CentOS vs Debian comparison

CentOS and Debian are both solutions in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category. CentOS is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.8, while Debian is ranked #14 with an average rating of 9.0. CentOS holds a 4.4% mindshare in OSB, compared to Debian’s 5.5% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of CentOS users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Debian users who would recommend it.

CentOS

Read 77 CentOS reviews

5,601 Views
5,545 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Debian

Read 11 Debian reviews

3,059 Views
2,937 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

CentOS

Debian

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 14, 2025

CentOS and Debian are competing in the open-source server operating system market. Based on data comparisons, Debian has the upper hand in flexibility and package management, while CentOS is favored for security and enterprise reliability.

Features: CentOS is renowned for its enterprise-grade reliability, robust security, and long-term support, making it ideal for stability-focused environments. Debian offers a vast repository and flexibility, permitting extensive customization and integrating cutting-edge software, suitable for dynamic development scenarios.

Room for Improvement: CentOS could benefit from enhanced flexibility and a broader software repository to be more appealing to developers seeking cutting-edge features. It may also improve its community support structure to encourage user-driven enhancements. Debian could enhance its enterprise-level support and improve stability in long-term deployments. Consolidating its documentation to streamline user experiences and help resolve issues swiftly would also be beneficial.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: CentOS offers streamlined deployment with a focus on stable, secure environments and numerous commercial support options. Debian emphasizes installation ease and configuration flexibility, supported by an active community that surpasses enterprise-level support for CentOS, making it easy for newcomers to adapt.

Pricing and ROI: CentOS, being open-source, offers minimal setup costs and enhances ROI through its stability and security in enterprise settings. Debian provides zero-cost licensing and high ROI potential through adaptability and lower hardware requirements. CentOS is often chosen where robust support frameworks are mandatory, whereas Debian appeals to scenarios where cost efficiency and software flexibility are prioritized.

To learn more, read our detailed CentOS vs. Debian Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

CentOS vs. Debian

December 2025

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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

5.8

CentOS offers cost savings, operational stability, and efficiency, enhancing web management with strong community and AI support.

Sentiment score

6.4

Debian users saved on costs and resources, achieving up to 60% reduction through efficient operations and older hardware use.

I have seen a return on investment, particularly in terms of money saved because I do not pay for the servers.

reviewer2778354

Technical Lead InfraOps at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

The money saved was significant, approximately fifteen percent of our IT budget.

Thiago Pallaro

Senior Support Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

It saved a lot of time through troubleshooting, which gives us substantial room for improvement in terms of fixing things.

reviewer2764785

Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the CentOS report

There were direct cost savings since Debian has no licensing fees, and we did not require paid support, so it saved us considerable money.

Badal Shrivastav

Embedded Linux / BSP Engineer at Veethree

We were able to save a substantial amount by using Linux instead of Windows and spending a lot of money on Windows licenses.

reviewer2774055

Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

I have seen a return on investment; specifically, the cost is around zero because there is no need for a license, and since my whole team uses Debian, we are fine with the number of employees needed.

Sabry Tarek

DevOps Technology Lead at TriStratus Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the Debian report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

5.6

CentOS support relies on community resources and documentation, with Red Hat as a paid alternative for formal assistance.

Sentiment score

6.5

Debian users prefer community resources for support due to their efficiency and reliability, enhancing overall user satisfaction.

I would rate the customer support for CentOS a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.

reviewer2764785

Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

I've seen many people across the globe interacting, and when users encounter issues, the community provides solutions.

Naveenkumar Lakshman

Presales Engineer at Crayon AS

I would rate the documentation about eight in terms of usefulness.

Alex Kvasnytskyy

Technical Operations Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the CentOS report

We rely on community resources for support, such as documentation, forums, and asking questions online.

reviewer2774055

Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Whenever I had a query, I used Google to search for it and found very helpful information from public platforms.

reviewer2774466

Cloud Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

While it does not have traditional paid customer support like some commercial distributions, the Debian community and documentation are very strong.

Badal Shrivastav

Embedded Linux / BSP Engineer at Veethree

For more quotes and insights, download the Debian report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.0

CentOS is praised for its scalability, handling large user bases effectively and reliably across diverse IT environments.

Sentiment score

6.8

Debian offers excellent scalability and reliability, making it a preferred choice for diverse environments and high-traffic hosting needs.

CentOS is scalable and user-friendly without requiring complex configurations.

Naveenkumar Lakshman

Presales Engineer at Crayon AS

It allows users to scale resources vertically for upgrading hardware and horizontally by adding more servers, making it suitable for modern web hosting and containerized applications.

Mohammad Wasif

IT infrastructure executive at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

CentOS's scalability for my organization has handled growth and changing needs smoothly.

reviewer2764785

Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the CentOS report

We don't spin up new Debian instances arbitrarily.

reviewer2774055

Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

As the growth of our infrastructure is required, we can host many Debian servers.

reviewer2774466

Cloud Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

We decided to use Debian because we needed a more stable and predictable base, especially for long-running systems where frequent changes or upgrades could cause issues.

