Oracle Java Licensing Worries Keep Percolating • The Register

Concerns over changes to Oracle's Java licensing strategy are hitting more than nine out of ten users as businesses struggle to adapt to the regime, according to research. A study from Dimensional Research shows that 92 percent of the 2,000 respondents reported being concerned about Oracle Java pricing, up from 82 percent in the same survey last year.

Those stating they were very concerned about the changes leapt from 19 percent in 2025 to 29 percent this year.

In 2023, Oracle changed its Java SE subscription model, shifting from a per-user or per-processor basis to per-employee. Critics called the move "predatory" as organizations that were using little Java but had a large number of employees could be hit hard by the cost increase. Later that year, research from Gartner showed that costs could be between two and five times greater under the new licensing model for using the same software.

Anxiety over the new charging model is a major driver pushing Java users to look for alternatives. Eighty-one percent of users have migrated, are migrating, or plan to migrate all or some of their Oracle Java to an open source alternative, according to the survey of global tech pros. A number of alternatives to Oracle exist for running OpenJDK applications in production, including Bellsoft Liberica, IBM Semeru, and Azul Platform Core.

Concern over the licensing change continues to spike because awareness is still filtering through the user community, said Gil Tene, CTO and co-founder of Java support and technology provider Azul Systems, which commissioned the research.

"For most of them, the way they find out is a conversation with an Oracle salesperson, and that conversation starts at some place in the organization, but then it takes a while for that to make it through the organization, to the people actually looking at financial implications and the budget."

Tene said the users were also waking up to the fact that a strategy to gradually move off Oracle Java does not solve the licensing problem.

"The shift that happened about a little under three years ago is that they went from volume-based to employee-based pricing. It's enough for one employee in the company to use one copy of Java from Oracle, for the company to be on the hook for paying per employee, for the entire employee base," he claimed.

A separate study from Dimensional Research published last year found that 73 percent of Oracle Java users had been audited in the last three years. Another pressure on Java costs has been the shift to the cloud. The latest Dimensional Research data shows 97 percent of participants have taken actions to reduce their public cloud costs, including using a high-performance Java platform (41 percent). However, 74 percent of organizations say they still have more than 20 percent unused compute capacity in their public cloud environments.

The Register has asked Oracle to comment. ®

---

Why This Matters

The dramatic shift in Oracle's Java licensing model represents one of the most significant changes in enterprise software pricing in recent years. The move from per-user or per-processor to per-employee pricing has created a perfect storm of cost increases and compliance concerns that is fundamentally reshaping how organizations approach Java deployment.

The Per-Employee Pricing Problem

The per-employee model has proven particularly problematic for organizations with large workforces but limited Java usage. A company with 10,000 employees that only uses Java in a handful of applications could face dramatically higher costs compared to the previous licensing model. This has led to what industry observers describe as "predatory" pricing practices that disproportionately impact certain types of organizations.

Migration Trends

The survey data reveals a clear trend toward open source alternatives. With 81 percent of organizations either migrating or planning to migrate from Oracle Java, the market for OpenJDK distributions is experiencing significant growth. This migration represents not just a cost-saving measure but a fundamental shift in how enterprises approach Java deployment and support.

Audit Concerns

The high rate of Oracle Java audits (73 percent in the past three years) adds another layer of complexity and anxiety for organizations. The combination of aggressive licensing changes and frequent audits has created an environment where many organizations feel they must either comply with potentially excessive costs or undertake significant migration efforts.

Cloud Cost Optimization

The survey also highlights the ongoing challenge of cloud cost optimization. Despite 97 percent of organizations taking action to reduce public cloud costs, the fact that 74 percent still have more than 20 percent unused compute capacity suggests significant inefficiencies remain in cloud deployments.

The Java licensing situation serves as a cautionary tale about vendor lock-in and the importance of understanding licensing terms. As organizations continue to navigate these changes, the trend toward open source alternatives appears likely to accelerate, potentially reshaping the Java ecosystem for years to come.