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Amazon Linux vs Docker on CentOS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
4.9
Amazon Linux offers cost savings, efficiency, and scalability through zero licensing fees, seamless AWS integration, and ARM optimization.
Sentiment score
4.3
Organizations achieve cost and time savings with Docker on CentOS, enhancing performance, consistency, and automation stability.
With Amazon Linux, selecting and launching instances on a public cloud provider means the machine spins up in fewer than ten seconds, making it efficient.
Cloud Solution Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
By switching the compute fleet from a paid distribution to Amazon Linux, we have reduced our OS-related overhead cost by 100%.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Some wins commonly seen after switching, particularly when moving from general-purpose distributions such as Ubuntu, include approximately twenty to forty percent better price-performance ratio.
configuration and management deployment at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Previously, it took us about a week to deploy, but now we can deploy our entire app in one or two days.
Senior Engineer at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
We saw improvements such as less troubleshooting time, faster onboarding, more stable automation, better parallel execution, and cleaner CI/CD execution logs.
Senior Technical Lead QA at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
I could say it is maybe forty percent compared to before using Docker.
Network &Security Engineer at Natioanal Drug Authority Uganda
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
Amazon Linux support is highly rated for fast responses, knowledgeable engineers, and excellent problem-solving, ensuring user satisfaction.
Sentiment score
4.6
Docker on CentOS benefits from extensive documentation and community support, often eliminating the need for direct customer service.
Amazon has the best expertise and they are available 24/7.
IT Analyst | Aws Cloud Ops | Dev Ops | Fin Ops at Tata Consultancy
Timely and helpful responses for performance, updates, or AWS integration issues.
QA Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It offers specific advantages and constraints depending on the use case.
Cloud Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
We purchase the software and product from them, so when I have an issue with Red Hat or Docker on CentOS or Kubernetes, I create a ticket with the partner who works directly with the respective teams.
Solution engineer at Vijatech
Most things can be easily found as resources online to help resolve those issues.
Network &Security Engineer at Natioanal Drug Authority Uganda
The customer support for Docker on CentOS is excellent, as there are very good community forums.
Senior Engineer at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Amazon Linux boasts high scalability, seamless AWS integration, and consistent reliability for efficient vertical and horizontal scaling across regions.
Sentiment score
5.2
Docker on CentOS enables efficient container management, easy scaling, and seamless integration, making it ideal for various business environments.
Since it is tightly integrated with AWS services, I can easily scale instances up or down based on demand using EC2 auto-scaling and load balancing.
Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems
Its real scalability comes from its seamless integration with AWS tools like CloudFormation, Auto Scaling, and user data scripts, which allow me to deploy and configure hundreds of identical ready-to-use instances automatically.
Student at Unemployed at the moment
The beauty here is that we can scale it immediately, which also saves cost.
IT Analyst | Aws Cloud Ops | Dev Ops | Fin Ops at Tata Consultancy
if we need more resources, we can just spin up a new Docker image, so scalability is good.
Cloud Operations Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
If you have good hardware, you can scale Docker on CentOS as required.
Devops Engineer at EDAG
When we talk about scalability, it is not infinite, but for the types of projects we do, I think it is quite scalable.
Chief Technology Officer at iFoxCode
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Amazon Linux ensures reliability and security with stable performance, seamless updates, and AWS integration, ideal for high-availability architectures.
Sentiment score
7.8
Docker on CentOS is stable and efficient but faces concerns about CentOS lifecycle and version transition challenges.
Combined with AWS managed infrastructure, it provides enterprise-grade reliability suitable for production workloads.
Software Engineer at INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING
Since it is purpose-built for the cloud, it lacks the bloat of traditional desktop-focused distributions, which leads to fewer crashes and higher uptime.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Compared to other Linux distributions, Amazon Linux is significantly more stable for AWS workloads because it is pre-optimized for EC2 hypervisor and includes integrated AWS tools out of the box.
FullStack Developer at EnactOn Technologies
Docker on CentOS is not stable anymore because it is not actively being maintained.
Cloud Ops Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I experienced no conflicts during updates, maintaining the 140 TPS targets effectively.
Senior Software Engineeer at Charter Communications
Docker on CentOS is quite stable.
Solution engineer at Vijatech
 

Room For Improvement

Migrating to Amazon Linux 2023 faces challenges with package availability, unclear documentation, lacking third-party support, and integration issues.
Docker on CentOS requires better documentation, security, orchestration, and compatibility, while addressing networking, storage, and usability challenges.
Documentation explaining the differences between Ubuntu and Amazon Linux would be valuable.
full stack developer at 71Lbs
Since we are working in a real-time manner and need to scale things immediately, the time it takes to boot an instance and then deploy things is preventing me from giving it a perfect rating.
Senior Data Engineer at a transportation company with 501-1,000 employees
My advice for others looking into using Amazon Linux is to make sure the command line is easy and that Amazon Linux has more performance than other Linux environments and is more secure than other Linux environments as well.
DevOps Engineer at Wissen infotech
Needed improvements for Docker on CentOS include better POC, searching techniques, and leveraging AI because AI can provide insights into standard practices, compliance, user specifications, security, logging, monitoring, and isolation.
Lead DevSecOps Engineer & Founder of Spiderthings Solutions at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Docker on CentOS could benefit from images that we can create or have, for example, just a module based on Portainer or some UI interface to create the containers automatically or create some internal APIs to make it easier to configure this by Terraform.
Software Developer at Marra Moncks Informatica
A guided diagnostic tool for CentOS would be very useful, checking repositories, kernel compatibility, firewall rules, the overlay, Docker daemon status, and container resource usage.
