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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Ubuntu Linux vs openSUSE Leap 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 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 5.2%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 7.1%, down from 9.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ubuntu Linux is 8.0%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)7.1%
Ubuntu Linux8.0%
openSUSE Leap5.2%
Other79.7%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

NK
Senior Manager at Cognizant
Provides BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots
I only use the tool for testing purposes on my team, but multiple people use it. We don't make a team effort to install the solution. When it comes to maintenance, we ask our company to buy SUSE Linux Enterprise. My team consists of 13 people. We are currently integrating the solution with Ansible to do some coding. Although not a full-fledged automation, we are integrating the solution with Ansible and executing a couple of playbooks connected to openSUSE Leap. I would recommend the solution to other users looking for an open-source solution. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
CC
Vice President at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Automation has transformed daily operations and supports secure, continuous infrastructure
When considering improvements to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I see one primary area. Within your portal, if you provided more study material along with demonstrations similar to the sessions we are attending, which feature a user-friendly guide, you could incorporate this into your Red Hat console. When I want to install an agent or something else, typing in the console should provide me with clear step-by-step instructions. Throughout the years, installation steps have been available, but regarding AI agents or Ansible automation, I need to verify whether clear information exists. Including this information would be beneficial. Additionally, if you add the sessions that have occurred to your portal or another location, this would help us review them multiple times to gain better understanding. Time is limited, and many sessions occur simultaneously, making it impossible to attend everything. Making these sessions available on your website would be very helpful.
Salim Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at mmcytech
Has supported secure application hosting and reliable server management
I find the GUI to be good in Ubuntu Linux, and I appreciate the open SSH. The fact that it is free since it is open and open-source is why I appreciate it and feel it is secured. We have multiple different kinds of support related to Ubuntu Linux, including official support and other options. I am currently using laptops, desktops, and servers, and Ubuntu Linux supports all these devices. If I need it for Raspberry Pi or something similar, I can download another Linux distribution. Ubuntu Linux is scalable, especially for servers. We prefer using Ubuntu Linux Servers rather than Windows. The biggest advantage of Ubuntu Linux for me is that it is open-source, secured, and scalable.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Stable - it just runs without the necessity to reboot."
"Stable - it just runs without the necessity to reboot."
"Leap has provided me with the ability to offer what I consider Enterprise class server O/S platforms to my smaller customers who are looking to improve their competitive stances without breaking the bank."
"The solution is easy for me to use because the backend is derived from FreeBSD and this is something I have been using for over 20 years."
"This solution has helped my organization's security from the use of its firewall, and the features for blocking or allowing traffic are very effective and have worked well for us."
"The most valuable feature by far has been the virtualization capabilities of the operating system."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots."
"The solution is very stable after it is configured. It is hard to have a panel slow, a problem, misconfiguration, or any kind of loss function."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux's most valuable attribute is its stability."
"Errata is the most valuable feature, which is supported by Red Hat."
"The repository ecosystem is valuable."
"The updates are the most valuable feature."
"Security requirements were a key consideration in choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) due to its ease of use, robust security features, and comprehensive experience and support."
"The most valuable features of RHEL are the availability, file system performance, and overall system availability."
"My thoughts on the efficiency of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are that it is a great product, we could not live without it, and I do not see it going away anytime soon, so I believe it is a staple of the offering."
"Some of our clients were using Windows servers and products, I suggested Red Hat Linux to them and described the features, they switched to it, and they really loved it."
"The feature that I have found the most valuable is that it is open source. It is also very easy to manage. We can manage it ourselves."
"Its performance is valuable, and I am satisfied with it."
"The solution provides good security."
"The most valuable feature of Ubuntu Linux is the price because we don't need to pay as it is used for selling equipment."
"In terms of security, I am satisfied with Ubuntu Linux and I can rely on its security features more than I can with Windows."
"It is scalable. I can customize it based on what I want to do."
"The solution is scalable."
"In comparison to Red Hat, I think Ubuntu offers more security, scalability, and better performance, as well as better GUI and administration."
 

Cons

"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."
"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."
"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."
"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."
"I believe that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be improved in areas such as monitoring, storage, and virtualization."
"I only had to engage support once for an escalated issue and their support team tried to pass the blame onto our Hypervisor vendor, when it was indeed an issue with a Red Hat package."
"The only improvement I can think of for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that I'm unsure how their migration tool works to go to the next version. I've heard people say it doesn't work properly."
"The solution is moving away from CentOS and there are growing pains from the customer's perspective."
"They are continuing to push the ecosystem forward, but as a consumer, what was most important for me was the reputation of openness that Red Hat has fostered. I would like that back."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux has ongoing potential for improved integration with hosting solutions and VPNs as the demand for these technologies grows."
"Its pricing is good and competitive."
"One of the suggestions I have for improving Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is finding better solutions around domain authentication, as we are facing several issues with our current methods."
"When you talk of some of the flexibility, like you want to install from scratch, Windows is more user-friendly compared to Linux."
"I would like to see an even more lightweight version because I believe it is possible."
"The performance of this product could still be improved, as it's always good to improve on the performance of any product, no matter how satisfied you are with it."
"One of the reasons people don't use Ubuntu on servers is because they are not as secure as Red Hat."
"It should be easier and lighter. I am more experienced in working with CentOS, and I find CentOS much easier to use than Ubuntu. Ubuntu is more complicated than CentOS. Ubuntu is also heavier for hardware than centOS."
"I find the solution could be easier to use, more flexible, user-friendly, and have a better UI."
"The solution could improve its GUI personalization."
"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

"This is an open-source operating system that can be used free of charge."
"openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."
"The solution is open-source."
"Pricing is something that needs to be worked out with the vendor. The more you have, the less you pay. That is the model nowadays in IT, but it is very cost-effective. You get what you pay for."
"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."
"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."
"I did some research on pricing a long time ago, and at that time, it was much cheaper than Windows. I do not have current details about pricing, but it is affordable."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux is quite expensive, particularly its technical support, which can cost $500 per hour."
"We used to get our own license model. We purchased a license through Red Hat."
"It's expensive."
"It is very straightforward. We do not have to think much about having to get all the subscriptions related to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux fleet that we have because all the subscriptions came in pairs of CPUs or even for an entire bare-metal server."
"We don't pay any fees."
"If the customer wants to start, there is no license required. It is all free, but they must purchase the production license."
"There is not a license needed for the solution. You only have to pay for technical support."
"We are using Ubuntu Linux free of cost, and there is no licensing."
"This solution is free."
"There is an annual subscription for this solution."
"It's an open-source solution that can be used free of charge."
"We are using the free and open-sourced version of the solution."
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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
Comms Service Provider
20%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
7%
Comms Service Provider
11%
University
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business90
Midsize Enterprise50
Large Enterprise301
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business85
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise54
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with openSUSE Leap?
Both openSUSE Leap and the SUSE Enterprise version use the same kernel. Suppose I have a lower environment where I ca...
What is your primary use case for openSUSE Leap?
I use openSUSE Leap for testing purposes. Before officially using any server in our office, we test it using the solu...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for openSUSE Leap?
openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost.
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
I am happy with the pricing that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers. I come from a technical background, so I do ...
What needs improvement with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
I believe improvements in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are required. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) should explor...
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ubuntu Linux?
My experience with the pricing for Ubuntu Linux is that I always use the free version, so I never paid for any instal...
What needs improvement with Ubuntu Linux?
The user experience on Ubuntu Linux is very good, so I believe there is no need for improvement.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for AWS
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, Rocky Linux, Canonical and others in Operating Systems (OS) for Business. Updated: May 2026.
894,998 professionals have used our research since 2012.