CentOS offers a stable, secure, and compatible environment with Red Hat packages, providing robust performance and cost efficiency. Its lightweight, scalable design and strong community support make it ideal for handling heavy workloads with limited resources.
Product | Market Share (%) |
---|---|
CentOS | 4.5% |
Rocky Linux | 14.3% |
Ubuntu Linux | 11.5% |
Other | 69.7% |
Type | Title | Date | |
---|---|---|---|
Category | Operating Systems (OS) for Business | Oct 18, 2025 | Download |
Product | Reviews, tips, and advice from real users | Oct 18, 2025 | Download |
Comparison | CentOS vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | Oct 18, 2025 | Download |
Comparison | CentOS vs Ubuntu Linux | Oct 18, 2025 | Download |
Comparison | CentOS vs Oracle Linux | Oct 18, 2025 | Download |
Title | Rating | Mindshare | Recommending | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ubuntu Linux | 4.3 | 11.5% | 95% | 150 interviewsAdd to research |
Rocky Linux | 4.3 | 14.3% | 100% | 15 interviewsAdd to research |
Company Size | Count |
---|---|
Small Business | 26 |
Midsize Enterprise | 16 |
Large Enterprise | 22 |
Company Size | Count |
---|---|
Small Business | 201 |
Midsize Enterprise | 115 |
Large Enterprise | 362 |
CentOS is a popular choice for organizations seeking reliable server and virtualization solutions. Known for its robust stability and security, it offers seamless integration and maintenance. However, after a shift from Red Hat, some challenges emerged, including weak NFS client performance and a more complex interface, which beginners find challenging alongside insufficient documentation. Despite these, CentOS remains a favored option for deploying web applications, server installations, and supporting cloud solutions, thanks to its efficient use in monitoring, databases, and telecommunications.
What are CentOS's key features?CentOS is widely used in industries requiring robust infrastructure, such as web hosting, scientific computing, and telecommunications. In data centers, companies deploy it to support virtual environments, testing, and development. The OS powers business applications, email servers, and cloud solutions, offering a cost-effective alternative to Red Hat.
CentOS was previously known as CentOS 7 (x86_64) - with Updates HVM.
Author info | Rating | Review Summary |
---|---|---|
Technical Operations Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees | 4.0 | We initially used CentOS for its stable, long-term support but switched to AlmaLinux due to CentOS's frequent version releases and update issues. We considered RHEL for its features but found it too expensive for our needs. |
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees | 4.0 | I've used CentOS for six years to support critical middleware applications, benefiting from its open-source nature, strong performance, scalability, and community support, which have helped reduce downtime and cut our operational costs by around 50%. |
Software developer at TAIGLE LLC | 4.5 | Our pharmaceutical clients prefer stability, so we stuck with CentOS 7 until its end of life forced a migration to CentOS 9, which, though challenging, proved seamless on AWS. CentOS's documentation and community remain its strengths, aiding effective server management. |
CEO at BazTech | 4.5 | My company plans to stop using CentOS due to discontinued support from Red Hat, despite its usefulness for hosting our website and email servers. It lacks a graphical interface for system automation, and Fedora is too buggy compared to CentOS. |
Technical escalations engineer team lead at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees | 4.0 | I use CentOS for VoIP devices and older virtual appliances due to its stability and being free, but since it's no longer viable, I recommend Rocky Linux instead; overall, I’d rate CentOS an eight out of ten. |
Senior Manager, Systems Engineering at Yutivo Corporation | 4.5 | We use CentOS for our file servers, email, and web servers. It is stable and regularly updated for compatibility and vulnerability fixes. However, its security features need improvement to better protect against hackers. No other solutions were considered. |
Vice President | Services Group Leader at Afiniti | 4.5 | In my experience, CentOS is a stable and reliable platform, easily set up for running Docker-based services. However, it could benefit from a GUI-based monitoring tool. I previously used Ubuntu and am currently exploring Oracle Linux on Microsoft Azure. |
Manager server admin and security at Vivaconnect | 4.5 | No summary available |