For years, RestTemplate has been the default HTTP client for Spring developers. It’s simple, familiar, and has powered countless production applications.
But here’s something many developers overlook:
Spring no longer recommends it for new development.
Instead, the Spring team recommends WebClient and not just because it’s reactive.
Here’s why:
✅ RestTemplate is in maintenance mode. It’s still supported, but it won’t receive major new features.
✅ WebClient is non-blocking, allowing your application to handle far more concurrent requests without tying up threads.
✅ You don’t need to rewrite your application. WebClient works perfectly in traditional Spring MVC applications and can even coexist with RestTemplate.
✅ Migration can be gradual. Start using WebClient for new integrations while leaving existing RestTemplate code untouched.
Beyond reactive programming, WebClient also gives you a fluent API for retries, timeouts, streaming, and composing multiple HTTP calls with much less boilerplate.
The biggest misconception?
Many developers think adopting WebClient means migrating their entire application to Spring WebFlux.
It doesn’t.
You can start using WebClient today in your existing Spring Boot MVC project and migrate at your own pace.
If you’re starting a new Spring project in 2026, WebClient should probably be your first choice.
Have you migrated from RestTemplate to WebClient yet? What has your experience been?
