CentOS vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) comparison

CentOS and Red Hat are both solutions in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category. CentOS is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.9, while Red Hat is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8. CentOS holds a 4.8% mindshare in OSB, compared to Red Hat’s 9.3% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of CentOS users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

CentOS

Read 69 CentOS reviews

7,278 Views
7,285 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...

Read 321 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) reviews

28,080 Views
11,381 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

CentOS

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and CentOS both provide robust operating systems but cater to slightly different markets. Users often prefer CentOS for its no-cost offering and identical features, while RHEL is favored for its pricing and comprehensive support.

Features: RHEL offers advanced security features, enterprise-level support, and consistent updates. CentOS provides identical features to RHEL, extensive documentation, and high reliability but lacks official support.

Room for Improvement: RHEL could improve its update process, reduce licensing costs, and offer more flexibility in licensing. CentOS could benefit from better community support, more frequent updates, and improved support mechanisms provided by the community.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: RHEL is known for its straightforward deployment process and excellent customer service with round-the-clock support. CentOS deployment is seamless but lacks official customer service, relying on community forums and user contributions.

Pricing and ROI: RHEL has higher setup costs due to licensing fees but offers significant ROI through enhanced security and management features. CentOS, being free, presents zero setup costs and attracts users seeking lower total cost of ownership.

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

Buyer's Guide

CentOS vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

June 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:

Categories and Ranking

CentOS

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

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

7.4

Number of Reviews

321

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of CentOS is 4.8%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 9.3%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

Featured Reviews

Mahender Nirwan

Software developer at TAIGLE LLC

In-depth documentation available and command-line utility works well

One issue I recently faced, but I think it was due to my IT support guys, was that when the server storage gets full, the service crashes. It's very difficult to regain access and stability in that situation. That could be improved. So, the stability might be improved. But I don't think it's a CentOS-level issue. The system administrators need to come up with a solution for that, but I don't think it's CentOS's fault. I haven't done any research [R&D] on this issue. There's one thing for sure. We recently migrated from CentOS 7 to CentOS 9, and it was a bit difficult. For example, updating Windows is simple; you just download it, and it takes about 15-20 minutes. But that's not the case with migrating from CentOS 7 to 9. We had to back up the entire server, launch a new server, and then restore the backup to the new server. We couldn't directly migrate. I think that was a bit of a problem. The setup and updates are not that new in CentOS.

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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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable soultion."

"It's less expensive than Red Hat."

"The latest version of this solution has everything built in, making it comprehensive and very easy to use."

"I like how you can alternate certain things and minimize admin features on there and just let it run on specific scripts. It's nice. Even if I had to put it in a container, I'd still do it. I prefer Linux over Windows any day."

"The solution is easy to use but not as easy as Windows."

"There's lots of great documentation available."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it is free."

"CentOS' best feature is that it's the standard product for Linux, so it's well-supported."

More CentOS pros

"It is very stable and robust."

"My rating for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 10 out of 10."

"It is consistent. It is geared toward security."

"Management is portable and easily automated so deploying or installing packages and running updates is seamless."

"I like RHEL's clustering capabilities and high-level architecture. It has high availability, built-in disaster recovery, SSH features, and scripting."

"The most valuable feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is its support. I primarily use the product because it offers a phone number for support when needed."

"User friendly with good compatibility."

"The feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) I appreciate the most is the ability to build images from the Red Hat pipeline, which is very effective."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) pros

Cons

"The main issue is the End of Support. For that reason, we will switch to another operating system."

"CentOS is not easy."

"The security could be improved because the server system isn't very secure."

"The solution is stable, however, it could always be even more stable if possible."

"The solution could improve by being more user-friendly."

"I would like the integration to be more secure."

"There is no notification before updates are applied to the solution, which occasionally means that new functionality isn't compatible with how the product is currently being used, and causes issues."

"The server system is a little bit tough to manage."

More CentOS cons

"The main concern is the price."

"It's getting easier for the community to use it free of charge. If you have an account, you get to use it. It would be better if the community could use it on their own for lab projects."

"A lot of improvement is required to get security compliance, especially with the privacy of the data, managing it, and storing it."

"The solution's operating system configuration and function selection could be improved."

"I am still trying to figure out the features it has. There is so much that it can do."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux packaging could be improved to simplify infrastructure maintenance and provisioning."

"With Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), there's a lot of fragmentation in the documentation across different versions, and ensuring that the right version is being read can be challenging."

"I believe they need to improve in terms of compatibility between services."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"CentOS is cheaper compared to Windows."

"The price could be better. The cost depends on how the organization or a specific person licenses it. If you want the free version, there's Ubuntu which is supported by forums. You can pay for the license yearly or pay for a specific version."

"I use the free version."

"CentOS is an open source that is free of cost."

"It is open-source, which means it is a free product. It has a one-time deployment cost."

"CentOS is a free solution."

"This is an open source solution."

"It's free."

More CentOS pricing and cost advice

"We charge €2,000 per system for three years."

"We are good as of now. We do not have any concerns about licensing. Its price is still good for us."

"That has been mostly handled by Red Hat. As we are a Red Hat shop, we have a lot of people around that already."

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

"The licensing with Red Hat is on par with other organizations like Microsoft. We have a site license, which gives us a certain number of servers, perhaps 25,000, for the type of license that we have. That works really well for us."

"We get our licenses directly through Red Hat."

"We use open source. We only have a subscription for support."

"We are coming from CentOS, so technically, our total cost of ownership has gone up, but it is still cheaper than Windows for a database server and things like that."

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

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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

17%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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?

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

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.

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

Pricing is sometimes an issue for our clients because it's not a cheap solution. The different licenses have a high cost, and perhaps they could improve by offering different kinds of discounts or ...

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What needs improvement with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?

I believe they need to improve in terms of compatibility between services. I know that it's difficult to follow the different versions and maintain compatibility. For example, in OpenShift, they ha...

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Comparisons

Oracle Linux vs CentOS

Compared 37% of the time

Ubuntu Linux vs CentOS

Compared 11% of the time

openSUSE Leap vs CentOS

Compared 8% of the time

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs CentOS

Compared 8% of the time

Kali Linux vs CentOS

Compared 7% of the time

More CentOS Competitors

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 23% of the time

Windows Server vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 15% of the time

Rocky Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 14% of the time

Oracle Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 9% of the time

openSUSE Leap vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 4% of the time

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

CentOS

June 2025

Download CentOS product report

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

May 2025

Download Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) product report

Also Known As

No data available

Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL

Overview

CentOS is a versatile operating system with many use cases, including virtual spaces, scientific computing, data center servers, web-based applications, and more. Its valuable features include customization options, low memory consumption, performance, scalability, open-source nature, cost-saving, and compatibility with Red Hat packages.

The solution has helped organizations save money on licensing and improve testing capabilities for new implementations without spending additional resources. CentOS is a stable, reliable, and efficient operating system that is easy to use and integrate with other applications and services.

CentOS

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

CentOS vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

June 2025

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

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