Oracle Named User Plus Minimums: What They Are and Where to Find Them

The question is:

Can you license only 1 or 2 or 3 users for Oracle Database Enterprise Edition?
OR
Can you license only 1 or 2 or 3 users for WebLogic Suite?

The answer is NO.

The note below gives you a deeper understanding of how to license using the Named User Plus (NUP) licence metric.

Definition of Named User Plus

Oracle defines a Named User Plus as:

“an individual authorized by you to use the Programs which are installed on a single server or multiple servers, regardless of whether the individual is actively using the Programs at any given time. A non-human operated device will be counted as a named user plus in addition to all individuals authorized to use the Programs, if such devices can access the Programs.”

So a Named User Plus licence counts:

• all people who access the programs
• all devices that access the programs

So, coming back to the question:

Can you license only 1 or 2 or 3 users for Oracle Database Enterprise Edition?
OR
Can you license only 1 or 2 or 3 users for WebLogic Suite?

The answer is NO.

Named User Plus minimums

While a Named User Plus licence counts people and devices, Oracle also sets a floor based on the hardware. This floor is called the NUP minimum. Oracle states:

“You are responsible for ensuring that the named user plus per processor minimums are maintained for the Programs contained in the user minimum table in the licensing rules section; the minimums table provides for the minimum number of named users plus required and all actual users must be licensed.”

For most Oracle technology products you must license whichever number is higher: the people and devices that can use the program, or a minimum number of users per processor. Ten DBAs using Database Enterprise Edition on a 32-core Intel server still need 400 Named User Plus licences.

What a minimum is

The minimums are set out in the Minimums Table of Oracle’s License Definitions and Rules booklet, and they are defined per processor licence needed on the server.

How many Named User Plus licences to buy

• the minimum, or
• the number of actual users (people and devices), if that is higher than the minimum.

The minimum sits on top of the count, so you always license whichever number is higher. Each server gives you two numbers: you license and buy the larger one.

The main minimums

From Oracle’s License Definitions and Rules booklet:

How to work out the minimum

1. Count the cores on every processor where the program is installed or running.
2. Multiply by the core factor from Oracle’s Core Factor Table (0.5 for Intel and AMD server processors) and round up. That gives the number of processor licences.
3. Multiply the processor licences by the product’s minimum, for example 25 for Database Enterprise Edition.
4. Count the real users and devices and license the higher of the two numbers.

For a 32-core Intel server running Database Enterprise Edition, that is 32 x 0.5 = 16 processor licences and 16 x 25 = 400 Named User Plus. At US$950 each, the list price in Oracle’s Technology Global Price List of 15 September 2026, the minimum costs US$380,000. Licensing the same server by processor costs 16 x US$47,500, or US$760,000. Named User Plus stays the cheaper metric until a server passes 50 users per processor licence, the point where the two prices meet (US$47,500 divided by US$950).

Calculation of minimums for Oracle Database SE2

Standard Edition 2 is the one to remember separately. Its minimum is 10 per server rather than per processor, Oracle counts an SE2 processor as an occupied socket instead of by cores, and SE2 may only be licensed on servers with a maximum capacity of two sockets.

Exception to the minimums rule

Two products have a ceiling instead of a floor: Personal Edition allows one Named User Plus per database, and Business Intelligence Standard Edition One allows 50 in total.

Options and packs

Database options and management packs do not have separate minimums of their own, because they follow the database.

When the database is licensed by Named User Plus, options such as Partitioning, Real Application Clusters, Active Data Guard and Advanced Compression, and packs such as Diagnostics and Tuning, must match the database’s licence count. A database licensed at its 400-user minimum needs 400 users of every option it uses.

Where Oracle lists the minimums for every product

The full table is in Oracle’s License Definitions and Rules booklet, in the licensing rules for technology programs. In the edition effective 15 March 2026 it runs from page 42 to page 45, and the Technology Global Price List refers to the same table. Oracle revises the booklet, so for older licences check the definitions in the ordering document you signed. Our guide to the Oracle Technology Price List and Core Factor Table shows how the minimum turns into a bill.

Not sure your Named User Plus counts cover the minimum on every server? Contact our team and we will check them against your hardware.

General information, not legal advice. Your Oracle agreement and ordering documents govern your terms.

Sources: Oracle License Definitions and Rules booklet, effective 15 March 2026 (Named User Plus definition, Processor definition, and the Named User Plus minimum and maximum tables on pages 42 to 45); Oracle Technology Global Price List, 15 September 2026.