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CentOS vs Docker on Ubuntu comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 9, 2025

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
3.2
Docker on Ubuntu boosts productivity by reducing setup time and errors, enhancing application deployment and overall efficiency.
I have seen a return on investment, particularly in terms of money saved because I do not pay for the servers.
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.
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.
Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
The main return is time-saving, as it provides less setup time, fewer errors, and improved developer productivity.
DevOps at Chill Flow
You need some type of operating system and a container engine, and these two are best in class.
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
There is a pipeline for it, and the time saving occurs because whenever a developer pushes anything, that goes into the Docker container and builds it.
Senior DevOps engineer at Elevenxcapital
 

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
6.1
Docker on Ubuntu features strong documentation and community support, reducing the need for direct customer service engagement.
I would rate the customer support for CentOS a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.
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.
Presales Engineer at Crayon AS
I would rate the documentation about eight in terms of usefulness.
Technical Operations Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
The customer service for Docker on Ubuntu and their technical support are pretty good, especially since the documentation is pretty robust.
Founder at Asynka
Amazon's customer support is brilliant, with very quick response times.
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The documentation is good, especially when using AI tools that utilize Docker's information for support.
Chief Technology Officer at ML Cloud LLC
 

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
5.6
Docker on Ubuntu provides scalability and integration for organizations but may require Kubernetes for complex applications, influencing scalability.
CentOS is scalable and user-friendly without requiring complex configurations.
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.
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.
Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
In some cases, Docker on Ubuntu is not enough for all the complexity of the applications, and I have to go to the next level with Kubernetes.
Founder at Asynka
Ubuntu is very stable as an operating system, and Docker scales well when used properly across projects and environments.
DevOps at Chill Flow
Using Docker on Ubuntu together is a common configuration, and you can deploy it directly on server hardware using virtual machines or in the cloud, scaling however you wish.
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

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
7.8
Docker on Ubuntu is described as stable and reliable, with seamless integration and minimal stability or security issues.
CentOS is stable, reliable, flexible, and very useful.
IT infrastructure executive at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
CentOS's simplicity and stability make it easy to use.
Presales Engineer at Crayon AS
I believe CentOS is stable, but we are gradually moving away from it.
Technical Operations Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Docker on Ubuntu is very stable.
Software Engineer at Bounteous
Docker is continually optimized by the Docker company, and Ubuntu is also continually optimized.
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Docker on Ubuntu is very much stable; it is one of the most stable solutions that you can find.
Senior DevOps engineer at Elevenxcapital
 

Room For Improvement

CentOS users seek better security, user-friendliness, third-party integration, frequent updates, and stability, as it shifts from a stable platform.
Docker on Ubuntu needs UI improvements, simpler networking, better documentation, and cost-effective solutions for enhanced user experience.
The documentation and support could be improved, along with compatibility with newer hardware as hardware continually evolves over time.
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.
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.
Technical person at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Code sharing ability exists in GitHub and other tools, but in Docker on Ubuntu, other users we are sharing with do not have options like edit and update the code.
Software Engineer at Bounteous
While Docker itself has no cost, the Docker repository and Docker Hub could improve their pricing, especially for startup companies.
Chief Technology Officer at ML Cloud LLC
It is completely complex to understand the networking in Docker on Ubuntu and Kubernetes clusters, as well as the ephemeral nature of the network and storage.
Founder at Asynka
 

Setup Cost

CentOS is a cost-effective, open-source operating system favored for its free availability and minimal setup costs.
There was no cost in terms of deploying it or getting the license for it.
Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
CentOS is a free product with free updates.
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.
Presales Engineer at Crayon AS
I find the pricing for Docker on Ubuntu is not expensive because basically, it is zero.
Founder at Asynka
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Docker on Ubuntu is that it was free to use.
Automations Engineer at Ad Up
I do not have a problem with the pricing for Docker on Ubuntu because I do not pay for that; my boss does.
DevOps at Chill Flow
 

Valuable Features

CentOS is a stable, secure, and cost-effective platform with excellent compatibility, ideal for enterprises seeking reliability and performance.
Docker on Ubuntu enhances development with containerization, portability, and strong support, offering reliable and scalable infrastructure solutions.
CentOS has helped me most through its enterprise-level stability.
Technical person at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The update cycle changed when CentOS was prioritized for updates, causing stability issues.
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.
Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Docker is the heart of many AI tools that are used, and I have an AI workstation that uses Docker to package up certain capabilities for AI engineering.
Chief Technology Officer at ML Cloud LLC
The best features that Docker on Ubuntu offers are container isolation, fast startup time, portability, and strong integration with the Ubuntu Linux ecosystem, making it easy to package applications with their dependencies and run them consistently across systems.
Embedded Linux / BSP Engineer at Veethree
Docker on Ubuntu has positively impacted my workflow primarily through low infrastructure cost, better cloud compatibility, and faster DevOps workflows.
Software Developer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

CentOS
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Docker on Ubuntu
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
15th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Mohammad Wasif - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
reviewer2795433 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Built a reliable cloud foundation that has supported flexible web applications and smooth scaling
Docker on Ubuntu can be improved because Ubuntu is not minimalist at all; it comes with a lot of software by default. This has led some individuals, including myself, to try using Alpine, which is more lightweight, allowing the container to run on a more lightweight operating system that potentially uses fewer resources and reduces costs. If Ubuntu were a little more minimalist, that would be good, but it's not really aiming for that since it intends to be the baseline. Also, Ubuntu moves very fast, possibly faster than other operating systems like Debian, which could demand operational heavy upgrades to major versions every couple of years if there are many applications running.
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Comparison Review

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
45%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
 

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...
What do you like most about CentOS?
CentOS is very easy to use, and all the commands are user-friendly.
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.
What needs improvement with Docker on Ubuntu?
Docker has already integrated AI models into their platform and has covered most of the necessary features. They continuously release new versions of Docker. While Docker itself has no cost, the Do...
What is your primary use case for Docker on Ubuntu?
I develop on-premise but then deliver to AWS and in the cloud in EC2 instances. All development and technical development is done on Linux rather than Windows. The production deployment into AWS is...
What advice do you have for others considering Docker on Ubuntu?
I work with Linux, but not that particular module, mainly in EC2 instances. I use Ubuntu Linux out of the box and do not use Red Hat, especially at the enterprise level. It is convenient and easy s...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

CentOS 7 (x86_64) - with Updates HVM
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about CentOS vs. Docker on Ubuntu and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.