Versions, Roadmap & Support
This page explains how Koin versions are numbered and released, and what support exists for each version. Koin is open source and community driven. Kotzilla, the company that builds Koin, also offers commercial long-term support for teams that need it.
Release cycle
Koin follows a release cycle of about 6 months, to stay aligned with Kotlin language and library updates. Each release goes through a beta period of 6 weeks or more to gather feedback.
Once a version is released, its community support phase lasts at least 6 months. During that phase the team collects feedback and follows the updates that affect Koin: Kotlin, Android, Ktor and other libraries.
For what changed in each version, see Releases & Upgrade Guides.
Version numbers
Koin versions follow Major.Minor.Patch:
- Patch: fixes only, and minor updates of dependency libraries.
- Minor: new features and deprecations.
- Major: new features with impact, deprecations and breaking changes.
Pre-release suffixes (alpha, beta, RC) and the meaning of @KoinExperimentalAPI and @Deprecated are described in API Stability.
Community support
Community support is available to everyone, on the current release line:
- GitHub Issues: bug reports and feature requests on github.com/InsertKoinIO/koin.
- Documentation: this site, insert-koin.io.
- Slack: community discussion on Kotlin Slack #koin.
- Stack Overflow: questions tagged koin.
- Release notes: upgrade guides in Releases.
Enterprise Support by Kotzilla
Some companies can't follow the Koin release cycle, for legal, business or technical reasons. They may also need company-backed support and clear open-source license warranties.
Kotzilla offers two enterprise subscriptions for this. Both work the same way: you get a privately maintained build of Koin, pinned to a version you control, and fixes are delivered onto that build instead of only onto the latest public release.
- Koin LTS: a maintained Koin line, published under
org.koin.*, for applications that must stay on a fixed version. - Koin Embedded LTS: for SDK and library vendors. Your own version of Koin LTS, relocated into a namespace that is yours alone.
Professional Koin support is contracted as an LTS or Embedded LTS subscription. There is no separate tier above it. Commitments such as SLAs, architecture review and training are add-ons to that subscription.
Long-Term Support (LTS)
An LTS line is a Koin version that Kotzilla keeps maintaining after its community support phase has ended. Security fixes and customer-reported bug fixes are backported onto it and published to subscribers, so you can stay on a version without staying on a known defect.
The support policy:
- Minimum duration: each LTS line is guaranteed for at least 18 months from its designation. This is a floor, not a schedule.
- Coverage: support continues for as long as your subscription is active, beyond that window, on the version you run. The 18 months bound the commitment to designate and maintain a line. Your coverage is bound by your contract, not by a date published here.
- New lines: a new LTS line is designated for each major Kotlin baseline, with a guided upgrade from the previous line and no gap in coverage. You never have to run unsupported during a migration.
This page does not publish end-of-support dates. Coverage follows your subscription and the version you run, and is stated in your agreement.
Available LTS lines
The two lines are maintained in parallel, not one after the other. Pick the one that matches the Kotlin baseline of your project. You don't need to move off 3.5.6 to be supported.
| LTS line | Kotlin baseline | Intended for |
|---|---|---|
| Koin 3.5.6 LTS | Kotlin 1.x | Projects that can't move to Kotlin 2.x: legacy toolchains, long-lived enterprise apps, constrained build environments |
| Koin 4.2.x LTS | Kotlin 2.x | Projects on the Kotlin 2.x toolchain that want a fixed, maintained Koin version instead of tracking each release |
An LTS line is designated at a specific patch level, and that patch level is the minimum: 3.5.6 is the lowest supported version on the Kotlin 1.x line. Versions below it are not covered. If you are on an older patch today, moving up to the LTS patch level is part of onboarding.
The upgrade from the Kotlin 1.x line to the Kotlin 2.x line is part of the offer. The Koin team guides it, and your current line stays covered during the migration.
What's included
- Maintenance and compatibility: feature compatibility with the Android and Kotlin ecosystems, maintained on the LTS line you run.
- Support: priority access to the Koin team, through Slack and dedicated e-mail.
- Legal compliance: an audited Apache 2.0 license, with Kotzilla accountable for your compliance.
- Transparency: full access to the codebase, and community-identified fixes integrated into your line.
Koin Embedded LTS
If you ship an SDK or a library that uses Koin internally, publishing under org.koin.* conflicts with the Koin version of the host application, and with any other SDK in the same app that embeds Koin too.
Koin Embedded LTS solves this: your own version of Koin LTS, conflict-free, maintained for at least 18 months. Kotzilla relocates a maintained LTS line into a namespace that is yours alone, then builds, signs, hosts and maintains it for you. It covers koin-core and koin-android.
There is also a free, self-service way to get a relocated Koin, with different tradeoffs. Koin for SDK & Libraries covers both: the conflict cases, the self-service options and the full Embedded LTS offer.
Support tiers
| Community | Koin LTS | Koin Embedded LTS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | Everyone: apps, open-source projects, teams on the current release | Companies that must stay on a fixed Koin version | SDK and library vendors shipping Koin inside their artifact |
| Delivered version | Latest public release | A designated LTS line, privately maintained | A designated LTS line, relocated into your namespace |
| Namespace | org.koin.* | org.koin.* | A dedicated namespace, yours alone, for example acme.koin.* |
| Distribution | Maven Central | Kotzilla repository, private access with customer credentials | Kotzilla repository, private repository for your organization |
| Security patches | Current release line only | Backported onto your LTS line | Backported and relocated again onto your build |
| Customer issue fixes | Best effort, through public GitHub issues | Fixed and delivered on your LTS build | Fixed and delivered on your build |
| Direct channel to the Koin team | No, public Slack and GitHub only | Priority access, through Slack and dedicated e-mail | Priority access, through Slack and dedicated e-mail |
| Upgrade assistance | Public migration guides | Guided upgrade between LTS lines | Guided upgrade, relocation rebuilt for the target version |
Add-on services
These are contracted on top of a Koin LTS or Koin Embedded LTS subscription. They are not a separate tier:
- Service Level Agreements: contractual response time commitments.
- Architecture review: review of your Koin setup and module structure by the Koin team.
- Training and workshops: team training on Koin practices.
Terms are agreed per contract. Contact the team about scope.
Choosing a tier
- Community: you follow the current Koin release and public support is enough.
- Koin LTS: you need to stay on a version, and you need fixes on that version.
- Koin Embedded LTS: you redistribute Koin inside your own artifact and can't risk a namespace collision with your consumers.
Contact
- Koin LTS and Koin Embedded LTS: Koin Long Term Support
- Kotzilla platform: kotzilla.io
- General inquiries: koin@kotzilla.io
- Community Slack: Kotlin Slack #koin
Related
- Releases & Upgrade Guides: what changed in each version and how to upgrade.
- API Stability: experimental, deprecated and internal APIs, release types.
- Koin for SDK & Libraries: relocate Koin inside an SDK.
- Production & Tooling: IDE plugin and production monitoring.