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Oracle lists Database Enterprise Edition at $47,500 per processor license and Standard Edition 2 at $17,500, with annual update and support at 22 percent of the license price. Extra-cost options such as Real Application Clusters ($23,000) and Active Data Guard ($11,500) are priced on top. These are list prices from Oracle's Technology Global Price List dated 15 September 2026, read on 31 October 2026. They are a starting point: what a customer pays depends on its agreement. For designs that avoid paying for options by accident, see AceMQ's Oracle Database consulting.
Oracle Database list prices in US dollars
| Item | Named User Plus | Processor | Annual update and support (processor) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Edition 2 | $350 | $17,500 | $3,850 |
| Enterprise Edition | $950 | $47,500 | $10,450 |
| Real Application Clusters (option) | $460 | $23,000 | $5,060 |
| Active Data Guard (option) | $230 | $11,500 | $2,530 |
| Partitioning (option) | $230 | $11,500 | $2,530 |
| Multitenant (option) | $350 | $17,500 | $3,850 |
| Diagnostics Pack | $150 | $7,500 | $1,650 |
| Tuning Pack | $100 | $5,000 | $1,100 |
Each option is a separate line, and each carries its own annual support at the same 22 percent. An Enterprise Edition processor with Real Application Clusters, the Diagnostics Pack and the Tuning Pack lists at $83,000 in licenses and $18,260 a year in update and support.
How the number of licenses is counted
Oracle sells Database on two metrics. Named User Plus counts the people and devices that use the database, subject to per-processor minimums in Oracle's licensing rules. Processor counts hardware: Oracle multiplies the total cores by a factor from its Processor Core Factor Table, aggregates all cores and rounds up to a whole number. Oracle's own example is a server with a 0.25 factor and 6 cores, which needs 2 licenses. For Standard Edition 2, a processor is counted as an occupied socket instead.
The price list leaves out the factor and the minimums, so a quote cannot be built from the table above alone. It shows scale, not a total.
Support costs more than the license after a few years
At 22 percent a year, update and support on an Enterprise Edition processor license is $10,450. After about four and a half years of support, the payments exceed the $47,500 license price. That is why the support fee, not the license, is usually the number that drives the long-term decision, and why teams ask whether they need all of it. The answer depends on whether they use Release Updates, bug fixes and the support requests that Oracle provides. AceMQ's third-party Oracle Database support supplies engineers but not Oracle patches, so it complements Oracle support rather than replacing the patch stream.
What makes the bill larger than it needs to be
- Options enabled for convenience. Oracle's Licensing Information manual lists Real Application Clusters and Active Data Guard as extra-cost options on Enterprise Edition, and lists RAC as unavailable on Standard Edition 2. A feature that is switched on creates a question, whether or not anyone chose it.
- Diagnostic tools. Automatic Workload Repository and Active Session History belong to the Diagnostics Pack, which is a $7,500 per processor license. Using them without a license for the pack is a risk worth checking before anyone else does.
- Pluggable databases. Without the Multitenant option, Oracle's manual allows up to 3 user-created pluggable databases in a container database. Consolidation plans that go past three need the option.
- Virtualization. Oracle's partitioning policy treats VMware as soft partitioning, so the hardware a workload could run on can be counted, which is why a four-host database can attract licenses for a whole cluster. Oracle licensing on VMware explains the trap and what changed under Broadcom.
Two worked examples at list price
| Case | Licenses needed | License at list | Annual update and support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Edition 2 on a two-socket server | 2 (one per occupied socket) | $35,000 | $7,700 |
| Enterprise Edition on a server with a 0.25 core factor and 6 cores (Oracle's own example) | 2 (6 x 0.25 = 1.5, rounded up) | $95,000 | $20,900 |
The arithmetic is simple. The decisions behind it are not: which edition the workload needs, whether the standby servers count, and whether the same hardware also runs other Oracle products. A feature inventory per database answers the first two before a quote is requested.
Questions to ask before a renewal
Which databases are you paying support on that no application uses any more? Which options appear in your agreement, and which are enabled in the databases? Does any standby, test or disaster recovery server count as licensed hardware? Which Release Updates did you actually apply last year? The answers show whether the support fee buys something you use, and they are the same questions an engineering review asks.
What to do with these numbers
Start with an inventory: edition, options and packs in use per database, from the database itself rather than from memory. Match it to what your agreement covers. Then decide whether each design choice earns its cost. This is not legal advice, and AceMQ does not resell Oracle licenses or negotiate with Oracle; your agreement decides what you owe. The inventory and the design that follows from it are the part an engineering team can do.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Oracle Database Enterprise Edition cost?
Oracle's Technology Global Price List dated 15 September 2026 lists Database Enterprise Edition at $47,500 per processor and $950 per Named User Plus, with annual update and support of $10,450 and $209. Most customers pay according to their own agreement, so treat list price as a starting point.
How much does Oracle Database Standard Edition 2 cost?
The same price list shows $17,500 per processor and $350 per Named User Plus, with annual update and support of $3,850 and $77. For Standard Edition 2, Oracle counts a processor as an occupied socket.
How much is Oracle support a year?
Oracle's price list sets annual software update license and support at $10,450 for an Enterprise Edition processor license, about 22 percent of the license price. That is $10,450 a year, and after about four and a half years the payments exceed the license price.
What do Oracle Database options like RAC and Data Guard cost?
On the 15 September 2026 list, Real Application Clusters is $23,000 per processor, Active Data Guard $11,500, Partitioning $11,500 and Multitenant $17,500, each with annual support at 22 percent. Oracle's licensing manual lists RAC and Active Data Guard as extra-cost options on Enterprise Edition and shows RAC as unavailable on Standard Edition 2.
What is a processor license?
Oracle counts cores, multiplies by a factor from its Processor Core Factor Table, aggregates all cores and rounds up. Oracle's example is a server with a 0.25 factor and 6 cores, which needs 2 licenses. Standard Edition 2 counts an occupied socket instead.
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