On-Premise Editions

(SE2) Standard Edition 2

(EE) Enterprise Edition

(EE-ES) Enterprise Edition on Engineered Systems

(PE) Personal Edition

(XE) Express Edition

Oracle Database "Free"

What you can do:

• Use internally to develop/test/prototype/demonstrate.

• Use internally to run your own internal business operations. (e.g. you could store company HR, finance or inventory data. You could use Java or other languages to build and run internal apps for employees). However, it is strongly recommended NOT to use the free edition for Production due to lack of support and updates.

• You can use ORDS and APEX against Oracle Database Free without needing a paid database license. ORDS relies on a supported Java runtime. Oracle JDK 17 is free to use and redistribute under Oracle’s No-Fee Terms and Conditions (NFTC).

• You can use RMAN to backup.

• You can use JSON relational duality.

• Redistribute the unmodified software and documentation (but you cannot charge for this). This MUST include an unaltered copy of the license and all copyright notices etc. You must also comply with all applicable export controls and sanctions.

• Make copies.

• Training. But be careful if this training involves any third-party.

• Request the source code for any included open-source software.

What you can't do:

• Reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble.

• Hold Oracle liable for any failures or damages.

• Ignore any separate licensing terms for included technologies.

• Charge for access to the software (whether this is Commerical hosting / SaaS or just "covering costs")

• Embedding in or bundling with something you are selling.

• Use it to provide a paid training course.

• Distribute Oracle software with modifications.

Limits

• CPU: The database is automatically limited to using just 2 CPU cores (or threads) for processing, even if your machine has more available. So heavy workloads may run slower than on full editions.

• Memory (RAM): Total memory allocated (SGA + PGA) is capped at 2 GB. You can’t exceed this even if your system has more RAM.

• Installation Limit: Only one instance can be installed per logical environment — whether that’s a VM, container, or physical host. If you try to run more, you'll hit an ORA-00442: Oracle Database Free single instance violation error.

• User Data Size: You're limited to 12 GB of user data on disk (regardless of compression). If exceeded, it triggers an ORA-12954: The request exceeds the maximum allowed database size of 12 GB error. This 12 GB limit includes the SYSAUX tablespace, which can fill up with automatic statistics (AWR,ASH), logs, scheduler data, etc. That means less space for your own application data unless aggressively managed.

• No Official Support or Patches: You won't get formal Oracle support or any kind of patches (including security fixes) for this free edition. To continue receiving support and updates, you must upgrade to a fully licensed edition like Enterprise or Standard Edition 2.

• No Options or Packs: The Free edition does NOT include any of the separately licensed Options or Packs that are available with Enterprise Edition. Even if the database binaries contain some of this code (because Oracle ships a unified binary), in the Free Edition the features are either disabled or restricted by license — meaning if you enable them, you would be out of compliance.

• PDB: Only one pluggable database is allowed.

(DBCS SE) Standard Edition

(DBCS EE) Enterprise Edition

Includes:

• Oracle Database Enterprise Edition

• Data Masking and Subsetting Pack

• Diagnsotics Pack

• Tuning Pack

• Real Application Testing

• Transparent Data Encryption

• Machine Learning

• Spatial

• Graph

(DBCS EE-HP) Enterprise Edition High Performance

(DBCS EE-EP) Enterprise Edition Extreme Performance

Exadata Cloud Service

ExaCS (Exadata Cloud Service)

ExaCC (Exadata Cloud@Customer)

Bibliography