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Erick-Guevara - PeerSpot reviewer
Application Server Manager at Centro Nacional de Registros
Real User
Free to use and simple to set up but needs a better package manager
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is stable and reliable."
  • "The GUI interface could always be better."

What is our primary use case?

CentOS is an operating system for business. Basically, it is used for application servers used for deploying.

How has it helped my organization?

We've improved ourselves via testing. 

When we want to create a new environment or test a new product, for example, if we have to deploy maybe testing passwords with high ability, we first try to deploy it. 

We prefer to use a CentOS platform for testing new implementations. Basically, we don't have to spend money and resources when we are not very secure in implementing a testing solution.

What is most valuable?

CentOS is compliant with Red Hat packages, so we don't have to spend on a subscription for little projects or small projects. That's the reason we use it.

The initial setup is easy.

It is scalable. 

The solution is stable and reliable. 

It's free as a community product.

What needs improvement?

The package manager could be improved. For example, for my background, I prefer Debian. For me, the Debian package managing it fits a better solution. Sometimes using RPE and packages is a little complicated trying to resolve some dependencies.

The GUI interface could always be better. 

Buyer's Guide
CentOS
September 2025
Learn what your peers think about CentOS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
867,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for around four years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution was stable. There were no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. 

We do not have plans to increase usage. We may, in fact, reduce usage as we migrate. We are trying to migrate to Kubernetes however this is a very slow plan. For maybe three or five years, we will continue using Red Hat or CentOS.

We have about ten people using the solution. They are IT administrators. 

How are customer service and support?

We never had CentOS support. Right now, we use Red Hat support. In terms of Red Hat support, it's a very good. If we have issues, we often turn to the community first. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

For the production environment, we use Red Hat Linux and for the testing or relevant environment, we use CentOS.

Right now, with a Kubernetes solution and maybe we need a new solution as we are trying to move onto SecureNet. If we use, for example, EKS and right now, maybe in the future, we don't need to deal with an operating system. In the future, if we cause CentOS, we might use it in a smaller, more basic implementation.

We did not use anything previously. 

How was the initial setup?

The implementation process is very easy. When I started to learn about Red Hat, for example, it was a little difficult. Right now, it's very, very easy.

The deployment took 15 minutes to half an hour. It didn't take long. 

We have three people that can handle deployment and maintenance. They are computer science engineers or people with a Linux background.

What about the implementation team?

The initial setup was handled in-house by our team. We didn't use any consultants or integrators. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We are using the community version. It is free.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I did not personally compare other different solutions. 

What other advice do I have?

We're a customer and an end-user.

We are using the latest version of the solution and are working on a migration.

I'd recommend the solution to others. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
SHUBHAM BHINGARDE - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Engineer at CDAC
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Used as an operating system and easily integrates with other systems
Pros and Cons
  • "We used the solution as an operating system."
  • "Currently, CentOS is not providing support, so you will not get new packages that are compatible with that operating system."

What is our primary use case?

We used the solution as an operating system. We were using CentOS because it supported the Red Hat flavor. Now that CentOS has stopped providing the support, we have switched to Alma OS.

What is most valuable?

We used the solution as an operating system. The solution is simple to use.

What needs improvement?

Currently, CentOS is not providing support, so you will not get new packages that are compatible with that operating system.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution provides good stability.

I rate the solution’s stability a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Around 70% of our organization is using CentOS.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Ubuntu. We switched to CentOS because it was a business requirement, and our clients demanded it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

CentOS is an open source that is free of cost.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend CentOS to other users because it supports the Red Hat flavor. It is easy to integrate the solution with other tools and systems.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
CentOS
September 2025
Learn what your peers think about CentOS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
867,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior System Admin at Tepco-Group
Real User
An exceptionally stable product for testing different types of servers
Pros and Cons
  • "I find the solution's stability to be the most valuable feature of it since I have been using a virtual machine with the help of the solution since 2015, and it still works on all the laptops in my organization."
  • "CentOS NetworkManager is an area of concern in the solution that needs improvement, and it is the same with other products from Red Hat."

What is our primary use case?

In my company, we use CentOS to work in my test environments on my laptop. I didn't implement CentOS on the enterprise server.

My company uses it like a work server, and I got access to services provided by Apache and ManageEngine, which I used to deploy solutions, especially the minor ones like Elasticsearch. I didn't use other solutions because of security reasons in my company. I use it for testing purposes related to DNS servers, directory servers, binding servers, and Hyper-V servers, which are minor cases.

What is most valuable?

CentOS is not very different from other solutions apart from its distribution since it is a free edition of Red Hat.

