Budi Utomo (old spelling: Boedi Oetomo, meaning "Noble Endeavour")[2] was an early native nationalist political society in the Dutch East Indies.

The founder of Budi Utomo was Wahidin Soedirohoesodo, a retired government doctor who felt that native intellectuals should improve public welfare through education and culture.

Budi Utomo did not have mass appeal, and they regarded the nationalist activities in the first decade of the 20th century as a natural outcome of the Ethical Policy, which emphasised the importance of looking after the welfare of the people.

Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo, who would later find the more radical Indische Party, expanded the scope of the society to include more working classes and also the rest of the Indïes outside of Java.

"[10] Heryanto points to a "more populist and egalitarian" Muslim association (Sarekat Dagang Islamiyah), born a few years prior, as a more genuinely nationalist organization—one which was banned by the Dutch.