New Kotlin Ktor framework gains popularity in 2025

New Kotlin Ktor framework: why it became the main trend of the year

The Kotlin language ecosystem continues to develop rapidly, and in 2025, Ktor — a modern asynchronous framework for creating server applications and microservices — takes center stage. Developed by JetBrains, Ktor was initially positioned as a lightweight alternative to Spring Boot, but today its popularity has far exceeded the niche of enthusiasts. According to the latest JetBrains Developer Ecosystem survey, the number of developers using Ktor in production has grown by 240% over the past two years.

Why is Ktor being chosen more often?

Ktor's key advantage is full support for Kotlin coroutines. Unlike traditional frameworks where asynchrony is implemented through callbacks or reactive streams, Ktor works at the language level, making code readable and safe. Additionally, the framework is inherently cross-platform: the same code can run on JVM, in the browser (via Kotlin/JS), and even on mobile devices (via Kotlin/Native).

Main factors driving Ktor's popularity growth:

• Native asynchrony — coroutines are integrated into the framework's core, providing high performance with minimal memory consumption.
• Modular architecture — you only include the plugins (routing, serialization, authentication) that your project actually needs.
• Ease of configuration — starting a server requires just 10 lines of code: no XML, no annotations, only pure Kotlin.
• Kotlin Multiplatform support — business logic and data models can be shared across server, web, and mobile platforms.
• Active community — the number of plugins and extensions from third-party developers has tripled in the past year.
• Integration with Gradle — simple dependency and build configuration without unnecessary overhead.

Comparison with competitors

At first glance, Ktor's main competitor is Spring Boot. However, the new framework has fundamental differences. Spring Boot, while being a powerful and mature solution, often suffers from redundancy: for a simple REST API, you have to include dozens of dependencies. Ktor, on the other hand, offers a minimalist approach — you decide which features to add. Moreover, Spring Boot is harder to migrate to coroutines, whereas Ktor was built around them from the start.

Another alternative framework is Vert.x, but it is written in Java and requires adaptation for Kotlin. Ktor, by contrast, feels like a "native" tool for developers already familiar with the language.

Real-world use cases

Ktor is already actively used in production by large companies. For example, the JetBrains Space team — a platform for team collaboration — is built on Ktor. The framework is also used by startups in FinTech and IoT, where request processing speed with limited resources is important. Additionally, Ktor is often chosen for creating API gateways and backends for mobile applications written in Kotlin Multiplatform.

How to get started?

To get acquainted with the framework, simply install IntelliJ IDEA or Android Studio, create a new project via the Ktor Plugin, and write your first endpoint.