What Kotlin does

Kotlin is an open-source, statically-typed, multiplatform programming language created by JetBrains, with first-party support for JVM, JavaScript, native (LLVM), and WebAssembly targets. Its core product surface spans the Kotlin compiler and standard library, Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) for shared business logic across platforms, Compose Multiplatform for declarative UI, Coroutines for structured concurrency, Ktor for server-side networking, Kotlin DataFrame and Kandy for data analytics, and the recently released Koog framework for AI agents. The language is governed by the Kotlin Foundation, whose anchor members include JetBrains, Google, Meta, and Gradle.

The ecosystem serves a developer base of 8.1M+ across 20,000+ companies, with named adopters spanning Google, Netflix, McDonald's, Philips, Uber, Bolt, Cash App, Adobe, Atlassian, Forbes, Booking.com, and Duolingo. Google's 2019 "Kotlin-first" Android mandate and the May 2025 strategic partnership with the Spring Framework team anchor Kotlin's dominance in Android mobile and growing presence in JVM server-side development.

Kotlin does not charge a direct license fee; the language is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. Monetization is indirect, accruing to JetBrains via IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate subscriptions, team and enterprise IDE licensing, KMP support contracts, and training services. As such, Kotlin functions less as a revenue-generating product and more as a strategic platform asset that drives adoption of JetBrains' commercial developer tooling and anchors JetBrains' position in the Java, Android, and increasingly AI developer ecosystems.

Name

Kotlin

Legal name

Kotlin (programming language)

Website

https://kotlinlang.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Kotlin is an open-source, statically-typed, multiplatform programming language created by JetBrains, serving 8.1M+ developers across 20,000+ companies with first-party support for JVM, JavaScript, native, and WebAssembly targets. The language and its surrounding ecosystem (KMP, Compose Multiplatform, Koog, Coroutines) generate revenue indirectly through JetBrains' commercial IDE and enterprise support offerings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Prague

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Open Source Language (No Direct Revenue): Kotlin is freely available under Apache 2 license. Revenue for JetBrains is generated indirectly through IntelliJ IDEA sales, enterprise tools, and support services rather than from the Kotlin language itself.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Kotlin is a statically-typed, general-purpose, multiplatform programming language created by JetBrains that compiles to JVM bytecode, JavaScript, native binaries, and WebAssembly. It is distributed free and open-source under the Apache 2 license and monetized indirectly through JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA tooling and paid enterprise support packages. The core offering centers the Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) technology, which enables organizations to share business logic, networking, and data layers across Android, iOS, desktop, web, and server targets from a single codebase while retaining native UI.

Product overview

Kotlin is a modern multiplatform programming language developed by JetBrains, designed to be concise, safe, and interoperable with Java. The Kotlin ecosystem centers on the Kotlin Programming Language and its core enabling technology, Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP), which allows developers to share code across iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, web, and server platforms while retaining native performance and platform-specific capabilities. Built on this foundation are key products: Compose Multiplatform (JetBrains' declarative UI framework similar to Jetpack Compose) for sharing UIs across platforms; Koog (an AI agent framework for building agentic applications); Kotlin DataFrame (for structured data manipulation); and Kandy (for data visualization). The ecosystem includes essential libraries like Kotlin Coroutines (async programming), Ktor (web framework), kotlinx.serialization, kotlinx-io, and kotlinx-datetime, plus the Kotlin Standard Library. Kotlin integrates deeply with Spring, LangChain4j, and Spring AI for AI-powered development. JetBrains provides AI tools including Junie (coding agent) and AI Assistant integrated into IntelliJ IDEA. The language supports multiple build tools (Gradle, Maven, Bazel) and targets JVM, JS, Native, and WebAssembly. Supported by the Kotlin Foundation (with JetBrains, Google, Meta, Gradle, and others), Kotlin is the official language for Android development since 2019.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kotlin Multiplatform: A technology for creating applications for various platforms while efficiently reusing code across them
• Compose Multiplatform
• Ktor
• Koog

