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What Is Oracle Database 23ai Used For: Features, Reviews & Alternatives

Latest long-term support database release.

Editorially updated Oct 25, 2025

The overview

What Oracle Database 23ai is for

The Oracle Database 23ai web interfaces, such as the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Console and SQL Developer Web, provide browser-first access to the latest long-term support release. This platform enables database administrators, developers, and data scientists to provision, manage, and interact with 23ai instances, directly leveraging its groundbreaking AI Vector Search, JSON Relational Duality, and Graph features for modern application development and data analysis. The web-based tools streamline the adoption of AI-driven capabilities within existing data architectures, facilitating rapid prototyping and deployment of intelligent applications without requiring client-side installations.

Key features

1Core Capabilitie

OCI Database Management Console: Web-based interface for instance provisioning, patching, and performance monitoring
SQL Developer Web: Browser-based IDE for SQL and PL/SQL development, schema browsing, and data manipulation
JSON Relational Duality Views: Declarative mapping of relational data to JSON documents, accessible via SQL
Property Graph Query Language (PGQL) Support: Native graph data modeling and querying within the database

2Specialized Workflow

AI Vector Search Index Creation: SQL DDL for defining vector embeddings and similarity search indexe
RAG Query Execution via SQL: Integrated SQL functions for Retrieval Augmented Generation patterns against vector store
ML Model Deployment via OML Notebooks: Web-based environment for building, training, and deploying in-database machine learning model
Automatic Data Optimization (ADO) Policies: Web console configuration for automated data tiering and compression

Who it helps

Useful ways to use Oracle Database 23ai

Building AI-Powered Applications with RAG

Developers utilize SQL Developer Web to define vector embeddings, create AI Vector Search indexes, and construct SQL queries that integrate large language model (LLM) responses with enterprise data for Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) applications, all within a browser-based environment

Proactive Database Health Monitoring and Managemen

Operations teams leverage the OCI Database Management Console to monitor instances, configure Automatic Data Optimization policies, apply patches, and manage security settings, ensuring high availability and optimal performance through a centralized web interface

Rapid Prototyping of Data-Intensive Service

Startups quickly provision instances via the OCI Console, using SQL Developer Web to rapidly develop and iterate on applications that combine transactional data with AI Vector Search and JSON Relational Duality, accelerating time-to-market for innovative data service

A practical path

How to use Oracle Database 23ai

Access the OCI Console or SQL Developer Web

Navigate to cloud.oracle.com and sign in to your Oracle Cloud account, then select "Oracle Database" from the services menu to access the OCI Database Management Console, or directly launch SQL Developer Web for a specific database instance

External signals

Reviews & reputation

AI aggregated

4.1/ 5

Aggregated review score

Oracle Database 23ai delivers significant advancements, particularly with its integrated AI Vector Search and JSON Relational Duality, making it a compelling choice for modern application development. Users praise its robust performance and the convenience of web-based management tools like SQL Developer Web and the OCI Console, though some note the learning curve for new features.

G2 LarryLudwig Product Review SmartCustomer Trustpilot

Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

1What are the licensing implications for using the new AI Vector Search features in Oracle Database 23ai?⌄

AI Vector Search is included as a core feature of Oracle Database 23ai. For on-premises deployments, it's part of the database license. In Oracle Cloud, it's available with various database service editions (e.g., Autonomous Database, Base Database Service) and consumed as part of the overall cloud service pricing, without requiring separate feature licenses.

2How does Oracle Database 23ai integrate with external Large Language Models (LLMs) for RAG patterns?⌄

Oracle Database 23ai facilitates RAG by storing and indexing vector embeddings of your private data. While 23ai itself doesn't host LLMs, it provides the robust vector store and SQL capabilities to retrieve contextually relevant information. This retrieved data can then be passed to an external LLM (e.g., OCI Generative AI, OpenAI, Cohere) via application code for augmented responses, ensuring data privacy and freshness.

3Is Oracle Database 23ai available for on-premises deployment, or is it cloud-only?⌄

Oracle Database 23ai is available for both on-premises deployment and as a service in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Customers can choose to run it on their own hardware, on Oracle Exadata, or leverage managed services like Autonomous Database or Base Database Service in OCI, providing deployment flexibility.

4What is the recommended migration path for existing Oracle Database 19c users to 23ai?⌄

For 19c users, Oracle recommends an upgrade path using standard database upgrade utilities like AutoUpgrade. Given 23ai is the next Long Term Support (LTS) release after 19c, direct upgrades are supported. It's crucial to review the pre-upgrade checks and compatibility matrix, especially for applications leveraging new 23ai features like JSON Relational Duality or AI Vector Search.

5Can I manage multiple Oracle Database 23ai instances across different cloud regions from a single web interface?⌄

Yes, the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Console provides a unified web interface to manage all your Oracle Database 23ai instances deployed across various OCI regions. You can switch between regions within the console to monitor, provision, and administer databases globally, centralizing your operational oversight.

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