Spring Integration provides a lightweight alternative to enterprise service buses (ESBs) for integrating applications. It uses messaging and simple Java-based programming rather than complex configurations. Spring Integration applications are built on the popular Spring Framework and reuse existing Spring features. Compared to ESBs, Spring Integration is less robust but easier to adopt, test, and maintain as it focuses specifically on integration rather than complex routing. While still maturing, Spring Integration offers a cheaper way to integrate applications than full ESB solutions.