A new Java LTS lands. Your licensing clock just reset

Oracle ships a new feature release of Java every six months and designates a Long-Term-Support (LTS) version every two years — Java 11, 17, 21, and the next in sequence. To most engineering teams an LTS release is a roadmap event: a new baseline to plan upgrades around. To anyone responsible for Oracle Java costs, it is something more specific. Each LTS release resets a licensing clock. The free-use window under the Oracle No-Fee Terms and Conditions starts again, the support timeline for older versions advances, and the question of whether your organisation needs to pay Oracle at all gets a fresh answer. A new LTS is not just a technical milestone — it is a licensing decision point, and the organisations that treat it as one tend to pay Oracle far less than those that do not.

The Java release cadence

Since 2018, Oracle has released a new Java feature version every March and September. Most of those are short-lived — each receives Oracle updates for only six months, until the next release supersedes it. At a regular interval, however, Oracle designates one release as LTS. Java 11 (2018), Java 17 (2021), and Java 21 (2023) were LTS versions; the cadence then moved to a two-year LTS rhythm, making the next LTS the practical planning baseline for most enterprises.

The LTS designation matters because almost every enterprise standardises on LTS versions. Non-LTS releases are useful for early testing but unsuitable as a production baseline — they fall out of update support before most change-control cycles complete. So when a new LTS arrives, it becomes the version organisations actually plan to run for years. That makes the licensing terms attached to that specific release the terms that govern your real-world Java estate.

What a new LTS does to NFTC

The single most important licensing fact about a new LTS release is the Oracle No-Fee Terms and Conditions (NFTC) licence it ships under. The NFTC, introduced with Java 17, permits free use of Oracle’s JDK build — including in production and for commercial purposes — but only for a defined period tied to the release.

Under the NFTC, a release is free to use until one full year after the next LTS release is published. When a new LTS lands, two things happen simultaneously: the new release begins its own NFTC free period, and the previous LTS enters its final twelve months of free updates. After that twelve-month overlap, continuing to take Oracle’s updates for the older release moves you onto paid Java SE Subscription terms. So a new LTS does not just open a new free window — it starts the countdown clock on the old one. Knowing both dates is the difference between a planned, free upgrade and an accidental slide into a paid subscription.

The free-use window, release by release

The practical effect is a rolling pattern. Each LTS is free to use and free to patch for roughly three years — its two years as the current LTS, plus the one-year overlap after its successor arrives.

The lesson in the table is that licence terms are per release, not a single status for “Java.” A new LTS does not retroactively extend free updates for an older one. An estate running a mix of Java 8, 11, 17, and 21 has four different licensing positions at once — and a new LTS adds a fifth. For a fuller breakdown of which versions are currently free, see our guide to free Java versions in 2026.

The support timeline shift

Beyond the free-use clock, a new LTS moves the whole support picture forward. Oracle publishes premier and extended support dates for each LTS, and a new release pushes older versions further down that timeline. The risk a new LTS exposes is the gap between when free updates stop and when an organisation actually migrates.

That gap is where unplanned cost lives. If free updates for the LTS you run end and you have not moved to either the new LTS or a free OpenJDK distribution, you have only two options: keep running an unpatched version (a security exposure) or buy an Oracle subscription to keep receiving patches (an unbudgeted cost). A new LTS release is the signal to start closing that gap — ideally a year or more before the old release’s free updates expire.

Decisions a new LTS forces

When a new LTS arrives, three decisions come due:

1. Adopt the new LTS, stay put, or move off Oracle. Upgrading to the new LTS keeps you inside a free NFTC window. Staying on the current LTS is fine for now but starts the expiry clock. Moving to a non-Oracle OpenJDK build removes the clock entirely.
2. Plan the migration before the free window closes. Whichever path you choose, the work must complete before free updates on your current version end — not after. A new LTS is the planning trigger.
3. Re-test your paid exposure. If any part of your estate is on a paid Java SE Subscription, a new LTS is a chance to ask whether it is still needed — or whether upgrading to a free NFTC release lets you exit. See how to exit a Java SE Subscription.

The organisations that pay Oracle the least treat every LTS release as a forcing function for these three questions. The ones that drift into cost simply let the release pass as an engineering footnote.

The OpenJDK angle

A new Oracle LTS release is mirrored, almost immediately, by free OpenJDK builds of the same version — Eclipse Temurin, Amazon Corretto, Azul Zulu, BellSoft Liberica, and others. These are built from the same source, pass the same compatibility tests, and carry no NFTC clock at all. They are licensed under the GPL with Classpath Exception and stay free in production indefinitely.

This reframes the new-LTS decision. The choice is not only “new Oracle LTS or old Oracle LTS” — it is also “Oracle’s build, with its rolling free-use window, or a free OpenJDK build with no window to track.” For organisations that want to remove Java licensing from the audit-risk register entirely, a new LTS is the natural moment to standardise on an OpenJDK distribution. The new release exists in both forms; only one of them comes with a licensing clock attached.

Common mistakes

• Treating a new LTS as engineering-only. The release changes your licensing position whether or not you upgrade. Ignoring the licensing dimension is how free estates drift into paid ones.
• Assuming “Java is free now.” The NFTC free window is per release and time-limited. A new LTS being free says nothing about the release you actually run in production.
• Missing the overlap deadline. The twelve-month overlap after a new LTS is the window to migrate the old one. Miss it and the only patched option is a paid subscription.
• Forgetting the legacy versions. A new LTS does nothing for Java 8 or 11 estates. Those carry their own — older and stricter — terms regardless.
• Overlooking OpenJDK. Every new Oracle LTS has a free OpenJDK twin with no licensing clock. Not considering it leaves money on the table.

Getting independent help

A new Java LTS release is one of the most predictable — and most overlooked — licensing events in the Oracle calendar. It opens a fresh free-use window under the NFTC, starts the expiry countdown on the LTS you run today, advances the support timeline, and forces a clear choice between adopting Oracle’s new build, staying put, or moving to a free OpenJDK distribution. Handled as a planning trigger, a new LTS keeps Java costs at or near zero. Ignored, it is how organisations wake up to an unbudgeted subscription — or an audit.

Independent, buyer-side advisers map each release onto your real estate, track every clock, and identify where a free upgrade replaces a paid subscription. Our Java Compliance Assessment establishes exactly which versions you run and what each one costs you; our Java Migration service moves you onto a free footing before any window closes. Across 340+ Java engagements, that approach has contributed to a 68% average reduction in audit claims and more than $180M in client savings.

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