I find the solution's stability to be the most valuable feature of it since I have been using a virtual machine with the help of the solution since 2015, and it still works on all the laptops in my organization.

What needs improvement?

I don't think any improvements are needed in the solution since we can just use it to test Red Hat before deploying it in our IT environment. We can learn more about CentOS from Red Hat.

In the future, CentOS should provide a free or open-source version for its community, which can involve improving and testing it.

CentOS NetworkManager is an area of concern in the solution that needs improvement, and it is the same with other products from Red Hat. CentOS NetworkManager was better earlier compared to what it is nowadays. The implementation or configuration would be better if there was some new CentOS NetworkManager available.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using CentOS for seven to eight years. I currently use CentOS 7. I haven't got ISO on my laptop to use CentOS 8 in my test environment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a highly stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. When testing the product, I found its scalability features very stable while considering its impact on the testing phase I was involved in with the tool.

How are customer service and support?

CentOS has no technical Support since it is an open-source or free edition platform. If I face any issues or I want to learn something about the product, then I would have to learn them through the online communities for the tool. In Linux, you can find every documentation you need by doing a simple Google search or on the online communities created for CentOS.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is the same as installing an ISO file in Red Hat. The product allows me to configure the IPS and allows me for automatic configuration, making a big difference. If a person is familiar with Linux, the setup phase gets easy. If a person is familiar with Windows, installation will be hard for the first time.

Considering the use of the solution for my company's test environment, the deployment process takes only a minute or two.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

There are no cons in CentOS or Red Hat products. The cons are mostly found in Microsoft products.

What other advice do I have?

It is completely easy to maintain the solution. I haven't faced any issues with CentOS. For CentOS, I have a virtual environment on my laptop in a VMware workstation. If I face any issues with CentOS, it will be because of VMware workstation owing to the version or edition I use.

CentOS is a good product for testing and learning purposes. You can go with CentOS or Linux if you are into cyber security.

With CentOS, I didn't conduct or operate myself in a GUI environment for testing or learning purposes.

I rate the overall product a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Ibidapo Ibrahim - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of IT Infrastructure at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Easy to set up and reliable, but the licensing structure has recently changed
Pros and Cons
  • "There's lots of great documentation available."
  • "We are aware that the licensing has shifted, and it's not a change we've liked."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution as a web application server. I use it with Apache. 

How has it helped my organization?

It's saved us a lot of money on licensing. 

What is most valuable?

I like that the updating is very easy.

It's saved us a lot of money based on the licensing structure.

The solution is stable and reliable.

There's lots of great documentation available. 

The initial setup was easy for me. 

What needs improvement?

I do not need any extra features. Nothing is missing from the solution. 

We are aware that the licensing has shifted, and it's not a change we've liked. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution since 2017.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a very stable product. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I've never scaled or clustered in any way, although I do have it in multiple systems. 

I do not have plans to increase usage since that changed the way the licensing works. 

How are customer service and support?

The documentation is excellent. I've never actually reached out to technical support. I've needed to leverage support services since the documentation is so strong. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Since they have changed their licensing strategy, we are using more Ubuntu. 

How was the initial setup?

I have the solution in Red Hat Linux. It's easy if you understand what to do. You do have to have some level of knowledge, however. It's not for non-technical users. 

I've had it deployed on-premise and on the cloud. 

What was our ROI?

We have witnessed a strong ROI. It manages our web applications very well. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I'm not well-versed in licensing. It's almost free. The cost is very, very low. 

What other advice do I have?

I started with version seven, and now I'm on version eight. 

Now that the licensing has changed, I'd advise potential users to be aware of this.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. The stability and security are good. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Ayman Allam - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps and Automation Lead | Technical Expert at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Easy to use with good performance and a robust community
Pros and Cons
  • "The community and knowledge base are very robust."
  • "The support could be a bit better."

What is our primary use case?

I primarily use the solution for personal and testing purposes. It's used as an operating system. 

What is most valuable?

The solution is easy to use. The performance is good.

The community and knowledge base are very robust.

It has a lot of great features. 

It is stable and reliable.

I have found the solution to be scalable. 

What needs improvement?

The support could be a bit better. They should be more customer friendly. They could also be a bit faster. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for many years. I've used it for almost five years at this point. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable. I'd rate it nine out of ten for reliability. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. The performance has been fine. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. I'd rate the scalability nine out of ten. 

I'm not sure how many people are using the solution in my company. 

How are customer service and support?

Support could be faster and more responsive. However, support is okay. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I'm also using Ubuntu. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. It is not complex. I deployed both on-premises and cloud options. It only takes a few hours. 

I followed the documentation for preparing the nodes and the administration. There's good documentation for configuring time zones, networks, et cetera. The steps are pretty standard. 

