The short answer: what Oracle Java costs you in 2026
At Oracle’s published $10.50 per employee per month for a company in the 3,000–9,999 employee tier, a 3,000-employee organisation faces $378,000 per year at list. Eclipse Temurin, Amazon Corretto, Microsoft Build of OpenJDK, and Red Hat build of OpenJDK are free, TCK-certified builds from the same OpenJDK source. The gross licence saving can therefore be the whole Oracle line, minus migration work and any commercial support you deliberately choose.
Oracle Java SE pricing per employee: SMB and enterprise tables
Since January 2023, Oracle JDK for commercial use has been sold under Java SE Universal Subscription on a per-Employee basis. For direct purchases under 3,000 employees, Oracle added an SMB list schedule in 2026: $10,000 per year flat up to 500 employees, then $10,000 plus $147.20 per year for each employee above 500. That softens the small end — it does not change the enterprise ladder.
| Schedule | Company size | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| SMB (direct purchase) | Up to 500 employees | $10,000/yr flat |
| SMB (direct purchase) | 501–2,999 employees | $10,000/yr + $147.20/yr per employee above 500 |
| Enterprise ladder | 1–999 employees | $15.00/employee/month |
| Enterprise ladder | 1,000–2,999 employees | $12.00/employee/month |
| Enterprise ladder | 3,000–9,999 employees | $10.50/employee/month |
| Enterprise ladder | 40,000–49,999 employees | Down to $5.25/employee/month |
At 3,000 employees, the $10.50 tier works out to $378,000 per year; at 10,000 employees, $990,000 per year. Gartner has characterised the newer model as roughly two to five times the legacy licensing cost for the same software. Check which schedule applies to you before assuming either number — but price the exposure before Oracle prices it for you.
Who counts as an “employee” (contractors and outsourcers included)
“Employee” is broader than “Java user.” Oracle’s definition reaches full-time, part-time, and temporary employees, plus the people working through agents, contractors, outsourcers, and consultants — whether or not they ever run Java. A chargeable install can therefore price a headcount far larger than the team that develops or operates Java.
Is Oracle JDK 21 still free? The 21.0.13 license change
Only partly — and the split is by release number. According to Oracle’s JDK licensing FAQ (updated October 20, 2026), Oracle JDK 21 releases through September 2026 — 21.0.12 and earlier — are under the free NFTC terms. 21.0.13 and later are under the OTN license, which is not free for production.
This is the treadmill in one example: a release train that was free becomes chargeable mid-stream, and the only way to stay on free Oracle JDK is to keep jumping to a newer train before its window closes too. An OpenJDK build has no window to fall out of.
Free OpenJDK replacements: Temurin, Corretto, Microsoft, Red Hat, Zulu
The exit is to replace the Oracle JDK runtime with another OpenJDK distribution. These are not experimental forks or community hacks. The leading builds are produced from OpenJDK and pass the Java compatibility tests:
- Eclipse Temurin — the neutral default for mixed estates.
- Amazon Corretto — a natural fit for AWS estates.
- Microsoft Build of OpenJDK — a natural fit for Azure estates.
- Red Hat build of OpenJDK — a natural fit where RHEL support alignment matters.
- Azul Platform Core (the commercial sibling of Azul’s Zulu builds) — a paid option where a commercial Java SLA is mandatory. Azul says customers typically pay 70% less than Oracle Java SE; that is a vendor marketing claim, not an independently verified saving, and Azul does not publish a simple rate card in the material we reviewed.
A free build carries no licence fee. If you need support, buy it only for the production systems that need it. One independent worked example from Redress Compliance priced a certified free build with paid support on production systems only at about 5% of Oracle’s per-employee quote. Your result will depend on how much of the estate genuinely requires a support contract.
How to replace Oracle JDK with OpenJDK: audit, pilot, waves, verify
- Audit. Inventory every JVM across servers, desktops, build agents, containers, appliances, and software that bundles a JDK. Price the exposure from the applicable Oracle schedule and identify installs already covered by another Oracle product licence.
- Pilot. Pick one representative application, swap the runtime, run the normal test suite, and compare startup, performance, certificates, fonts, cryptography providers, and operational tooling.
- Migration. Move in waves by application environment. The code normally stays put; configuration, update channels, container base images, and support ownership change.
- Verification. Remove Oracle JDK installs, prove the estate’s new runtime inventory, retain evidence, and compare the next Oracle quote or renewal position with the audited baseline.
Our research puts a typical application environment at roughly 6–12 weeks when testing and governance are included, and a very large estate at 6–9 months. The technical swap is fast; finding every install and proving it is gone is the real work.
