Only 14 percent of Oracle Java subscribers plan to stay in Big Red's runtime environment, according to a study following the introduction of an employee-based subscription model.

Meanwhile, 36 percent of the 663 Java users surveyed said they had already switched to the employee-based pricing model introduced in January 2023. Shortly after the new model was implemented, experts warned that it would create a significant price increase for users to adopt it. In July, global technology research firm Gartner predicted that those with the new subscription package would face between two and five times the costs of the previous usage-based model.

As such, among the 86 percent of respondents using Oracle Java SE who are currently moving or planning to move all or some of their Java applications from Oracle environments, 53 percent said the Oracle environment was too expensive, according to the study conducted by the independent market research company Dimensional Research. Forty-seven percent said the reason for moving was a preference for open source, and 38 percent said it was due to uncertainty created by ongoing changes in pricing, licensing and support.

The research was sponsored by Azul, a company that provides support for open source Java platforms. CEO Scott Sellers told The Register: “It's hard to draw a direct correlation other than looking at the strong trend and rate of adoption, which moved away from Oracle Java to OpenJDK alternatives.