Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

CentOS vs Flatcar Container Linux comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 3, 2025

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

CentOS
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Flatcar Container Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
27th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of CentOS is 4.5%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Flatcar Container Linux is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
CentOS4.5%
Flatcar Container Linux0.7%
Other94.8%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Mohammad Wasif - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
YD
The solution is stable and allows us to make needed changes
The development teams could sharpen their skills.  They should offer applications on the net I have eight years of experience with Flatcar Container Linux. The version of Flatcar Container Linux that I am using is stable. The scalability of this product is fine. It allows us to make the needed…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's initial setup phase is very straightforward."
"The most valuable feature is that it is compatible with RedHat."
"The pricing is good. We pay a minimal fee."
"CentOS adapts well to many software and applications, providing good compatibility."
"It's a good and stable system. It provides everything you need for web servers and database servers."
"CentOS' best feature is that it's the standard product for Linux, so it's well-supported."
"Its performance is most valuable. There is a performance boost as compared to when the applications are run on Windows OS."
"The most valuable feature of CentOS is that it is easy to use."
"Flatcar's support is good. The version I am using is stable and allows us to make needed changes."
 

Cons

"I think CentOS can be improved, but it's not really a viable option anymore."
"The main issue is the End of Support. For that reason, we will switch to another operating system."
"I would like to see more frequent updates."
"The GUI interface could always be better."
"GUI could be merged and expansion simplified."
"If CentOS could add Office features then that would be beneficial. Additionally, the UI could improve."
"It is challenging to scale the solution when we have to increase the storage capacity from one end."
"The solution’s stability could be improved."
"The development teams could sharpen their skills. They should offer applications on the net."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is free."
"It is open-source, which means it is a free product. It has a one-time deployment cost."
"There are no licensing costs for CentOS."
"There is no price or licensing required — it's open-source."
"There are no licensing fees for CentOS."
"We don’t have to pay for the system’s licenses."
"CentOS is an open-source tool."
"CentOS is cheaper compared to Windows."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Operating Systems (OS) for Business solutions are best for your needs.
872,655 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
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
15%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
24%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise26
No data available
 

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?
CentOS is a free product with free updates. There are third-party companies available for support, but they charge varying amounts for their services.
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
CISCO, mettle, Microsoft, Upguard, GMX
Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Canonical, Oracle and others in Operating Systems (OS) for Business. Updated: September 2025.
872,655 professionals have used our research since 2012.