Badal Shrivastav

Embedded Linux / BSP Engineer at Veethree

For more quotes and insights, download the Debian report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.0

CentOS is widely regarded as stable and reliable, often rated highly for its consistent performance and efficiency.

Sentiment score

8.4

Debian is praised for stability and reliability, though slow on adopting new tech, excelling in long-term system performance.

CentOS is stable, reliable, flexible, and very useful.

Mohammad Wasif

IT infrastructure executive at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

CentOS's simplicity and stability make it easy to use.

Naveenkumar Lakshman

Presales Engineer at Crayon AS

I believe CentOS is stable, but we are gradually moving away from it.

Alex Kvasnytskyy

Technical Operations Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the CentOS report

I rate Debian an eight out of ten because it excels in stability, reliability, and package management, which are very important for long-running production systems.

Badal Shrivastav

Embedded Linux / BSP Engineer at Veethree

That long-term support has helped me and my customers by being stable and running well.

reviewer2797047

Embedded Developer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

In my experience, Debian is very stable.

reviewer2774055

Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Debian report

Room For Improvement

CentOS users seek better security, user-friendliness, third-party integration, frequent updates, and stability, as it shifts from a stable platform.

Debian users request improved updates, software access, UI, security, and hardware support, with better cloud and container integration.

The documentation and support could be improved, along with compatibility with newer hardware as hardware continually evolves over time.

Naveenkumar Lakshman

Presales Engineer at Crayon AS

Kernel parameters, sysctl config details, tuned profiles, process prioritization, optimized disk, and input scheduler choice are all points for performance optimization.

Mohammad Wasif

IT infrastructure executive at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

CentOS RADIUS server handles sensitive authentication data, so improving security is the priority.

R Kirishikaran

Technical person at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the CentOS report

I believe security on Debian is top-notch due to its long history and the many individuals and organizations that rely on it, meaning there are many eyes on it.

reviewer2774178

Founder at a media company with 1-10 employees

If Debian had a memory-based distribution, similar to Alpine, that would be great, as we could get benefits in terms of memory or embedded systems.

Sabry Tarek

DevOps Technology Lead at TriStratus Ltd

Debian was easy to set up.

reviewer2774466

Cloud Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Debian report

Setup Cost

CentOS is a cost-effective, open-source operating system favored for its free availability and minimal setup costs.

Debian is favored by enterprise users for cost-effectiveness, offering free licensing and reduced setup costs compared to competitors.

There was no cost in terms of deploying it or getting the license for it.

reviewer2764785

Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

CentOS is a free product with free updates.

Alex Kvasnytskyy

Technical Operations Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees

The enterprise subscription cost is at a certain level, but CentOS saves customers from paying additional money, optimizing costs for enterprises and startups involved in application development.

Naveenkumar Lakshman

Presales Engineer at Crayon AS

For more quotes and insights, download the CentOS report

My experience with Debian's pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been that it is all free.

reviewer2796165

IT Support Manager at a educational organization with 5,001-10,000 employees

As long as I remain within the limit of that credit, I can create machines as much as I want without exceeding the monthly limit.

reviewer2774055

Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is quite favorable; since Debian is totally free, it is one of my first options.

Sabry Tarek

DevOps Technology Lead at TriStratus Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the Debian report

Valuable Features

CentOS is a stable, secure, and cost-effective platform with excellent compatibility, ideal for enterprises seeking reliability and performance.

Debian's compatibility, stability, and robust community support make it ideal for efficient, reliable development and deployment across diverse hardware.

CentOS has helped me most through its enterprise-level stability.

R Kirishikaran

Technical person at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

The update cycle changed when CentOS was prioritized for updates, causing stability issues.

Alex Kvasnytskyy

Technical Operations Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees

In my experience, the best feature that CentOS offers is the network configuration of a device from the command-line interface, which is exceptionally clean.

reviewer2764785

Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the CentOS report

Debian's stability helps me in my daily work because my work relies on stability; I'm trying to deploy production workloads, and Debian offers that stability for me.

Sabry Tarek

DevOps Technology Lead at TriStratus Ltd

Debian has kept my workflow secure by maintaining system stability with day-to-day or monthly updates with security patches, securing the system from external attacks.

reviewer2774466

Cloud Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Debian has positively impacted my organization primarily in cost-efficiency, with on-premises hardware running faster and cheaper.

reviewer2796165

IT Support Manager at a educational organization with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Debian report

Categories and Ranking

CentOS

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

7th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Debian

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

14th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of CentOS is 4.4%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Debian is 5.5%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Operating Systems (OS) for Business Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
CentOS	4.4%
Debian	5.5%
Other	90.1%

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

Featured Reviews

Mohammad Wasif

IT infrastructure executive at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

Has supported reliable deployments and simplified issue resolution in complex environments

The most suitable feature of CentOS is its exceptional stability, security, and long-term support, which make it a popular choice for enterprise and server environments. CentOS is widely recognized for providing a stable and secure platform, especially suited for server and mission-critical workloads. Whenever we face critical work, it is easy for our team to handle. For long-term support, each CentOS release generally guarantees long-term updates, ensuring reliability for extended periods. For package management, we use YUM and DNF in the new version for flexible and efficient software management. It depends on our users' requirements for installing CentOS. Licensing for CentOS is above my management details, so I am not aware of this information. CentOS always provides good feedback, is easy to handle, and easy to troubleshoot. The experience with CentOS OS has been very good over the last two months. I rate CentOS nine out of ten.

