From Oracle Spatial and Graph to 23ai: What Happened to the Graph License

Oracle folded Spatial and Graph into the base database and rebranded property graph inside 23ai, but the standalone Graph Server still carries a bill. This guide separates what became free from what still triggers an audit finding, and tells you exactly what to retire at migration.

The short version: the option died, the risk did not

For roughly two decades, Oracle Spatial and Graph sat on the technology price list as a per-processor Enterprise Edition option at a $17,500 list price. Effective December 5, 2019, Oracle stopped selling it as a separate option. As Oracle's own licensing FAQ put it, Oracle Advanced Analytics and Oracle Spatial and Graph 'are no longer options of Oracle Database. All of the functionality of these options are now features associated with the Oracle Database license.' That change flowed through Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition 2, and the corresponding Database Cloud Service tiers.

By the time you reach Oracle Database 23ai, the picture has changed again. Property graph is now built directly into the SQL engine through the ISO/IEC SQL/PGQ standard, and Spatial and Graph is treated as part of the converged database rather than a bolt-on. In our practice, most buyers read this sequence and conclude the money problem is over. It is not. The in-database features are free; the standalone Oracle Graph Server (formerly Oracle Spatial and Graph Server, running the PGX in-memory analytics engine) is a distinct, separately licensed product. That single distinction is where most 23ai graph findings now originate.

The option is gone from the price list. The audit exposure just moved from the database option to the standalone Graph Server and to legacy Spatial functions in older instances.

What the 2019 change actually did (and what it did not)

The December 2019 change was genuine and favorable to buyers. Spatial and Graph, previously restricted to Enterprise Edition and priced at $17,500 per processor (with a Named User Plus alternative), became a feature you get with the database license. Locator, which was always the free subset, remained free. That means core spatial data management, the full Spatial function set, RDF Semantic Graph, and property graph schema functionality inside the database no longer require a separate option purchase.

What the change did not do is make every graph and spatial component free. Oracle's own FAQ was explicit that components previously requiring separate installation (Oracle R Enterprise, Spatial Studio, and Property Graph In-Memory Analytics, the PGX engine) 'will still require separate installation.' Separate installation is Oracle's tell that a separate license conversation may follow. The database features became free; the heavyweight analytics server did not. For the buyer-side reading of the option itself, see our Oracle Spatial and Graph licensing buyer guide.

Read that table as your control boundary. Everything above the line is included. Everything at or below the PGX line is a separate purchase. Deployment teams that stand up Graph Studio for a data science group, or run PGX for graph algorithms, have crossed the line whether or not procurement signed anything.

Property graph moved into 23ai: the SQL/PGQ split

The most confusing part of this story is that Oracle now has two different property graph mechanisms with overlapping names. The older mechanism is the Graph Server and Client product, which used PGQL and the PGX in-memory engine. The newer mechanism, introduced with 23ai, is SQL/PGQ: an ISO SQL standard addition that lets you create and query property graphs directly in SQL, deeply integrated into the converged database engine. Oracle positions itself as the first commercially available SQL/PGQ implementation.

The licensing implication is clean once you see it. SQL/PGQ property graphs run inside the database and are covered by your database license (EE or SE2). PGX-based analytics run in the external Graph Server and are not. In our experience, teams that migrate graph workloads from the old Graph Server model to native SQL/PGQ in 23ai can often decommission a separately licensed component entirely. That is a real cost lever, not a cosmetic one, and it should be surfaced at migration rather than discovered afterward.

Migrating from PGX-based graph analytics to native SQL/PGQ in 23ai can eliminate a separately licensed server. Do the mapping before you upgrade, not after.

The Standard Edition 2 traps that survived the change

Making Spatial and Graph free on SE2 sounds generous, and it removes the old EE-only wall. But two SE2 constraints remain in force in 23ai and quietly cap what the free features are worth. First, SE2 does not support parallel operations, so Oracle states plainly that machine learning, graph, and spatial features 'will execute serially on SE2.' For large spatial datasets or graph traversals, serial execution can be a functional dead end, not merely a slowdown.

Second, the SE2 hard limits are unchanged: two sockets per server and a 16 CPU thread runtime cap. If you sized a GIS or graph estate expecting SE2 to carry it because the option is now free, you may hit the runtime ceiling before you hit any licensing wall. The trap is deploying on SE2 to save on the EE per-processor gap ($47,500 versus $17,500 list per processor) and then being forced onto EE anyway for performance. Model this before committing hardware. Our detailed treatment of the edition boundary is in Oracle Spatial on Standard Edition 2.

The Partitioning restricted-use trap

Spatial, property graph, and RDF features rely on Oracle Partitioning under the hood, and Oracle grants a restricted-use right to Partitioning for exactly three purposes: spatial topology, property graph schema, and RDF Semantic Graph. That grant is narrow by design. The license language is explicit that 'all other uses of Oracle Partitioning require license for the Oracle Partitioning option.' Partitioning is a separately priced EE option, and it is one of Oracle's favorite audit findings.

The exposure is straightforward. A DBA who sees partitioned tables created for spatial topology may reasonably assume Partitioning is licensed and start partitioning ordinary application tables. It is not licensed for that. The restricted-use grant does not extend one inch beyond the three named feature areas. Before 23ai migration, run a partition inventory and confirm every partitioned object outside the spatial and graph metadata schemas is either supported by a full Partitioning license or removed.

Locator versus Spatial: the finding that predates 23ai and does not go away

Even with the option now free, the Locator-versus-Spatial distinction still matters for two reasons: mixed estates running pre-2019 databases, and cloud or contractual scenarios where the free grant is not present. Locator is the free subset. Oracle documentation is direct that if you need 'linear referencing, spatial functions, or coordinate system transformations, use Oracle Spatial instead of Locator.' Those specific capabilities are the ones that historically triggered a bill on databases that were licensed for Locator only.

