement would be to have integration with these solutions."
"We use big data manager but we cannot use it as conditional data so whenever we're trying to fetch the data, it takes a bit of time."
"There were some problems related to the product's compatibility with a few Python libraries."
"This solution currently cannot support or distribute neural network related models, or deep learning related algorithms. We would like this functionality to be developed."
"This solution could be improved if it offered greater integration and was more compatible with other solutions."
"The security could be simplified."
"The cross framework compatibility has some shortcomings. With JUnit Test Runner and Spring Boot, it's really tedious to make them both work to write the test cases."
"It needs more applicable control for large-scale application development."
"This solution could be improved if there were more libraries available. We would also like more mobile platform functionality using low levels of code."
"Spring Boot is okay right now, but my team is looking for some integration where you can make a call to the JMS messaging service and other types of third-party integrations. If the integration with Spring Boot is improved, that would make the tool better. What I'd like to see in the next release of Spring Boot is its integration or tie-up with messaging servers and third-party EFPs, as that would make it very good and more competitive versus other new solutions in the market."
"They should include tutorial videos for learning new features."
"Spring Boot could improve the interface, error handling, and integration performance."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Spark is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs."
"It is an open-source solution, it is free of charge."
"Apache Spark is an open-source tool."
"The solution is affordable and there are no additional licensing costs."
"Licensing costs can vary. For instance, when purchasing a virtual machine, you're asked if you want to take advantage of the hybrid benefit or if you prefer the license costs to be included upfront by the cloud service provider, such as Azure. If you choose the hybrid benefit, it indicates you already possess a license for the operating system and wish to avoid additional charges for that specific VM in Azure. This approach allows for a reduction in licensing costs, charging only for the service and associated resources."
"Apache Spark is an open-source solution, and there is no cost involved in deploying the solution on-premises."
"Since we are using the Apache Spark version, not the data bricks version, it is an Apache license version, the support and resolution of the bug are actually late or delayed. The Apache license is free."
"It is an open-source platform. We do not pay for its subscription."
"Spring Boot is open source. It's a free tool and free framework."
"Spring Boot is free; even the Spring Tools Suite for Eclipse is free."
"Spring Boot is an open-source solution."
"This solution is free unless you apply for support."
"It's open-source software, so it's free. It's a community license."
"The solution is an open-source tool."
"I am using a free version of Spring Boot."
"The solution is free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise32
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Spark?
We use Spark to process data from different data sources.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Spark?
Apache Spark is open-source, so it doesn't incur any charges.
What needs improvement with Apache Spark?
I find that there really lacks the technical depth to do any recommendations for future updates of Apache Spark. I used it for two years for our prototype work and testing things, but because I had...
What do you like most about Spring Boot?
1. Open Source2. Excellent Community Support -- Widely used across different projects -- so your search for answers would be easy and almost certain.3. Extendable Stack with a wide array of availab...
Which is better - Spring Boot or Eclipse MicroProfile?
Springboot is a Java-based solution that is very popular and easy to use. You can use it to build applications quickly and confidently. Springboot has a very large, helpful learning community, whic...
Which is better - Spring Boot or Jakarta EE?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Spring Boot or Jakarta EE application creation software was the better fit for us. We decided to go with Spring Boot. Spring Boot offe...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NASA JPL, UC Berkeley AMPLab, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, UC Santa Cruz, TripAdvisor, Taboola, Agile Lab, Art.com, Baidu, Alibaba Taobao, EURECOM, Hitachi Solutions
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Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Spark vs. Spring Boot and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.