Oracle Licensing in 2025

For organisations that rely on Oracle's suite of software products, licensing is a crucial aspect for companies to consider, as Oracle's licensing model continues to evolve. Staying informed can help businesses optimise their investments and avoid unnecessary costs.

Here’s everything you need to know about Oracle Licensing in 2025.

The Transition to Cloud: Oracle’s Cloud Licensing Model

One of the most significant changes in Oracle Licensing over the past few years is the emphasis on cloud services. Oracle has been shifting more and more of its offerings to a cloud-based model, including Cloud Applications, Database Services and Platform Services. In 2025, this transition is more prevalent than ever, with many Oracle products available exclusively or predominantly using cloud infrastructure.

Oracle’s cloud pricing is subscription-based, often based on factors such as the number of users, storage capacity, and compute power. This is a departure from the traditional on-premises model, where businesses purchased perpetual licenses for specific versions of software.

Key considerations for 2025:

• Pay-as-you-go model: Oracle offers flexible pay-as-you-go pricing for cloud services, which can be beneficial for businesses with fluctuating workloads.
• Licensing in hybrid environments: Many organisations still rely on a mix of on-premises and cloud infrastructure, so understanding how licenses apply in a hybrid environment is essential. In 2025, Oracle has made strides in simplifying how hybrid licensing works, but businesses need to keep track of both cloud and on-premise usage.

Oracle Database Licensing

Oracle’s database software remains one of the most widely used and licensed products. However, the licensing model for Oracle databases can be complex for businesses. As Oracle continues to increase its audit activity, staying compliant requires a thorough understanding of both your hardware landscape and the nuances of Oracle’s licensing metrics.

When it comes to licensing your Oracle database environment, you have two different metrics to choose from: NUP or CPU. The metric that you use to license your environment will be defined by how the system is deployed in terms of the hardware specification of that environment, how the users access that system and often the number of users that they will be accessing

📝 Read more: Oracle Licensing - NUP or CPU.

Oracle's Licensing Compliance Trends

Oracle audits are comprehensive and can be costly for businesses that have not kept up with licensing updates or have misinterpreted licensing terms.

The key to avoiding surprises during an audit is maintaining accurate records of software usage and licensing entitlements. Oracle typically audits companies every few years, especially those with large deployments of Oracle products.

Proactive steps to manage compliance:

• Regular self-audits: It’s a good idea for businesses to conduct internal audits regularly to ensure compliance. This can help you identify over-deployment or misused licenses before Oracle comes knocking.
• Review license agreements: Oracle’s licensing terms can change, especially with cloud and subscription models. Regularly reviewing your contract and ensuring it aligns with current usage is crucial.
  
  

License Mobility in 2025: What’s New?

One of the challenges with traditional software licenses is the rigidity regarding where and how they can be used. As businesses increasingly move to hybrid and multi-cloud environments, Oracle has started offering more flexible license mobility in recent years.

In 2025, businesses will find that Oracle allows greater flexibility in transferring licenses between cloud providers or on-premises and cloud environments. This flexibility is essential for organisations that wish to avoid vendor lock-in or optimise costs by using a combination of cloud platforms.

However, even with increased mobility, companies must still understand the licensing rules and restrictions around transfer, as well as any costs associated with it.

Oracle Support and Updates in 2025

Oracle’s support model for its software has also evolved, especially as businesses move to the cloud. Traditionally, Oracle provided support based on maintenance contracts linked to perpetual licenses. In the cloud world, support is tied to subscription-based pricing and is often part of the overall cloud service package.

For on-premises Oracle customers, maintaining active support contracts is still important to receive updates, patches and technical support. Oracle has been moving towards a model where updates are provided more frequently, which has its pros and cons.

Support Considerations:

• Oracle Premier Support: This remains the gold standard for support in 2025, offering comprehensive updates, fixes and patches. However, it comes at an increased cost, and organisations may question whether they need this level of support.
• Oracle’s Cloud Support: Customers who have migrated to the cloud may find that support options are bundled with their cloud services, though it’s essential to ensure that the correct level of support is chosen based on the specific needs of your organisation.

Cost Optimisation Strategies for Oracle Licensing

With Oracle’s pricing models continuing to evolve, businesses must be strategic about managing licensing costs. Licensing for Oracle software can be expensive, especially when businesses don’t fully understand how their licenses are being used or if they are over-licensed.

Cost-saving tips for Oracle customers in 2025:

• Consolidate your usage: Consider consolidating your Oracle usage onto fewer servers or reducing the number of licenses required by optimising your environment. Virtualisation and cloud technologies allow businesses to be more efficient in their license usage.
• Review your cloud usage: If you’ve migrated to the cloud, it’s essential to continuously review your usage to ensure you're not paying for more resources than you need. Oracle provides detailed insights into your cloud consumption, so use those insights to fine-tune your subscription.
• Leverage Oracle’s Cloud credits: If you are a new Oracle Cloud customer or planning to migrate, explore Oracle’s cloud credits or promotional discounts, which can reduce initial costs.

Oracle Price List 2025

Download the latest Oracle Price List.

The Future of Oracle Licensing Beyond 2025

Looking beyond 2025, Oracle is likely to continue refining its cloud-first strategy. The world is moving towards subscription-based software, and Oracle is aligning its business model with this trend. Expect to see more products available only in the cloud, further simplifications of licensing models, and potentially new pricing models designed to fit a more mobile, multi-cloud world.

Businesses should prioritise maintaining cost-effective licensing and keeping up-to-date with current licensing terms as Oracle continues to adjust its pricing and offerings.

Navigating Oracle licensing in 2025 requires an in-depth understanding of both cloud and on-premises models. With ongoing changes to pricing structures, audit practices, and support options, businesses must stay vigilant about licensing terms and ensure they are using their Oracle products efficiently.

Need help?

DSP's Oracle Licensing support regularly reviews your contracts, optimises your Oracle usage, and ensures you are up-to-date with licensing terms, helping you continue to leverage Oracle products while managing costs effectively.

Contact us today, and one of our Oracle Licensing experts will be in touch.