Products and services

• Kotlin Programming Language A modern, statically-typed, multiplatform programming language developed by JetBrains, designed to be concise, null-safe, and fully interoperable with Java. Supports JVM, Android, iOS, web (JS/Wasm), desktop, and server-side development. Official language for Android since 2019, used by 8.1M+ developers worldwide.
• Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) Core technology enabling code sharing across multiple platforms (iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, web, server) while retaining native benefits. Allows sharing business logic, data models, and networking code without replacing native UIs unless desired. Used by 20,000+ companies worldwide.
• Compose Multiplatform JetBrains' declarative UI framework built on Kotlin Multiplatform, based on Jetpack Compose. Enables sharing user interfaces across Android, iOS, desktop, and web from a single codebase using modern, declarative Kotlin code. Stable for Android, iOS, and desktop; web target is in Beta.
• Koog JetBrains' open-source framework for building AI agents in Kotlin and Java. Provides core building blocks for agentic applications: tools, workflows, persistence, memory, observability, and integrations with existing JVM and Kotlin Multiplatform projects. Stable 1.0 released May 2026.
• Kotlin Toolchain Formerly Amper, evolved into Kotlin Toolchain (Alpha as of June 2026). A build configuration tool for Kotlin that simplifies project setup, dependency management, and publishing JVM libraries.
• Kotlin Coroutines Powerful library for asynchronous programming and structured concurrency using Kotlin coroutines. Supports running 10,000+ lightweight tasks on just a few threads, flows for async streams, and synchronization primitives like mutexes and semaphores.
• Ktor JetBrains' multiplatform async framework for building connected systems (clients and servers) using Kotlin. Designed for scalability and flexibility with deep coroutine integration for non-blocking I/O and structured concurrency.
• Kotlin DataFrame Multiplatform library for manipulating structured data including CSV, JSON, XLS, XLSX formats. Supports data retrieval from SQL databases and APIs. Enables data creation, cleaning, in-depth analysis, and feature engineering.
• Kandy Open-source Kotlin library providing a DSL for plotting charts of various types. Simple, idiomatic, readable, and type-safe tool to visualize data. Can be combined with Kotlin DataFrame for complete data analysis workflows.
• Kotlin Standard Library (stdlib) Core Kotlin library providing essential APIs including collections, text processing, ranges, sequences, IO, files, threading, and extensions for platform-specific APIs. Available for JVM, JS, Native, and Wasm.
• Kotlin Gradle Plugins Official Gradle plugins for compiling, testing, and packaging Kotlin code across JVM, JS, Native, and multiplatform projects. Simplifies dependency management and integrates with IDEs and CI systems.
• kotlinx.serialization Multiplatform serialization library providing a type-safe, compile-time mechanism for converting Kotlin objects to/from JSON, CBOR, and Protocol Buffers formats.
• kotlinx-io Multiplatform library for low-level I/O operations. Defines abstractions for reading/writing binary streams and buffers, designed to be efficient and portable across all Kotlin platforms.
• kotlinx-datetime Multiplatform library for calendar-based date computations with timezone-specific operations and representations of date values.
• MCP Kotlin SDK Official JetBrains SDK for building MCP (Model Context Protocol) clients and servers across JVM, WebAssembly, and iOS with full support for standard transports and protocol events.
• Kotlin Playground Online interactive environment for writing, editing, running, and sharing Kotlin code directly in the browser.
• Kotlin Multiplatform IDE Plugin Official IDE plugin for IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio enabling KMP development with common previews, cross-language navigation, refactorings, and debugging across Kotlin and Swift code.
• JetBrains Kotlin Enterprise Support Paid enterprise support contracts with defined SLAs, including 24/7 availability, 2-hour triage for critical issues, and direct access to Kotlin experts for organizations requiring guaranteed response times.

