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Comparison · DevOps

Undertow vs WildFly

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Undertow and WildFly — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Undertow vs WildFly: at a glance

FeatureUndertowWildFly
SectorDevOpsDevOps
Velocity score0.02.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themeshttp-server, java, http2, cve-fixesjakarta-ee, oidc, stability-levels, app-server
Last editorial update3h ago3h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Undertow?

Undertow 2.4.0 clears three CVEs and finally lands long-open HTTP/2 and timeout requests

Undertow's 2.4 line opened in May 2026 with a release that combines three CVE fixes with a backlog of feature requests, several of them years old judging by their issue numbers — in-flight request processing time tracking, comments in the predicate language, a configurable async context timeout replacing a hard-coded one, HTTP/2 GOAWAY connection management, a TLS protocol version exchange attribute, and a method to invalidate all cache paths. The two releases since have been small: a handful of Jiras in 2.4.1, and a 2.4.2 whose entire release note is the sentence that it was tagged.

Read the full Undertow trajectory →

What is WildFly?

WildFly's quarterly train is really a stability ladder, and OIDC keeps climbing it

WildFly is four majors into a metronomic release train — 38 through 41 in about eight months — where each cycle pairs a Beta with a Final roughly two weeks later that restates the same feature list. The substantive work splits cleanly in two: Jakarta EE 11 and MicroProfile spec implementations that land first in WildFly Preview, and an explicit stability ladder (preview to community to default) that individual features climb one release at a time. OIDC is the feature getting the most of that attention, with scope attributes, request/request_uri parameters, and logout each promoted across the last three cycles.

Read the full WildFly trajectory →

Undertow vs WildFly: editorial side-by-side

U
Undertow
DEVOPS
0.0

Undertow 2.4.0 clears three CVEs and finally lands long-open HTTP/2 and timeout requests

◆ Current state

Undertow's 2.4 line opened in May 2026 with a release that combines three CVE fixes with a backlog of feature requests, several of them years old judging by their issue numbers — in-flight request processing time tracking, comments in the predicate language, a configurable async context timeout replacing a hard-coded one, HTTP/2 GOAWAY connection management, a TLS protocol version exchange attribute, and a method to invalidate all cache paths. The two releases since have been small: a handful of Jiras in 2.4.1, and a 2.4.2 whose entire release note is the sentence that it was tagged.

◆ Where it's heading

The 2.4.0 pattern — a long-deferred feature backlog shipping in the same release as security fixes — suggests features move when a release has to happen anyway rather than on their own schedule. What did ship points at operational control: timeouts that were hard-coded becoming configurable, connection lifecycle handling for HTTP/2, and attributes exposing TLS and timing detail to whatever sits above the server. Enabling test runs on JDK 25 in 2.4.1 is the only forward-looking item in the two follow-up releases.

◆ Prediction

With three entries and one substantive release among them, there is little to extrapolate from; the JDK 25 test enablement is the one thread that implies more work, pointing at runtime compatibility rather than features as the near-term focus.

W
WildFly
DEVOPS
2.5

WildFly's quarterly train is really a stability ladder, and OIDC keeps climbing it

◆ Current state

WildFly is four majors into a metronomic release train — 38 through 41 in about eight months — where each cycle pairs a Beta with a Final roughly two weeks later that restates the same feature list. The substantive work splits cleanly in two: Jakarta EE 11 and MicroProfile spec implementations that land first in WildFly Preview, and an explicit stability ladder (preview to community to default) that individual features climb one release at a time. OIDC is the feature getting the most of that attention, with scope attributes, request/request_uri parameters, and logout each promoted across the last three cycles.

◆ Where it's heading

The direction is consolidation rather than expansion: features already written are being graduated to supported status instead of new subsystems appearing. In parallel the runtime baseline is moving underneath users — 40.0.1 shipped container images for JDK 25 on UBI 10 and flagged it as the last release carrying JDK 17 images. Expect the EE 11 work now sitting in Preview to graduate into standard WildFly on the same ladder OIDC has been walking.

◆ Prediction

WildFly 42 should ship container images on JDK 21 and JDK 25 only, with the remaining Preview-stability EE 11 integrations promoted toward default.

Alternatives to Undertow and WildFly

Other DevOps products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Undertow or WildFly.

See all Undertow alternatives → · See all WildFly alternatives →

Recent activity from Undertow and WildFly

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 25d agoWildFlyWildFly 41 promotes OIDC scope and request-object support
  2. 1mo agoWildFlyWildFly 41 Beta adds transactions during graceful shutdown
  3. 1mo agoUndertow2.4.2.Final
  4. 1mo agoWildFlyWildFly 40.0.1 moves container images to JDK 25, drops JDK 17
  5. 2mo agoWildFlyWildFly 40 lands Jakarta Pages 4.0 and WebSocket 2.2 in Preview
  6. 2mo agoUndertowUndertow 2.4.1 makes the HTTP/1.1 reason-phrase optional
  7. 2mo agoUndertowUndertow 2.4.0 fixes three CVEs and adds HTTP/2 GOAWAY handling
  8. 3mo agoWildFlyWildFly 40 Beta fixes an Elytron brute-force CVE
  9. 6mo agoWildFlyWildFly 39.0.1 backports the Elytron brute-force CVE fix

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Undertow and WildFly?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. WildFly is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Undertow better than WildFly?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. WildFly is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other DevOps products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Undertow?

Top Undertow alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Undertow alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/undertow for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to WildFly?

Top WildFly alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "WildFly alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/wildfly for the full list with editorial commentary on each.