Liberica JDK Download Center

The simple answer is — to develop Java™ applications and execute them. The Java Development Kit includes the tools required to make your app work. But differences between JDKs affect the way your app will function, the number of vulnerabilities that can breach its security, the speed of computing, and the methods of deployment available.

Java™ is the name of the programming language. JDK is the set of tools to develop, deploy, and run Java™ applications.

Liberica JDK is a free and open source Java Development Kit produced by BellSoft. It has been verified by TCK for Java SE specs and supports most Linux distributions (including Alpine Linux), Windows, macOS, Solaris. The Liberica OpenJDK package with the HotSpot Virtual Machine viably replaces Java 8 (LTS), 9, 10, 11 (LTS), 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 (LTS), 18, 19.

Java SE is the build of OpenJDK provided by Oracle. Using it requires buying the license.
OpenJDK is the free version of JDK created by the community. You can use it however you want, but getting the support or fixing something that does not work could be a tedious process that requires many work hours of your engineers.
Liberica JDK is also free to use but is developed by BellSoft — the trusted vendor. It is tested with the TCK (Technology Compatibility Kit) to make sure it meets the demand of Java™ developers. BellSoft provides support that helps you deal with issues on the runtime side of things. And last but not least, we offer prolonged support for Java™ versions going out of date, making the migration easier and keeping your data safe.

Java SE is a proprietary product that requires Oracle support for commercial usage. Liberica JDK is an open source kit managed by BellSoft, provided with swift support to solve any problem on the client’s side within 24 hours. You can find more information in the article aimed to explain the differences between using JDKs by Oracle and BellSoft.

Liberica JDK is based on OpenJDK with additional enhancements to boost performance, security and compatibility with different platforms. Another key difference is the reliable support BellSoft provides for their build of JDK, which does not exist for OpenJDK.

The team with 15+ years of Java™ experience is always ready to help you. We keep supporting LTS Liberica JDK builds even after the corresponding versions of OpenJDK are no longer supported.

The JDK as the programming and deploying environment will be supported forever, or at least, as long as Java™ language exists.
But the OpenJDK builds based on specific Java™ versions will go out of date in their due time and stop being supported. Check out the support roadmap to see how long different vendors support different versions of Java™.

Yes! Java™ is considered one of the safest programming languages with its open source developers community consistently hunting down vulnerabilities. Just remember to update regularly and you will be fine.

We release new builds concurrently with Oracle JDK. In addition, we put out security patches and customer fixes. We start working on every release in advance to keep them up-to-date with important Java™ trends and innovations.
Updating Liberica JDK is possible in an automated manner under a commercial support license without the need to redownload the binaries. For Linux: DEB/RPM, yum/apt repository. For Windows: AU bundled as part of the installer.
BellSoft Product Discovery API allows for quick and convenient installation of Liberica JDK.

Depends on your needs. If you develop from the scratch, using the latest LTS version is the way to go. If you run older software, stick to the version it was developed for. In case your app is based on the version that is no longer supported, download the safest build of this version and get ready to upgrade your app, because your data is no longer safe.
Check out the support roadmap to make the educated choice.

To answer this question we need to explain the difference between the JRE and the JDK.
JRE means Java Runtime Environment. It is the set of tools to run Java™ applications.
JDK means Java Development Kit. It is the set of tools to develop Java™ applications. And what is important here, it contains the JRE!
That means that none of them are “better”. They are made for different tasks. And any JDK, including Liberica JDK, contains the JRE.

Every build of OpenJDK provides the Java Runtime Environment.

Not exactly. Java Virtual Machine, or JVM, is the tool for running Java™ applications.
It contains a JIT (Just In Time) compiler to translate the code into bytecode just before running it in the JVM.
There is also an AOT (Ahead Of Time) compiler to translate the code into bytecode before putting it into the JVM.
All of these tools are included in the JDK (Java Development Kit) like Liberica JDK.

Liberica JDK has the HotSpot JVM.

Java™ is one of the most used and flexible object-oriented programming languages fit for any platform. Currently widely used versions of Java™ are 8 (LTS), 9, 10, 11 (LTS), 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 (LTS), 18, 19.

TCK is the Technology Compatibility Kit for Java™, the test suite used by Oracle to ensure compatible implementations of the OpenJDK such as Liberica JDK. Java Development Kits that passed TCK verification are guaranteed to be fully compatible with Java standards. All Liberica JDK builds pass the verification before release.

OpenJDK or Open Java Development Kit is the free open source implementation of the Java™ Platform.

Java SE is the proprietary development kit produced by Oracle with both closed and open source components.

Liberica JDK is the free open source implementation of the Java™ Platform produced by BellSoft full of valuable features with enhanced support.

LTS, or Long Term Support, refers to build versions that will be supported for a long time.

Mission Control is the tool to collect low-level and detailed runtime information to enable after-the-fact incident analysis.