Amazon Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Red Hat are both solutions in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #16 with an average rating of 9.0, while Red Hat is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

Amazon Linux

Read 3 Amazon Linux reviews

238 Views
69 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...

Read 337 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) reviews

22,455 Views
22,230 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Amazon Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Amazon Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Operating Systems (OS) for Business solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

August 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 865,384 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Amazon Linux

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

16th

Average Rating

9.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

337

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Henry Rivera

Solutions Architect at 3t Solutions

Reliable documentation and support streamline deployment and troubleshooting

The best features with Amazon Linux include the integration with AWS and other services. It is an operating system that AWS manages, and I feel I can trust it regarding the updates without interfering with or interrupting services. The performance of Amazon Linux with AWS services is perfectly fine. I use it and change the instance type to give it more resources at times, and for the sandbox, I give it less, and it satisfies what we want. Amazon Linux reduces the time it would take for setup or deployment because I rely on the documentation for AWS since it's streamlined, and the commands I need to run are easily accessible whenever I need to look up anything. We've used the application load balancers with Amazon Linux, and that's the main one I can think of regarding advanced networking capabilities. That feature has definitely helped us enhance the scalability and reliability of our cloud applications by easing administration, as the application load balancer is managed by AWS and ties in with Amazon Certificate Manager, ensuring I do not have to concern myself with scalability and any updates. The main positive impact of Amazon Linux on my company has been no interruptions of services. The public website is up and running, which allows us to monetize with virtually no staff hours for downtime or service interruptions.

Read full review

Bruce Lundberg

Linux HPC Systems Administrator at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Reliable patch management, high uptime, and incredible knowledge base

In terms of security, it does a lot of things that most people still turn off. SELinux is turned on by default. They have pretty good firewall rules in their defaults. The audit rules always take tweaking, but, overall, it comes out of the box not too bad. I used to write scripts to harden them from there. There are multiple ways to provision and patch. You have everything from local repositories to doing it by hand. Their knowledge base is incredible. There is so much information out there. It has never taken me longer than 30 minutes to find an answer to anything, even very tough ones. One company I worked for was a security company, and we did a lot of patching on everything. It was designed around security and email hosting, and uptime was pretty much whatever we wanted it to be. I have had a couple of times when the uptime was bad, but it was caused by a third-party solution. In fact, the Norton antivirus was definitely the worst. Red Hat had nothing to do with it.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Whenever I deploy solutions on Amazon Linux, I almost never have to worry about the operating system."

"For us, its security, management, stability, and hardening are most valuable."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped to mitigate downtime and lower risk in our environment; I've only been integrated with it for the last two years and we haven't seen any specific issues caused by Red Hat or Linux itself relating to downtime."

"The solution's most valuable feature revolves around its simplicity, especially when maintaining it, which is an easy process."

"Resiliency-wise, the solution is very good."

"The customer service and technical support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been wonderful so far."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a strong foundation for compliance and offers extended support, which is particularly valuable for critical upgrades and assistance."

"It is compatible with most Java microservices applications."

"We're very happy with the amount of security customization we've been able to do with RHEL. The fact that Red Hat is really on top of security issues is also valuable. We get daily emails from Red Hat letting us know of possible issues and fixes, which is incredibly helpful for us."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) pros

Cons

"I have honestly never had any problems with Amazon Linux, aside from disk space issues."

"Although the price is reasonable, there is room for improvement in order to stand out from other open-source solutions."

"I don't like the UI changes that come with different versions."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be improved by making it lighter. By making it lighter, there should be versions for specific cases, for customers or images."

"The solution can be improved, especially for user-provided solutions; they could be vetted more thoroughly by Red Hat."

"The support can be better."

"I'm interested in seeing some of the image incorporation with RHEL 10, as that might improve some of our upgrades and help in moving to the newer versions."

"I would like to see a better way to organize the jobs within Ansible, specifically with the automation platform."

"My number one request for improvement would be better Kickstart functionality, as I feel the Kickstart notation is outdated and it's not programmatic, so that would be my focus point, based on what I do."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"We purchased the Red Hat Enterprise Linux license via Azure and the vendor."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers a compelling value proposition for corporations due to its robust support infrastructure, which is essential for maintaining enterprise-level systems."

"The pricing is great for virtual systems."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux licensing is quite costly, but I personally do not deal with pricing."

"The pricing is suitable for midsize to large companies, though small enterprises might struggle. It is comparable to Windows licensing."

"I am not involved in the pricing, but it is not very expensive."

"The cost of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is reasonable."

"The price for Red Hat Enterprise Linux is reasonable."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Operating Systems (OS) for Business solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user281973

Storage and VMware Expert at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

Aug 24, 2017

It's improved our company's system environments that run Oracle databases.