Quantifiable outcome

• 15-20% shorter development cycles compared to Java
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration17 records

AI capability9 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• SpringcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2025Strategic partnership announcement between JetBrains and Spring. Spring Boot and WebFlux fully support idiomatic Kotlin code with dedicated APIs.
• Spring FrameworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpring treats Kotlin as a first-class language with official Kotlin support. Spring Boot and WebFlux offer full null safety, dedicated APIs, and official learning resources for Kotlin developers. 27% of Spring developers have tried Kotlin according to JetBrains research.
• GooglecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGoogle adopted Kotlin as the preferred language for Android development since I/O 2019. Google recommends Kotlin for sharing business logic between Android and iOS. Google uses Kotlin extensively across server and Android projects with over 11 million lines of Kotlin code.
• Kotlin Foundation MemberscoreOthersKotlin Foundation actively supports community efforts in developing the Kotlin ecosystem. Foundation members include JetBrains, Google, Meta, Gradle, Touchlab, Uber, Kotzilla, and Block (formerly Square).
• JetBrainscoreOthersJetBrains is the primary developer and maintainer of Kotlin. Creates and maintains IntelliJ IDEA, the primary IDE for Kotlin development with smart navigation, refactoring, code analysis, and AI assistant Junie.
• Ktor FrameworkmajorTechnology or IntegrationKtor is JetBrains' asynchronous framework for connected systems, enabling Kotlin server-side development with a lightweight, flexible toolkit built using Kotlin coroutines.
• Koog FrameworkmajorTechnology or IntegrationKoog is JetBrains' open-source framework for building AI agents in Kotlin. Provides core building blocks for agentic applications: tools, workflows, persistence, memory, observability, and integrations with existing JVM and Kotlin Multiplatform projects. Used by Mercedes-Benz.io.
• Deutsche TelekommajorTechnology or IntegrationDeutsche Telekom built one of the largest LLM-powered chatbots in Europe (500,000 conversations/month) using a multi-agent platform written in Kotlin. They created ARC, an open-source agentic framework using custom Kotlin DSL.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Swift: Apple-developed modern multiplatform programming language (with Android/Linux/Windows support expanding). Direct peer to Kotlin as a contemporary, statically-typed language backed by a major platform owner, with both languages targeting mobile, server, and cross-platform use cases in competition.
• Flutter: Google's open-source UI toolkit for building natively compiled cross-platform applications from a single codebase. Direct competitor to Kotlin Multiplatform / Compose Multiplatform in the cross-platform mobile space, with a mature ecosystem and significant Google investment.
• React Native: Meta's open-source framework for building native mobile applications using React. Direct competitor to Kotlin Multiplatform in cross-platform mobile development, backed by a large JavaScript developer community and Meta's continued investment.
• Java: Oracle's general-purpose programming language that runs on the JVM — the primary platform Kotlin targets and is interoperable with. Direct peer in the JVM ecosystem, with Kotlin explicitly designed as a modern, safer alternative to Java.
• TypeScript: Microsoft's strongly-typed programming language that builds on JavaScript. Direct peer as another modern, type-safe language layered on top of a widely-used platform (JavaScript) with strong enterprise adoption and developer tooling investment.
• Go: Google's open-source programming language designed for simplicity, efficiency, and concurrent server-side development. Peer to Kotlin on the backend/server side, with both targeting modern cloud-native and microservices architectures.

Broad incumbents

• .NET: Microsoft's developer platform for building cross-platform applications across web, mobile, desktop, and cloud. Comparable to Kotlin as a comprehensive cross-platform development stack with strong enterprise backing, language (C#), and integrated tooling.
• Python: The most widely-used general-purpose programming language globally, with dominant position in AI/ML, data science, and scripting. Peer to Kotlin as another high-growth, broadly-adopted language, with Python leading the AI development wave Kotlin/Koog is now entering.

Emerging players

• Rust: Open-source systems programming language focused on safety, speed, and concurrency. Comparable to Kotlin as a modern, type-safe language gaining enterprise adoption, though Rust targets systems-level use cases where Kotlin is less competitive.

Others

• JetBrains: Parent company and primary developer of Kotlin, providing IntelliJ IDEA (the primary Kotlin IDE) and other developer tools. Directly relevant as the corporate entity that controls Kotlin's roadmap, monetization (via IDE/enterprise support), and strategic direction.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kotlin
• GitHubgithub.com/JetBrains/kotlin
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kotlin-kolkata

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kotlin