# apache/dubbo

The java implementation of Apache Dubbo. An RPC and microservice framework.

Repository: https://github.com/apache/dubbo
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/dubbo
Homepage: https://dubbo.apache.org/
Language: Java
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: dubbo, distributed-systems, framework, java, microservices, restful, rpc, grpc, http, service-mesh, web
Last push: 2026-08-26T14:53:30+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 94/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 84, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5188, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 108, "gap_med": 27, "n_releases_24m": 12}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 41555, forks 26386 (observed 2026-08-28T04:12:08.581465+00:00)

## What it is
Apache Dubbo is a high-performance RPC and microservice framework for Java (with multi-language SDKs) that provides service discovery, traffic management, observability, and security for building enterprise-grade microservices. It supports multiple protocols including Triple (gRPC-compatible), Dubbo2 TCP, REST, and gRPC, and integrates with registries like Nacos, Zookeeper, and Istio for cloud-native deployments.

## Use cases
- build rpc services in java
- microservice framework with service discovery
- replace spring cloud for inter-service communication
- grpc-compatible rpc with traffic management
- deploy microservices on kubernetes with istio
- load balancing and routing rules for services
- zero-trust service-to-service authentication with mTLS
- observability metrics and tracing for distributed services

## When to choose
- building large-scale java microservices needing rpc, discovery, and traffic governance in one framework
- you want gRPC-compatible or multi-protocol communication with built-in load balancing and routing
- deploying on kubernetes with proxyless or sidecar service mesh integration
- you need production-proven scalability for millions of instances and high-throughput calls

## When to avoid
- you need a lightweight single-service http api without distributed service governance
- your stack is non-JVM and other language SDKs lack maturity compared to the Java implementation
- you already standardized on Spring Cloud or Istio and do not need Dubbo's programming model
- simple request/response REST APIs where a plain web framework suffices

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: stable
- function: rpc, microservices, service-discovery, api-gateway, middleware, serialization, monitoring, tracing, rate-limiting, security, web-framework
- domain: microservices, backend, web-development, cloud-computing, developer-tools
- platform: jvm, cross-platform, cloud, self-hosted
- tags: rpc-framework, service-mesh, triple-protocol, grpc-compatible, spring-boot, traffic-management, load-balancing, istio, proxyless-mesh, apache, java, microservices, kubernetes, docker

## Member repositories
- apache/dubbo (main) score 94

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:12:08.581465+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T16:23:04.208284+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/apache/dubbo (fetched 2026-08-28T04:12:08.581465+00:00, sha d91935c3cdc4)
  - homepage: https://dubbo.apache.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T07:46:27.155808+00:00, sha 15e2d89a36cd)
  - site_page: https://dubbo.apache.org/en/overview/what/core-features/service-discovery (fetched 2026-08-29T07:46:27.169000+00:00, sha 50e355ee300d)
  - site_page: https://dubbo.apache.org/en/overview/what/core-features/traffic (fetched 2026-08-29T07:46:27.170975+00:00, sha ea15bd76dc03)
  - site_page: https://dubbo.apache.org/en/overview/what/core-features/protocols (fetched 2026-08-29T07:46:27.173108+00:00, sha 3722be12aa4c)
  - site_page: https://dubbo.apache.org/en/overview/what/core-features/extensibility (fetched 2026-08-29T07:46:27.175064+00:00, sha 2fb111eb4f81)
  - site_page: https://dubbo.apache.org/zh-cn/overview/what/core-features/service-mesh (fetched 2026-08-29T07:46:27.167121+00:00, sha da743db95c2c)
  - site_page: https://dubbo.apache.org/en/overview/what/core-features/observability (fetched 2026-08-29T07:46:27.177322+00:00, sha 1574b005864f)
  - site_page: https://dubbo.apache.org/en/overview/what/core-features/security (fetched 2026-08-29T07:46:27.179203+00:00, sha 6a8749b7c613)
  - site_page: https://dubbo.apache.org/en/overview/home (fetched 2026-08-29T07:46:27.165209+00:00, sha 97b879c0240b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.