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CentOS vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Ubuntu Linux comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of CentOS is 5.1%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 9.6%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ubuntu Linux is 13.4%, down from 22.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Mahender Nirwan - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Bruce Lundberg - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Kevin Haury - PeerSpot reviewer
Linux's advanced terminal empowers versatile usage and ongoing secure development
Initially, there was nothing complicated. It's easy since I have many years of experience with it. However, if I were a beginner with Linux, it could be completely disruptive compared to Windows. So, I would have to spend some time practicing with Linux to understand how it works and how I can accomplish the same tasks compared to Windows. Maybe one month, at least.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the command prompt of CentOS. It's very simple."
"The product offers a free community-based version."
"The product's initial setup phase is very straightforward."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"The solution is easy to use but not as easy as Windows."
"The user access level is most valuable. When you do administration with CentOS, the number of customizations that you can do for each user is higher than other solutions. It is very customizable."
"The product is free to use."
"CentOS is very easy to use, and all the commands are user-friendly."
"The benefits I get from this operating system are that it's secure, easy to use, and stable."
"It is a well-established operating system. We have tried to implement almost every feature of a version in our environment, and it has been very reliable. We are not facing many production issues on a day-to-day basis. They have well-documented articles on their documentation site and a knowledge base on their website. When we need to implement anything, we are able to find information about the best practices and the solution."
"The setup is pretty simple and very straightforward."
"RHEL is stable, mature, and relatively easy to handle. I'm pretty confident in it. We haven't had to raise a serious support ticket for any server in I don't know how many years."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux's most valuable feature is its stability."
"For us, its security, management, stability, and hardening are most valuable."
"We also use Ansible. Ansible is a wonderful tool for automation. We use it to automate our patching. We use Ansible to get playbooks to take care of anything that's manual."
"The Red Hat support is most valuable. My team and I are really good at Linux, and we can do almost everything in any kind of Linux solution, but sometimes, we have a really nasty problem, and the Red Hat engineering support at the third level has been fantastic. They know how to fix almost everything. The reason why I pay so much money to them is to have this kind of service and assurance."
"One of the most valuable features of Ubuntu Linux is how easy it is to manage. We have some monitoring solutions, so those applications are running on top of Ubuntu. So far, the applications are running in a way that's very stable, compared to other Linux versions and flavors. In terms of redundancy and the command line, it's very easy to manage."
"The solution is stable and performing very well."
"Ubuntu Linux has good security features and a lot of software compatibility."
"The most valuable feature of Ubuntu Linux is the price because we don't need to pay as it is used for selling equipment."
"I feel the graphical interface to be very user friendly, as is first time installation."
"The security is very good."
"Stability of our systems has only improved since moving from CentOS to Ubuntu LTS."
"Overall, I rate this solution ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"The interface could be improved."
"As an open-source solution, there isn't much technical support."
"They could build more options into the wizard."
"The solution must improve its security."
"The solution is stable, however, it could always be even more stable if possible."
"The solution could improve by being more user-friendly."
"Lacks sufficient security and some coding tools."
"There could be more integration features included in the product."
"Providing more detailed explanations would make it easier to work on projects."
"We have had issues with the identification of new volumes when you add new disks or storage."
"There are some things that we've seen from RHEL that have given us a little bit of consternation. Their IdM product could be improved greatly. It would be great if they had some type of application built in that would let you do whitelisting for applications. On the government side, for zero trust, that's becoming very important. We're currently using a third-party solution, and it's tough to get it to match up because anytime the kernel changes, you have to match the software to the kernel."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux training and certification opportunities for engineers and administrators could be improved."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux packaging could be improved to simplify infrastructure maintenance and provisioning."
"After installation, the initial setup can be simplified or improved a little bit for new users coming from a distribution like Ubuntu or Windows."
"Red Hat's standard deployment is with Satellite and Kickstart, but we're looking at other options to help speed it along. We do have a mix of bare metal and virtualized servers and it's easier to spin up in the virtualized world versus bare metal. That's why we're looking at some options outside of Red Hat, for the bare metal."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux licensing is a bit complex. The solution operates on a subscription-based model, which may not provide immediate return on investment for small to medium-sized organizations."
"The solution could be more stable and secure."
"Ubuntu could be improved with more container integration and orchestration of those containers. We are looking to have more cloud-based solutions, like Docker, and container-based solutions, or Kubernetes-based solutions integrated with Ubuntu. Instead of going for VMs, we would like to have more container-based solutions on top of Ubuntu."
"In general, Windows is easier to use and friendlier to deal with than Ubuntu."
"We'd like to have a bit more of a friendly user interface."
"Could be better support for graphic drivers and support from the hardware lenders."
"It is an open-source tool, and it doesn't have any support. If there is an issue with the implementation of a feature, such as clustering, I am not sure how to resolve it and get support for it. The stability of the vendor packages also impacts the stability of this solution. When vendor packages are unstable, or any packages are broken, they also impact Ubuntu Linux. It is very hard to resolve an issue related to unstable vendor packages."
"The solution could improve by having better integration."
"At times, it can be complex when we are trying to integrate or when we are trying to set up some features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is no price or licensing required — it's open-source."
"We have a CentOS license that we pay for on a yearly basis."
"CentOS is cheaper compared to Windows."
"CentOS is an expensive solution. There are other solutions that are rated at the top that are not expensive, such as Red Hat."
"We are using a subscription-based license option for CentOS."
"CentOS is free."
"This is a free solution."
"There are no licensing costs for CentOS."
"For the basic operating system, its price is fair. It is not cheap, and it is also not expensive. For the OpenShift or OpenStack implementation, the cost is a little higher than what I would expect, but it is doable. For a storage solution, it is almost impossible to pay. In comparison to open-source competitors, RHEL has the most cost-effective open-source subscription model."
"We can always ask for Red Hat Enterprise Linux to be less expensive but when we compare it to other options, there are savings in the long run."
"I do not have much knowledge of licensing. That is handled by the procurement team, but I know that it is expensive. If they can provide more licensing options, it will be much easier for companies to buy."
"I have limited information regarding Red Hat Enterprise Linux pricing and licensing, but our managers appear satisfied."
"The solution can get pretty pricey depending on how many machines we're licensing but for a good reason."
"We purchased our license from ITM, our local provider."
"That has been mostly handled by Red Hat. As we are a Red Hat shop, we have a lot of people around that already."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux licensing is quite costly, but I personally do not deal with pricing."
"There are no payments to be made towards any licensing costs attached to the solution."
"Ubuntu Linux is free, but you can pay for a supported version that is better."
"Ubuntu Linux is free to use."
"It is 100% free."
"The solution does not come with a licensing fee."
"If the customer wants to start, there is no license required. It is all free, but they must purchase the production license."
"It is a free product."
"This is a free solution."
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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
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
14%
University
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
 

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 st...
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 responsible for the setup cost in my company, so I am unsure about the cost of the license.
What do you like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
It is open source. We can customize it as per our requirements.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
Though a bit expensive compared to competitors, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is still recommended because it works...
What needs improvement with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
The performance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux ( /categories/operating-systems-os-for-business ) (RHEL) could be improve...
Which would you choose - Ubuntu Linux or Oracle Linux?
Ubunto Linux is a complete Linux operating system that is freely available with both community and professional suppo...
What do you like most about Ubuntu Linux?
It has a good support system for loading databases.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL
Ubuntu
 

Overview

 

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
Samsung, eBay, AT&T, Walmart, Cisco, Time Warner Cable, Bloomberg, Best Buy, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Ericsson, Orange, Wells Fargo
Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Canonical, Oracle and others in Operating Systems (OS) for Business. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.