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Kali Linux vs Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm) 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Kali Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm)
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
30th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Ciyagi Ciyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Runs efficiently across devices and streamlines penetration testing workflows
Kali Linux could be improved by including more tools. I would personally like to see improvements in Kali Linux, particularly regarding Grub issues that sometimes occur when installing the VM. Additionally, I have experienced problems when updating Kali Linux from a higher version to a lower version, which resulted in crashes. These Grub issues should be resolved. I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data.
reviewer2775897 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Admin at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Runs consistently in production and supports reliable backend infrastructure workflows
Compared to any other offering in the Linux world, to me personally, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm) is quite similar and doesn't really matter; it usually just works. The differences are usually in support and the Ubuntu Pro plan, which I do not have, but the same applies with Red Hat—you can run it free of charge, but then you lack the support, which is what I do with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm) as well, so it runs the same as any other Linux distro. In terms of stability and reliability, I've had none worth mentioning or caused by something that wasn't in my own hands, so that's been fine so far. In my team, I have about seven people managing about 60 to 70 VMs across four different clusters and about 16 nodes. I spread them out very evenly and very thinly. User-wise, I don't really serve a company internally; I sell my service on the open market. I have no idea on the numbers of how many customers I have, but it's in the several thousands that use the machines or the service I host through my infrastructure.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Kali Linux has positively impacted my work by facilitating and simplifying the setup for an operating system and installing tools."
"The solution's most valuable feature is that it is very easy to use."
"Additionally, it now includes comprehensive migration analytics and reporting capabilities."
"It helped by having a single instance with many security tools already available to test and investigate security concerns."
"The tools available in Kali Linux are incredibly effective for conducting security assessments."
"In general, Kali Linux is used for hosting applications, developing new applications, and operating systems. It's also used in containers and nodes. The tool offers a smaller footprint than Windows because it lacks the functionality of graphical user interfaces. One advantage of Kali Linux is its lower maintenance requirements than Windows, with slower update cycles and easier maintenance procedures."
"Kali Linux has impacted my organization positively because it has allowed for the better security of my applications."
"Kali Linux has positively impacted my organization significantly as it aids in red team work and penetration testing."
"Infrastructure as code, especially with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm) or any other Linux distro, is key; if you don't have your IaC, you're going to spend forever maintaining it."
"Honestly, if I had to say the best thing about Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm), as opposed to other Linux distributions, is that there is a lot of software that explicitly recommends running it on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm) rather than other Linux distributions."
 

Cons

"I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data."
"While Kali Linux has gotten better over the past years, it could be improved if it was bundled in a CLI-only pack."
"I would like to have automation in Kali Linux instead of manually configuring or setting up something in case of an upgrade."
"The only real limitation I can see with Kali Linux is the steep learning curve of using it."
"The tool is already stable and well-developed, so there's minimal feedback for enhancement or change. However, it should improve security, which is crucial, especially with the increasing use of Kali Linux in cloud environments."
"There are areas for improvement in Kali Linux, particularly regarding its use of the Linux kernel, which requires external additional patching, and the fact that network services are disabled by default, which complicates usage; enhancing user-friendliness through more GUI-based tools and better integration could be beneficial."
"The product should improve its security features."
"There is a significant lack of examples for Kali Linux, so you always need to go to external resources to get examples on how to use several tools that come with Kali Linux."
"The only thing I would say maybe could see some improvement is that every once in a while it can be a little bit of a hassle keeping the NVIDIA drivers up to date to prevent any kind of crashes or issues with the NVIDIA drivers."
"I would like to see repository clearance and clarity in the repository, as if you try to get anything from the canonical repo, there tends to be ambiguity in the descriptions and especially the versioning, which makes very little sense."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is no need to make any payments towards the licensing costs since it is a solution that is available for free."
"Kali Linux offers a perpetual license, meaning you pay for it once and can use it. While free versions of Linux are available, Kali Linux, being an enterprise edition, usually comes with a perpetual license. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."
"I have used the free version."
"It is an open-source tool."
"Kali Linux is open source."
"The tool is open-source."
"The licensing fee is expensive compared to other products."
"Kali Linux is a free product, and you don't have to pay for a license."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
University
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
38%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise17
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kali Linux?
It is open source. We do not need to pay anything. Most of the tools are open source, so we do not need to pay for licensing. There is minimum cost we have to pay, and based on our expertise, we ca...
What needs improvement with Kali Linux?
Kali Linux is an operating system plus tool, and it is a Linux-based product, so if we need to do anything for Windows, we do not have an option to use the same type of tool. If Kali could provide ...
What is your primary use case for Kali Linux?
I use Kali Linux for vulnerability testing, sandbox analysis, red team penetration testing, and checking vulnerabilities in the network, checking vulnerabilities with users, and red teaming proacti...
What needs improvement with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm)?
Regarding room for improvement, I would like to see repository clearance and clarity in the repository, as if you try to get anything from the canonical repo, there tends to be ambiguity in the des...
What is your primary use case for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm)?
I'm using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm). I've been working with Ubuntu for about seven to eight months now, and before that, I had a mix of Windows and Linux system administration, mainly with Red...
What advice do you have for others considering Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm)?
My advice or recommendation for organizations considering Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm) is to always automate. There is a reason I always push for Ansible, Packer, and similar tools. Many firms st...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Kali Linux vs. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Noble (Arm) and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.