What breaks in the swap (startup flags, fonts, Java Web Start, APM agents)
Most estates swap cleanly, but the friction points are predictable: startup flags or JVM options that behave differently across builds, font rendering differences on reports and PDFs, certificate stores and cryptography providers that were inherited from the old runtime, and APM or monitoring agents certified against a specific JDK. Anything that relied on Oracle-only extras — Java Web Start is the classic example — needs a replacement or a carve-out, and third-party applications that bundle or certify a specific JDK need checking before their runtime is touched. Free builds also carry no Oracle-style SLA, so regulated or mission-critical estates may need paid support on production systems.
Below roughly 500 employees, the SMB list price may make a self-serve swap more sensible than buying a programme. The case becomes much clearer around 1,100 employees and is unambiguous for many estates at 3,000+.
Savings comparison
| Scenario | Annual licence maths | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| 3,000 employees on Oracle tier | 3,000 × $10.50 × 12 = $378,000/yr | Headcount-priced subscription |
| 10,000 employees on Oracle tier | 10,000 × $10.50 × 12 = $990,000/yr | Same runtime, larger workforce multiplier |
| Free OpenJDK build | $0 licence fee | Migration and optional support remain |
| Free build + selective paid support | About 5% of the Oracle quote in one Redress worked example | Support only where production risk justifies it |
These are list-price comparisons, not a promise that every estate saves the same percentage. Discounts, existing entitlements, bundled Oracle products, and actual support needs must be checked first. The per-employee trap is not unique to Oracle — the same per-unit trap hit VMware customers when Broadcom repriced by core.
Does switching end Oracle Java audit exposure?
Moving now stops future subscription fees, but it does not automatically erase a historical-use claim if Oracle believes chargeable software was already deployed — Oracle frames those claims at up to three years of subscription fees. That is why the audit step is not paperwork for its own sake: the JVM census and the documented removal of every Oracle JDK are the evidence file that defends the estate. Stray Oracle JDK downloads still count in an audit, so the swap has to be complete, and provably complete.
FAQ
Is Oracle Java free for commercial use?
Not on any lasting basis. Since January 2023, Oracle JDK for commercial use is sold as the Java SE Universal Subscription, priced per employee. Oracle’s free no-fee terms apply only inside time-limited windows that keep expiring — JDK 21 releases after September 2026 are not free for production. The lasting free route is an OpenJDK build such as Eclipse Temurin or Amazon Corretto: free for commercial use and TCK-certified.
Who counts as an employee for Oracle Java licensing?
Almost everyone. Oracle’s definition covers full-time, part-time, and temporary employees, plus the people working through your agents, contractors, outsourcers, and consultants — whether or not they ever run Java. One chargeable Oracle JDK install can therefore price a headcount far larger than the team that develops or operates Java.
How much does Oracle Java cost for 500 or 3,000 employees?
On Oracle’s published SMB schedule for direct purchases, 500 employees cost $10,000 per year flat. At 3,000 employees the enterprise tier applies: $10.50 per employee per month, which is 3,000 × $10.50 × 12 = $378,000 per year at list. Discounts and existing entitlements can change the quote, which is why the exposure should be priced from your own census first.
Is Oracle JDK 21 still free?
Only the older releases. According to Oracle’s JDK licensing FAQ (updated October 20, 2026), Oracle JDK 21 releases through September 2026 — 21.0.12 and earlier — are under the free NFTC terms. Version 21.0.13 and later are under the OTN license, which is not free for production use. Staying on free Oracle JDK means moving release trains forever; the window always closes.
Is OpenJDK the same as Oracle JDK?
The leading OpenJDK builds — Eclipse Temurin, Amazon Corretto, Microsoft Build of OpenJDK, Red Hat build of OpenJDK — are produced from the same OpenJDK source as Oracle JDK and pass the Java compatibility tests (TCK). What changes when you switch is the licence, the update channel, and who you buy support from — not the runtime your applications run on.
Does switching to OpenJDK end Oracle Java audit exposure?
It stops future subscription fees, but it does not automatically erase the past. If Oracle believes chargeable software was already deployed, a historical-use claim can survive the switch — Oracle frames these at up to three years of subscription fees. That is why the migration starts with a full JVM census and ends with documented removal evidence: the inventory is your audit defence.
Get your Java exposure priced
Buy Me Compute’s Java Exit Audit starts with a JVM census and a read-only licence position. We then pilot one application, migrate in waves, and finish with an evidence file showing what was removed and what replaced it.
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Related migrations
Sources and basis
Oracle Java SE Universal Subscription price tiers, SMB schedule, and employee definition as summarised in Buy Me Compute’s 2026 giant-vendor migration research from Oracle’s published price list; Oracle’s JDK licensing FAQ (updated October 20, 2026) for the JDK 21.0.13 license change; Gartner’s 2–5× characterisation; Redress Compliance’s worked example for a free build with selective paid support; Azul’s 70% statement labelled above as a vendor marketing claim. Prices and licensing terms change—verify the current Oracle schedule before acting.