Senior Technical Lead QA at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Amazon Linux offers cost-effective deployment with no license fees, enhancing appeal for enterprises seeking budget-friendly alternatives.
Docker on CentOS is cost-effective for enterprises, reducing infrastructure costs despite requiring knowledgeable setup personnel.
With Amazon Linux itself, there is no cost associated with using it, so I would say it is very good from a pricing perspective.
Cloud Ops Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
If I am a new AWS customer, the AWS Free Tier typically includes, for the first six months, micro instances such as t2.micro or t3.micro for free.
Software Engineer at INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING
I only pay for the EC2 instance and any other AWS resources I use, but the operating system itself has no licensing fees, which is a significant advantage over commercial operating systems like Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Windows servers, which incur extra hourly charges.
Student at Unemployed at the moment
there is no licensing cost required.
Senior DeevOps Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
There is no cost associated with either Docker or Docker on CentOS. It is completely zero cost.
Senior Cloud Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Track who needs paid subscriptions, and include cloud compute, storage, networking, image registry, and monitoring costs.
Senior Technical Lead QA at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Amazon Linux offers cost-effective, reliable performance with AWS integration, security features, and documentation for enhanced productivity and deployment efficiency.
Docker on CentOS enhances workflow with portability, resource efficiency, and seamless DevOps integration, improving operational efficiency and reducing costs.
Amazon Linux handles this automatically. It is optimized for EC2, AWS hardware and software, mostly secure and stable, and there is no additional cost.
IT Analyst | Aws Cloud Ops | Dev Ops | Fin Ops at Tata Consultancy
In terms of service security, there are many constraint security protocols and policies that help me create our own networks, security groups, and inline policies.
Software Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Amazon Linux's security updates have been helpful in general because I have had to be more specific in using the Identity Access Management (IAM) service so that we can have role-based permissions in preference to just keeping it open.
Fullstack Developer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It also ensures a consistent environment where applications will work on every machine, not just the developer's machine, and offers resource efficiency, such as no full OS per application, allowing me to share my infrastructure with multiple containers and applications.
Cloud Operations Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Docker on CentOS has positively impacted my organization by making testing easier. I do not have to install older versions of applications and then make my system or service study.
Senior DeevOps Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Docker's lightweight architecture on CentOS significantly affects my resource utilization in a beneficial way.
Cyber Security Architects at VaporVM
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
14th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Docker on CentOS
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
20th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Amazon Linux is 1.6%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Docker on CentOS is 0.4%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Amazon Linux1.6%
Docker on CentOS0.4%
Other98.0%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Saurab Gnagurde - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Analyst | Aws Cloud Ops | Dev Ops | Fin Ops at Tata Consultancy
“Amazon Linux delivers automated security updates— including live kernel patching in AL2023—ensuring protected workloads with minimal manual effort and zero-downtime patching.”
One improvement for Amazon Linux would be stronger support for running it outside AWS. Although Amazon provides local VM images for VirtualBox and VMware, they are intended mainly for development and testing. Unlike Ubuntu, Debian, or Red Hat, Amazon Linux is not designed or fully supported as a production OS in on-prem or hybrid environments. Expanding official support outside AWS would offer more flexibility for teams that maintain mixed infrastructure. Another area for improvement is the community ecosystem. Compared to Ubuntu or Red Hat, Amazon Linux has a smaller community and fewer third-party resources or tutorials. A larger ecosystem would make troubleshooting and adoption easier. Finally, improving backward compatibility between Amazon Linux 2 and Amazon Linux 2023—especially around package management (DNF vs yum) and updated toolchains—would simplify upgrades for teams managing large fleets.
VV
Senior Software Engineeer at Charter Communications
Containerization has streamlined microservices delivery and ensures consistent hybrid deployments
The capabilities of Docker on CentOS that I have found the most valuable include its use for Spring-based applications, which significantly enhance the value I derive from it. Docker on CentOS is particularly effective for building distributed applications and microservices. Deployments are smooth and easy, and the integration with Kubernetes is seamless. I have successfully managed 80-plus pods clusters, scaling from 80 to 85 with 140 TPS without encountering any issues. Docker on CentOS's lightweight nature allows for flawless development across environments such as dev, stage, and prod. From my perspective, the experience with the deployment of Docker on CentOS is quite positive, especially for the CI/CD pipeline. The architecture overview includes the use of a Git repository and GitLab CI, which facilitates the Docker build for our Spring 3.x Java applications.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
14%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
21%
Construction Company
18%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Amazon Linux?
Amazon Linux made a great change with the last version and made some features incompatible with the old version, so I did not like the new version and still prefer not to use Amazon Linux. Some opt...
What is your primary use case for Amazon Linux?
I use Amazon Linux on EC2 machines for different kinds of servers. I typically run automation scripts, deploy fast web servers, and use Docker machines for testing purposes and any other proprietar...
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Linux?
All Linux distributions have stability and security. The only advantage of Amazon Linux is the package system. I did not see any other great advantage. I prefer to use Ubuntu as my main option when...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Docker on CentOS?
The setup costs of CentOS include some versions without a cost, but I don't get the enterprise licensing for now, and I'm using the normal open-source licensing for CentOS.
What needs improvement with Docker on CentOS?
I have no additional information on how Docker on CentOS can be improved. At the moment, I have not received additional information regarding anything specific that could be improved with Docker on...
What is your primary use case for Docker on CentOS?
My main use case for Docker on CentOS is general use to run our Docker Compose. A specific example of how I use Docker on CentOS for general use is that I use Docker Compose to Kubernetes. I usuall...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Linux vs. Docker on CentOS and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.