Red Hat is mission critical to our environment Red Hat has improved the mission critical environments running Oracle databases, while CentOS has improved our web environment and MySQL. Oracle and SAP Environment and all HPC environments. 10 years No issues Very stable i don´t find any problem…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Amazon Linux?

In my opinion, for improvement, Amazon Linux could make better integration with third-party vendors, perhaps enhance user experience or lower the price compared to other Linux solutions. For the fu...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Amazon Linux?

My use case for Amazon Linux is mostly for running containers. I am using SELinux for enhanced security in Amazon Linux, and it is helpful for me.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Linux?

I am not using IPv6 and I'm okay with that. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Amazon Linux an eight.

See all answers

Which would you choose - RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) or CentOS?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is fantastic. It is an inexpensive solution that has excellent security, performance, and stability, and also lots of features. I specifically like that the solution has fe...

See all answers

What do you like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?

It is open source. We can customize it as per our requirements.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?

My experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been largely positive, though there was a significant shift in their pricing structure last year. That change caused considerable discussion a...

See all answers

Comparisons

Debian vs Amazon Linux

Compared 100% of the time

More Amazon Linux Competitors

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 20% of the time

Windows Server vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 14% of the time

Rocky Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 13% of the time

Oracle Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 9% of the time

Ubuntu Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 9% of the time

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

July 2025

Download Amazon Linux product report

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

August 2025

Download Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) product report

Also Known As

No data available

Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL

Overview

Amazon Linux is a secure, stable, and high-performance distribution optimized for Amazon EC2, providing a reliable execution environment for cloud applications. It is designed for users who need an OS that seamlessly integrates with AWS infrastructure.

Amazon Linux provides a powerful, efficient, and updated environment tailored for AWS users. It's based on the CentOS and Fedora lineage, ensuring compatibility and performance. With regular updates and security patches, it offers a stable platform to run various cloud-based applications. Its cost-effective nature and scalability make it a popular choice for organizations aiming to leverage AWS services effectively.

What are the key features of Amazon Linux?

Optimized for EC2: Integration with AWS services enhances performance and efficiency.
Security: Regular security patches ensure data protection.
Package Repository: Access to a rich repository of software packages.
Support for Latest Tools: Easily install and use the latest AWS tools and SDKs.

What benefits can users find in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Usage-based pricing reduces overall costs.
Scalability: Easily scalable to meet growing business demands.
Seamless AWS Integration: Direct integration simplifies management and deployment.
Reliability: Stable environment guarantees consistent application performance.

Amazon Linux is widely used in industries such as finance, healthcare, and technology where reliability and security are paramount. Its integration with AWS services allows companies in these sectors to develop and deploy applications rapidly, ensuring compliance and operational efficiency. The ability to easily scale and adapt to specific industry demands makes it a strategic choice for many businesses.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is recognized for its stability, security, and performance, serving diverse industries with its robust support and seamless cloud deployment capabilities.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides comprehensive server applications across cloud environments, featuring tools like Ansible for enhanced user experience. It integrates OpenShift, Identity Management, and automation, supported by extensive documentation. Users seek easier upgrades, enhanced network virtualization support, and improved live patching.

What are the key features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Stability and Security: RHEL is designed to provide a stable and secure environment, backed by consistent updates.
Cloud Deployment: Easily deployable across cloud platforms, enhancing flexibility.
Integration with Ansible: Enhances operational efficiency with powerful automation tools.
OpenShift and Containerization: Supports modern app development with integrated OpenShift features.
Extensive Documentation: Offers comprehensive resources for users to troubleshoot and optimize.

What are the benefits of using Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Reliable Support: Benefit from extensive support options for seamless operation.
Enhanced Security: Built-in features ensure data integrity and protection.
Increased Flexibility: Suitable for diverse deployment environments, including on-premises and cloud.
Operational Efficiency: Tools like automation and cloud navigation improve productivity.
Training and Resources: Access to comprehensive training contributes to smoother implementations.

In sectors like finance, telecommunications, and education, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is crucial for running stable, secure systems. Its application spans web servers, data management, and containerization through tools like Kubernetes. Organizations adopt it for on-premises, virtualized, and cloud environments, ensuring robust infrastructure management.

Red Hat

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Travel Channel, Mohawk Industries, Hilti, Molecular Health, Exolgan, Hotelplan Group, Emory University, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, HCA Healthcare, Paychex, UPS, Intermountain Healthcare, Brinker International, TransUnion, Union Bank, CA Technologies

Buyer's Guide

Amazon Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

August 2025

Free Report: Amazon Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Amazon Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) report.

See our list of best Operating Systems (OS) for Business vendors.

We monitor all Operating Systems (OS) for Business reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.