CheerpJ runs the Java desktop applications your organisation built in-house, on Swing or AWT, in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. Desktop administrators can take Java off staff computers, and new releases are published once, on your web server.
Staff computers need a Java runtime installed and kept up to date for the application, and desktop administrators package and patch it.
A new version of the application has to be installed on staff computers. Oracle deprecated Java Web Start in Java 9 and removed it from Java 11, so applications that used it to install and update themselves need Java 8 or a replacement launcher.
Locked-down laptops, thin clients and Chromebooks can’t install Java, so staff using them can’t open the application.
Users need a remote session on a server, sized for the number of people working at the same time. The session hosts need their own maintenance and licensing, and clicks and keystrokes travel over the network to the server and back.
Launchers such as OpenWebStart bring back Java Web Start, and staff computers still need a Java runtime installed and patched for them.
Java has to be kept up to date on staff computers, Oracle’s commercial Java 8 updates need a subscription, and security teams are increasingly restricting desktop Java on managed computers.
CheerpJ runs the existing JAR files from their bytecode, so you need neither the source code nor a rebuild.
You publish a new version once, on your web server, and staff get it the next time they open the page.
CheerpJ delivers the runtime to the browser along with the application, and you update it centrally.
Staff open the application in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari, including on locked-down laptops, thin clients and Chromebooks.
There are two ways to deploy it.
The application runs inside the browser’s sandbox, under the same security model as your other web applications. Files, clipboard, printing and audio go through browser APIs and their permissions.
The application connects to its back-end services and databases over your network, governed by the browser’s security policies and your own network controls. For connections a browser doesn’t normally allow, such as direct database access, CheerpJ uses a Tailscale VPN that you can host on your own network.
CheerpJ runs applications built for Java 8, 11, 17 and 21, with Java 25 in preview. The browser extensions run applications on Java 8.
A leading Japanese food company needed its long-running internal Java system to keep working in Chrome and Edge, independent of old Java versions and plugins. After a verification phase and a pilot with key users, it rolled the system out to all users, who started using it straight away in their browsers.
Tell us about your application, the Java version it’s built for and how staff open it today, and we’ll help you plan an evaluation.
Talk to usThe CheerpJ browser extensions let you try applications that launch as applets or through Java Web Start in Chrome or Edge.
Get the browser extensions