The detection problem is well known. The standard usage query returns a non-zero value when Spatial or Locator functionality is in use, but it does not, on its own, cleanly separate the two. That ambiguity is what Oracle's audit teams have historically exploited on older instances. If you run any database version or cloud shape where Spatial is not automatically included, you need feature-level evidence, not a single count. We cover the boundary in Oracle Locator vs Spatial, the accidental trigger in accidentally using Oracle Spatial, and the defensive documentation in the Locator-only evidence pack.

The migration window and the on-prem 23ai availability gap

The timing of any Spatial and Graph consolidation is now tied to the 19c to 23ai migration path, and that path shifted. Premier Support for 19c was originally set to expire April 30, 2026. On November 19, 2024, Oracle extended Premier Support for 19c to December 31, 2029, with Extended Support to December 31, 2032. That removes the immediate deadline pressure that had been driving rushed upgrades.

There is a real planning trap here. As of early 2025, on-premises 23ai had still not shipped broadly. Oracle's position, per reporting at the time, was that outside cloud, Exadata, and Oracle Database Appliance, there was no general on-prem release planned. If your estate is traditional on-prem, you may not be able to migrate to 23ai on your current infrastructure yet, which means the graph and spatial consolidation benefit is deferred for you until the platform is available. Do not sign an accelerated upgrade commitment on the assumption 23ai is drop-in available everywhere. For the broader pre-renewal exercise, see optimizing your Oracle footprint before renewal.

The RDF deprecation that will break scripts, not budgets

One migration detail is licensing-adjacent rather than licensing-central, but it will bite operations teams. Creation of RDF graph networks in the MDSYS schema is deprecated in 23ai. Oracle recommends creating RDF graph networks in a user schema, an option enabled back in 19c. This does not change the license position (RDF Semantic Graph remains free in EE), but any automation or install script that provisions RDF networks in MDSYS will need rework before 23ai. Catch it in the migration test cycle, not in production.

What the buyer should do

Treat the 23ai transition as an opportunity to capture retirement value on a line item that many organizations are still paying support against. The concrete moves, in order of return:

• Audit current Spatial and Graph usage across every database, and separate in-database feature use from Graph Server (PGX) use. Only the second category still carries a license obligation.
• If you are still on a support stream that includes separately licensed Spatial and Graph (the old $17,500 per processor option), retire that line at 23ai migration and capture the support reduction. Support runs at roughly 22 percent of net license per year, so the recurring saving is real.
• Inventory every partitioned object. Confirm each one outside the spatial topology, property graph schema, and RDF metadata sits under a full Partitioning license or gets removed. This is the highest-probability accidental finding in this cluster.
• Map any PGX or Graph Studio deployments to native SQL/PGQ in 23ai where the workload allows. Every server you decommission removes a separately licensed product.
• For SE2 estates, run a performance test with serial execution before betting on the free Spatial and Graph features. If they cannot perform serially within the 16-thread cap, the free features are not usable at scale and EE math applies.
• Do not accept an accelerated 23ai upgrade commitment tied to shelfware retirement until you have confirmed on-prem 23ai availability for your actual platform.

The net position for a buyer is favorable if you act on it. Oracle removed a $17,500 per processor option and gave you the database-resident functionality at no additional charge. Your job is to stop paying support for something you no longer need to license, avoid the two components that still cost money (Graph Server and out-of-bounds Partitioning), and time the whole thing to a migration you can actually execute. The consolidation is a savings event, but only for buyers who claim it deliberately.

Related advisory: the full topic guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is Oracle Spatial and Graph free in 23ai?

The in-database features are free. Since December 5, 2019, Oracle Spatial and Graph functionality is included with Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition 2 rather than sold as a separate option. However, the standalone Oracle Graph Server (the PGX in-memory analytics engine and Graph Studio) is a distinct product that still requires a separate license.

What is the difference between SQL/PGQ property graph and Oracle Graph Server?

SQL/PGQ is the ISO standard property graph capability built into the 23ai database SQL engine, and it is covered by your database license. Oracle Graph Server is the older standalone Java server running PGQL and the PGX engine for large-scale parallel graph analytics, and it is separately licensed. Migrating from Graph Server to native SQL/PGQ can let you decommission a paid component.

Do I still owe money for property graph if I only use it inside the database?

No. Property graph created and queried with SQL/PGQ inside Oracle Database 23ai is covered by your EE or SE2 license. The charge applies only when you run the standalone Graph Server and its PGX engine for advanced parallel graph analytics such as PageRank or community detection.

Does the free Spatial and Graph grant include the Partitioning option?

Only on a restricted-use basis. Oracle grants restricted-use Partitioning solely for spatial topology, property graph schema, and RDF Semantic Graph. Any other use of Partitioning, including partitioning ordinary application tables, requires a full Partitioning option license and is a common audit finding.

Can I run Spatial and graph features on Standard Edition 2?

Yes, but with limits. The features are included on SE2, however SE2 does not support parallel operations, so spatial and graph workloads execute serially. SE2 also caps at two sockets and 16 CPU threads. Test performance under serial execution before relying on SE2 for a real GIS or graph estate.

When should I retire my separately licensed Spatial and Graph line?

At 23ai migration, once you confirm you only use in-database features and not the Graph Server. Retiring the old $17,500 per processor option removes both the license and its annual support, which runs at roughly 22 percent per year. Verify on-prem 23ai availability for your platform first, since general on-prem release has lagged.