The published AppCDS + Clojure results show a much smaller speedup and require a higher degree of customization int he build. Like 1.5s -> 0.5s for AppCDS+AOT vs 1.5s -> 0.005s for Graal. And you can just use the clj or leiningen native-image plugins/templates. The minuses of Graal include some compatibility snags and being an Oracle product.