We had development and infrastructure teams on the solution. However, only one person can handle the deployment. I only have details on just my team and area. I'm not sure what it was like across the company. 

What about the implementation team?

I handled the implementation in-house by myself. 

What was our ROI?

I've never looked into the ROI of the solution. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I do not handle licensing. It's not in my scope of work.

What other advice do I have?

I've used the latest version of the solution. 

I would recommend the solution to others. I'd advise people to have a clear view of how they will use the solution and take care to consider how they would like to scale. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
SulaimanMustapha - PeerSpot reviewer
CRS at Kneedrag
Real User
A scalable, stable test and development solution that would benefit from notification features for upgrade deployment
Pros and Cons
  • "The latest version of this solution has everything built in, making it comprehensive and very easy to use."
  • "There is no notification before updates are applied to the solution, which occasionally means that new functionality isn't compatible with how the product is currently being used, and causes issues."

What is our primary use case?

This solution is mainly used for testing and development purposes.

What is most valuable?

The latest version of this solution has everything built in, making it comprehensive and very easy to use.

What needs improvement?

There is no notification before updates are applied to the solution, which occasionally means that new functionality isn't compatible with how the product is currently being used, and causes issues.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with this solution for around 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have found this solution to be stable during my time using it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is very scalable, you simply add a node and expand a cluster so that you can scale out on your containerization.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup for this solution is straightforward and very self-intuitive.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs involved.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
MohammedThousif Ansari - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead at Tata Communications Ltd
Real User
Allows you to securely store data, and command prompts make it simple to use
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the command prompt of CentOS. It's very simple."
  • "I would like the integration to be more secure."

What is our primary use case?

CentOS is one of the standard platforms we use to perform jobs.

There was a team of 15 people who were using this solution.

What is most valuable?

In Microsoft Windows, we store the data in a graphical way, but in CentOS we can store the data based on the command. That is the specialty of CentOS.  In Windows, you can store the data in folders, and anyone can still see that data. In CentOS, it's more secure.

I like the command prompt of CentOS. It's very simple. You can share your files based on command prompt.

What needs improvement?

I would like the integration to be more secure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's very scalable. It's open-source.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We're also using Solaris. We're mostly using these for database storage to fix details and manage the organization data.

How was the initial setup?

Installation is simple. It doesn't take much time. It's just a simple operating system.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is very good.

Once you buy the license, Linux will provide you with yearly or monthly patches, so your systems will be scalable for a long time. You can decide whether or not you want to install a patch. They're giving patches instead of going for automatic updates because some of the services will not work.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 10 out of 10.

I would recommend this solution 100% for someone who is working in IT.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Senior Unix System Administrator at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Easy to install and manage
Pros and Cons
  • "It's easy to install."
  • "Updates are going to a streaming version."

What is our primary use case?

We have very varied, different uses. Mostly it's an appliance for applications.

How has it helped my organization?

It's required for some of the applications we have. In order to run those applications, we have to have CentOS.

What is most valuable?

It's easy to install.

What needs improvement?

They're changing how they're working, and I really enjoy the easy updates. Now they're going to a streaming version, which I don't like. We want to control the updates manually. We have an application that we don't want to be updated without our knowledge.

If you want to do something special on install, you can. But when they have 68 questions about how you want to install, you answer each one of them. A very simple, default install would be nice.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using CentOS for more than 12 months.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is extremely scalable. We have about 200 people using it at this point, mostly engineers or database guys.

We'll probably have a minor increase in usage, but not a huge increase in how many nodes we'll have.

How are customer service and support?

CentOS has no technical support. You just look it up if you have a problem.

Red Hat is the paid version of Linux. They take out all the Red Hat stuff and make CentOS Linux with no support. But a lot of people use it, and a lot of people post. So if you have a problem, you just look online and it's fine.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I did use Red Hat a long time ago, and I switched because they couldn't seem to decide how they wanted to charge for their service. I was perfectly happy to just pay them, but it would range by huge amounts. I couldn't maintain that.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is in between straightforward and complex. It could be easier. There are too many options, and I'd like a lot less.

What about the implementation team?

Deployment takes a half-hour, and we did it in-house. One person, myself, takes care of deployment and maintenance.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There are zero licensing costs for the solution. 

There are admin costs. We run it on VMware, so there has to be VMware cost.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

There were a few other options, but CentOS is heavily used and that helps.

What other advice do I have?

Just be aware of the changes they're about to make, which is from the regular updates to streaming. That's major.

I would rate the solution nine out of ten. It's easy to install, it's easy to manage, it's free.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free CentOS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free CentOS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.