Java With Us

Where to Download JRE 11

Updated on 2026-04-20 Reviewed by the Java With Us editorial team

Oracle stopped shipping a standalone JRE 11 — they only distribute the JDK. If you need a pure runtime without the development tools, a few alternative distributions still package a JRE. Here's where to find them in 2026.

Do you actually need the JRE?

The JRE is the minimal set of files needed to run a Java application. The JDK is JRE + development tools (javac, jar, jshell…). The JDK is a few tens of megabytes larger and runs anything the JRE can.

In most cases today, install the JDK. The situations where a pure JRE still helps are:

  • Legacy installers that explicitly require a JRE path.
  • Distributing a product to end users where you want the smallest possible footprint.
  • Minimal Docker images.

Where to download JRE 11

Eclipse Temurin

The most popular OpenJDK distribution. Temurin still builds a JRE 11:

adoptium.net → OS: Windows / macOS / Linux, Package: JRE, Version: 11 (LTS)

Download .msi for Windows, .pkg for macOS, .tar.gz or .deb/.rpm for Linux.

BellSoft Liberica

Liberica publishes full JRE builds of every LTS version:

bell-sw.com/pages/downloads → Java 11 LTS → Package: JRE

Azul Zulu

Azul also provides a standalone JRE 11 (filter Package: JRE):

azul.com/downloads

Amazon Corretto

Corretto ships JDK only. No standalone JRE.

Microsoft Build of OpenJDK

JDK only; no JRE.

Oracle

Oracle no longer distributes JRE 11. Their Java SE 8 page was the last with a public JRE download, and even that has been removed.

Verify the installation

java -version
# openjdk version "11.0.25" 2024-10-15 LTS
# OpenJDK Runtime Environment Temurin-11.0.25+9 (build 11.0.25+9-LTS)
# OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Temurin-11.0.25+9 (build 11.0.25+9-LTS, mixed mode)

If java is not found, add the JRE's bin folder to your PATH, or set JAVA_HOME to the install directory.

Building a minimal custom runtime with jlink

If you have a JDK 11+ and a specific modular application, you can generate an even smaller runtime containing only the modules your app uses:

jlink \
  --module-path $JAVA_HOME/jmods \
  --add-modules java.base,java.logging,java.sql \
  --output custom-jre \
  --strip-debug \
  --compress=2 \
  --no-header-files \
  --no-man-pages

The result is often under 40 MB — smaller than any pre-built JRE.

Why Oracle dropped the JRE

Starting with Java 9 and the module system, the line between JDK and JRE blurred. Most tools that used to distinguish them (applets, Java Web Start) have been deprecated. Oracle's decision was to simplify the distribution story: one package (the JDK), one download, the option to strip it down with jlink if size matters.

For practical purposes, installing Temurin JDK 11 gives you everything a JRE 11 provides — and more, at the price of roughly 80 MB of extra disk space.

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