Since the JavaOne 2022 announcement that changes were coming to GraalVM, those changes have been rolling out. Its release schedule is planned to move to every six months to align with the JDK, the product name is now simply Oracle GraalVM with releases named for the JDK release they support, and Project Galahad has been proposed with the intention to continue development of the Graal JIT at OpenJDK. Now I’m happy to announce another exciting change that will make it easier for developers to get the benefits of GraalVM’s advanced compiler technology. Oracle is making Oracle GraalVM for JDK 17, Oracle GraalVM for JDK 20, and subsequent releases available for free!

Key Details:

• Oracle is making Oracle GraalVM for JDK 17 and Oracle GraalVM for JDK 20 (previously known as Oracle GraalVM Enterprise) and subsequent releases, including all quarterly security updates, free.
• These releases will be available under the GraalVM Free Terms and Conditions (GFTC) license. This license, subject to its conditions, permits free use for all users, even for production use. Redistribution is permitted if it is not for a fee.
• For designated Long Term Support releases (GraalVM for JDK 17), Oracle will provide these free GFTC releases until one full year after the subsequent LTS release. Prior releases are not affected by this change.
• Developers and organizations can now easily download, use, share, and redistribute Oracle GraalVM without needing a click-through license agreement.
• Oracle will continue to provide GPL-licensed GraalVM Community Edition releases under the same terms as Oracle builds of OpenJDK.

GraalVM Free Terms and Conditions

In September of 2021, Oracle announced that the Oracle JDK would be made available under the Oracle No-Fee Terms and Conditions (NFTC) license. This change has made it easier for individual users and enterprises to download, develop, and deploy production applications on the rock-solid Oracle JDK platform. With the success of the NFTC license for the Oracle JDK, Oracle is now extending this approach to Oracle GraalVM with the GraalVM Free Terms and Conditions (GFTC) license, which makes its advanced just-in-time (JIT) and ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation technology available to all developers.

New releases of Oracle GraalVM will be available under the new GFTC license, which (subject to conditions) permits free use for all users including commercial production. Redistribution is also permitted if no fee is charged. For more information about Oracle GraalVM Licensing, see the Oracle Java SE Licensing FAQ.

Free releases and updates for versions Oracle designates as an LTS release, such as Oracle GraalVM for JDK 17, will continue for one full year after the next LTS release. This means Oracle intends to provide Oracle GraalVM for JDK 17 under the GFTC until one year after the release of Oracle GraalVM for JDK 21. Releases which are not designated as LTS releases, such as GraalVM for JDK 20, are provided until superseded by the next release. You can upgrade every six months to the latest JDK release to access new Java features, and you also have the option to directly upgrade between LTS releases.

Oracle GraalVM releases made available under the GFTC license will be easier to include in CI/CD build pipelines thanks to new stable download URLs. Oracle GraalVM downloads now include the Native Image utility, so everything you need is available in a single package under the same license. If you’re deploying containerized applications on GraalVM or doing container-based builds, new Oracle GraalVM container images will soon be available on the Oracle Container Registry.

Getting Started

Oracle GraalVM downloads are available on the Java Downloads page. To get started, consult the installation guides, documentation, and the release notes for Oracle GraalVM for JDK 17 and Oracle GraalVM for JDK 20.

Oracle Java SE Subscription

Oracle GraalVM is free to use on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and is included in Oracle Java SE Subscription products. For more information about Oracle GraalVM licensing, see the Oracle Java SE Licensing FAQ. Oracle Java SE Subscription products provide the Oracle JDK and value-added features such as the Java Management Service, the Advanced Management Console, Java SE Subscription Enterprise Performance Pack, and Oracle GraalVM at no incremental cost. Coupled with 24x7 support (from the team at Oracle that develops most of the Java platform used globally), Oracle Java SE Subscription products are the high-value choice favored by thousands of organizations small and large.