Getting Started

Get APEX

Get an Always Free APEX Service

The Oracle APEX Application Development service provides a preconfigured, fully managed, and secured environment in Oracle Cloud to build and deploy world-class applications.

After signing up for your Free Tier account, you can easily create an APEX Service that is free for an unlimited time or spend your free cloud credits on a full, scalable APEX Service.

Sign Up for Free Tier Learn More

Or, request a free APEX workspace here

Quickly evaluate Oracle APEX by requesting a free workspace hosted on apex.oracle.com. It takes just a few moments to sign up and within minutes you'll have your workspace ready to start building your first app.

Watch this short video to see how simple it is to sign up and get started!

Request a Free Workspace

Or, download and install Oracle APEX locally

You can download and install Oracle APEX into any edition of Oracle Database. Follow the Oracle APEX Installation Guide for instructions.

Additionally, the free Oracle Database Express Edition (XE) comes with APEX pre-installed, and in a few steps you can update it to the most recent APEX release.

Download Oracle APEX Download Oracle XE

Additional Options

Oracle APEX runs anywhere that Oracle Database runs, whether it is on-premises, Oracle Cloud, or anywhere else. Here are some additional ways you can get started.

  • Use Oracle APEX on Autonomous Database

    Oracle Autonomous Database (ADB) in Oracle Cloud comes with APEX ready to go. You can use APEX on any of the ADB workload types. Because the underlying database is autonomous, developers are freed from many management tasks. An Always Free version of ADB provides everything available in Always Free APEX Service, plus the ability to connect SQL clients and non-APEX apps to your database via Oracle Net Services (SQL*Net).

  • Install on other Oracle Cloud services

    It's easy to download and install APEX into other Oracle Cloud services including Database Cloud Service and Exadata Cloud Service. You can even install into an Oracle Cloud VM. Terraform scripts automate the installation, or you can follow the steps described in Oracle APEX Installation Guide.

  • Download and run a preconfigured VM

    Run APEX in a preconfigured Oracle VM VirtualBox using Database Application Development Virtual Appliance. A single download gives developers a free VM with Oracle Database, Oracle REST Data Services, and APEX ready to run.

Get Data

Now that you have an environment ready, let's get some data into our workspace that you can use to build your first application.

You can begin with an existing data model or create a new one from scratch. You can use SQL Workshop, which allows you to design or import data models from your browser or use the built-in Quick SQL feature to author a data model using a simple shorthand syntax.

  • Upload From a File

    You can start with a spreadsheet, XML, or JSON and upload it as the basis for your data model.

  • Use Quick SQL

    Use Quick SQL to rapidly create data models using nothing more than shorthand syntax.

  • Use Sample Datasets

    Use the provided sample datasets in SQL Workshop or those available as part of the Create App from Spreadsheet wizard.

The SQL Workshop in Oracle APEX provides a wealth of functionality for managing your data using SQL. SQL Workshop is designed to allow application developers to review and maintain all of the database objects within their associated schemas.

Getting Started with SQL Workshop

Develop Application

Now that you have data available in your workspace, you can use the Create App wizard to create your first application. Once you've created your app, use Page Designer to further enhance your application pages. From Page Designer, you can quickly run your page to see your changes immediately in a new browser tab. From the runtime tab, use the Developer Toolbar to jump back into development. Watch one of these short videos on building your first app.

The App Builder in Oracle APEX provides all of the functionality to develop your apps, including adding pages, managing shared components, and using Page Designer.

Getting Started with App Builder

Deploy Application

For simple projects, deploying your app can be as easy as sharing the runtime URL and granting end user access.

For systems that separate development and production environments, you can export and import your application in a single file.

Learn More

Next Steps

Now that you have a workspace and some basic experience with Oracle APEX, try your hand at completing these Hands on Labs to gain even more knowledge and experience building apps.

Go to Tutorials