One of the key questions that come up with our customers is: what are the alternatives to Oracle Java SE? Are there viable Open Source Alternatives?
This article will help you understand the different alternatives. We are discussing these from a licensing point of view and do not recommend any specific product. We shall begin with the licensing details of Oracle Java SE and move onto to the alternatives.
Oracle Java SE Licensing Details
Company: Oracle Corporation
Product: Java SE
Licensing Model: Proprietary
License Allowances:
- Oracle allows usage of Java SE if it is licensed either directly for the product
- It is licensed by a software publisher as part of another product
- An Oracle product that requires the use of Java. These products are listed by Oracle.
Alternatives to Oracle Java SE
Company: Oracle Corporation
Product: OpenJDK
Licensing Model: GNU General Public License, version 2, with the Classpath Exception
License Allowances:
- OpenJDK is free.
- No restrictions on running the program
- Developers can distribute the program with their own programs.
Company: Eclipse Foundation ( earlier Adoptium)
Product: Temurin
License Allowances:
- Based on OpenJDK
- Uses the Eclipse Public License – v 2.0
- Free to use.
- Royalty-free to distribute.
Note: The earlier AdoptOpenJDK has moved to Eclipse Adoptium foundation.
Company: Azul
Product: Zulu
License Allowances:
- Based on OpenJDK
- Free to use
Company: Azul
Product Zing
License Allowances:
- Proprietary
- Commercial
- Uses OpenJDK but has additional proprietary features
Company: Bellsoft
Product Liberica JDK
License Allowances:
- Based on OpenJDK
- Free to use, support can be purchased from Bellsoft
Company: IBM
Product: Semeru Runtime
License Allowances:
- Built using IBM’s own JVM (Eclipse OpenJ9) and (partially) OpenJDK
- OpenJ9 is open-sourced and is an alternative to OpenJDK HotSpot
- Free to use
Company: Amazon
Product: Corretto
License Allowances:
- Based on OpenJDK
- Can be used at no-cost
- Supported by Amazon
Company: Microsoft
Product: Microsoft Build of Open JDK
License Allowances:
- Based on OpenJDK
- Free
Company: Alibaba
Product: Dragonwell
License Allowances:
- Based on OpenJDK
- Alibaba does not charge for using or distributing Alibaba Dragonwell JDK.
- License identical to upstream OpenJDK
Company: SAP
Product: Sapmachine
License Allowances
- Based on OpenJDK
- License identical to upstream OpenJDK
- SAP says it is for “SAP customers and partners” to run their applications.
Company: Red Hat (IBM)
Product: RedHat OpenJDK
License Allowances:
- Based on OpenJDK
- Provided with RHEL and Red Hat Middleware subscriptions only.
- On Windows, for non-Red Hat Middleware, a separate subscription is required.
You might want to read more about our CEO Sheshagiri Anegondi. He is one of the foremost Oracle license experts globally.
In case you want to understand the key issues to be considered in choosing between Oracle and non-Oracle Java, you can click here.