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Badal Shrivastav

Embedded Linux / BSP Engineer at Veethree

Reliable platform has supported long-term on-prem deployments and predictable OTA updates

If I consider how Debian can be improved, it could be more accessible in making newer software versions available for users who need recent features while still maintaining default stable behavior. While backports help, the workflow could be streamlined. The release cycle can feel slow for rapidly evolving tools, and better guidance around mixing stable, backports, and testing would help. Regarding hardware support, Debian can be improved by supporting multiple BSPs, making it more versatile in the embedded domain. Hardware support for new devices can sometimes lag behind, which is understandable given Debian's focus on stability. Clearer guidance on handling newer hardware or firmware would be beneficial.

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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…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

17%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	30
Midsize Enterprise	22
Large Enterprise	28

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	4

Questions from the Community

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...

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What do you like most about CentOS?

CentOS is very easy to use, and all the commands are user-friendly.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CentOS?

I am not entirely sure about the license I purchased for my local machine, but I assume it is the community version, while for the AWS one, I do not entirely remember the pricing.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Debian?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing seems acceptable. We have also used Ubuntu. Comparing to Ubuntu, Debian is cheaper.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Debian?

In terms of improvements, I think Debian is fine as it is. I'm not an expert, so for me, it is acceptable.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Debian?

I have been using Debian for a while now. My main use case for Debian is running PostgreSQL and related infrastructure. A specific example of an application I'm running on Debian is PostgreSQL.

See all answers

Comparisons

Oracle Linux vs CentOS

Compared 21% of the time

Kali Linux vs CentOS

Compared 17% of the time

Ubuntu Linux vs CentOS

Compared 10% of the time

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs CentOS

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle Solaris vs CentOS

Compared 3% of the time

More CentOS Competitors

Rocky Linux vs Debian

Compared 42% of the time

openSUSE Leap vs Debian

Compared 11% of the time

Alpine Linux vs Debian

Compared 8% of the time

AlmaLinux vs Debian

Compared 6% of the time

Oracle Linux vs Debian

Compared 2% of the time

More Debian Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

CentOS

January 2026

Download CentOS product report

Buyer's Guide

Debian

January 2026

Download Debian product report

Also Known As

CentOS 7 (x86_64) - with Updates HVM

Debian 12

Overview

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.

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?

Stability: Maintains a consistent performance, essential for mission-critical environments.
Security: Offers robust safeguards, aligning with Red Hat's trusted security packages.
Compatibility: Seamlessly integrates with Red Hat ecosystems, enhancing versatility.
Cost Efficiency: Open-source approach reduces expenses compared to proprietary systems.
Community Support: Access to extensive resources and assistance from a dedicated user base.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Performance: Efficient resource management even under heavy workloads.
Integration Ease: Smooth integration with existing IT infrastructures.
Scalability: Ability to grow with changing requirements, supporting diverse applications.
Flexibility: Adaptable to a wide range of industries and use cases.
Reliability: Trusted for critical operations and consistent service delivery.

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

Debian is a reliable open-source operating system ideal for servers and desktops. With its wide array of packages and stable releases, it suits developers and organizations seeking dependable performance and security.

Debian stands out for its stability and extensive package repository, making it a go-to choice for developers. Its open-source nature ensures transparency and flexibility. Debian's package management system, APT, simplifies software installation and updates. Its security updates are regular and prompt, ensuring systems are protected. With support for multiple architectures, Debian caters to various environments from desktops to large-scale servers.

What are the key features of Debian?

Package Management: APT tool for efficient software installation and updates.
Security: Regular security updates maintain robust protection.
Open Source: Community-driven with transparency and flexibility.
Architecture Support: Compatibility with diverse hardware systems.
Stability: Reliable performance across server and desktop configurations.

What benefits and ROI should be considered in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Free distribution reduces expenses.
Performance: Stable and reliable for demanding applications.
Customizability: Open-source nature allows tailored solutions.
Community Support: Extensive community for troubleshooting and advice.

Debian is widely used in industries such as web hosting, scientific research, and education, where reliability and long-term support are priorities. Its flexibility allows it to be adapted for specialized applications in scientific computing or educational environments, ensuring it meets industry-specific technical requirements.

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