Free production use of new Oracle JDK 21 updates ends with Oracle's Critical Patch Update on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. According to the Java SE Support Roadmap (updated September 15, 2026), JDK 21 updates released from that CPU onward are planned under the Java SE OTN license, which allows personal, development and a few other uses at no cost, but not general production use. JDK 21 builds released through September 2026 stay under the No-Fee Terms and Conditions (NFTC), but no further JDK 21 updates are planned under that license.

Key dates and versions

  • August 18, 2026: Oracle JDK 21.0.12.1 shipped under the NFTC. As of early October, Oracle's download page still lists it as the current JDK 21 release, so it is the final NFTC build. Its release notes state that Oracle does not recommend using it after the October 20 CPU.
  • October 20, 2026, around 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET, 20:00 UTC): the October CPU, at the time given in Oracle's CPU FAQ. Its JDK 21 update, expected as 21.0.13 (the version Adoptium lists for October), is the first under the OTN license.
  • September 2028: NFTC updates for Oracle JDK 25 end, one year after Java 29, the next planned LTS release, due in September 2027.

Oracle did the same with JDK 17: updates released from October 15, 2024 (17.0.13 onward) moved to the OTN license. The licensing FAQ still lists 17.0.12 and earlier under the NFTC. Per the 21.0.12.1 release notes, JavaFX 21 updates released after September 2026 get a similar licensing change.

What the OTN license allows

As of October 2026, Oracle's licensing FAQ lists these no-cost uses under the OTN License Agreement for Java SE:

  • personal use on a desktop or laptop computer (the FAQ says business use on a desktop or laptop is not personal use)
  • development, testing, prototyping and demonstrating applications
  • use with approved products listed in Schedules A and B, such as Oracle SQL Developer
  • use with identified Oracle Cloud Infrastructure products

For other uses the FAQ points to the Java SE Universal Subscription. The JDK 21 section of Oracle's download page says production use beyond those limited free grants "will require a fee". The FAQ also states that the license text wins over the FAQ if the two disagree, so check the license itself or ask your legal team.

Why staying on 21.0.12.1 is a risk

Keeping the last NFTC build leaves your license unchanged but ends security fixes. The July 2026 CPU alone had 19 new security patches for Oracle Java SE, and Oracle said 17 of them may be remotely exploitable without authentication.

Options for production JDK 21 workloads

Move to Oracle JDK 25

Oracle JDK 25 stays under the NFTC until September 2028. This is a feature-version upgrade, so test frameworks, Java agents and build plugins first.

Switch to another OpenJDK 21 build

Oracle's change covers Oracle JDK only. Other vendors ship JDK 21 builds from OpenJDK sources, with their own support dates (as of October 2026):

  • Eclipse Temurin 21: Adoptium commits to at least December 2029 and plans jdk-21.0.13 for October 2026.
  • Amazon Corretto 21: last planned update July 2030, end of life October 2030, no cost under GPLv2 with Classpath Exception, per the Corretto FAQ.
  • Microsoft Build of OpenJDK 21: earliest end of support September 2028, with free quarterly updates.
  • Red Hat build of OpenJDK 21: for Red Hat subscribers, full support until December 31, 2029, and ELS-1, an optional paid extension, until September 30, 2031, per Red Hat's lifecycle page.
  • Azul: its support roadmap lists September 2031 for Java 21 on Azul Core, its commercially supported OpenJDK build.

Oracle's licensing FAQ lists its own GPL-licensed OpenJDK 21 builds (jdk.java.net) only through January 2024, so they are not a source of current updates.

Stay on Oracle JDK 21 with a subscription

For Oracle customers, the roadmap lists Premier Support for JDK 21 until September 2028 and Extended Support until September 2031, both marked "or later".

Find Oracle JDK 21 before October 20

  • Run java -version on hosts and inside images. Oracle JDK prints "Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment"; OpenJDK-based builds print "OpenJDK Runtime Environment", usually with the vendor name.
  • Check the release file in each JDK home directory, which names the implementor and version.
  • Review Dockerfiles, base images, CI pipelines and configuration-management code that download Oracle JDK 21 automatically.
  • Oracle says its Java Management Service, "available to all users", can help find vulnerable Java versions in your systems.

Other vendor patch days are in our patch calendar for 2026 and 2027. Another October deadline: Kubernetes 1.34 reaches end of life on October 27. More runtime and platform coverage is in our Platforms section.

Frequently asked questions

Is Oracle JDK 21 free for commercial use?

Builds released through September 2026, up to 21.0.12.1, are under the NFTC, which permits commercial and production use. Updates from the October 20, 2026 CPU onward are planned under the OTN license, which does not cover general production use without a paid subscription.

When exactly does the October 2026 update come out?

Oracle releases CPUs at around 1 p.m. Pacific Time on the third Tuesday of January, April, July and October. For this release that means October 20, 2026, at about 4 p.m. ET (20:00 UTC).

Does this affect Oracle JDK 25?

Not yet. Oracle plans NFTC updates for JDK 25 until September 2028.