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SUSE Linux Enterprise vs openSUSE Leap comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 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

openSUSE Leap
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
13th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SUSE Linux Enterprise
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 6.4%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SUSE Linux Enterprise is 6.9%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

NK
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.
Naveen Venugopal - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient IT management with crucial automatic updates but needs developer-friendly configuration
Sometimes it is a bit of work for developers to change the configurations. Some kernels will not fit with some packages, and this aspect could be improved. Furthermore, the system's rigidity when updating packages and services needs improvement. Additionally, there should be more loosely bound functionalities to improve developer experience.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's most valuable feature is the BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots."
"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."
"openSUSE Leap has helped me with using containers in Podman."
"Stable - it just runs without the necessity to reboot."
"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."
"The most valuable feature by far has been the virtualization capabilities of the operating system."
"The solution is easy to use, secure and allows for simple manipulation."
"The solution offers a secure operation system."
"Out-of-the-box SLES supported all of our HBAs and hardware specific components."
"From a functionality perspective, the suite is quite rich. We like that."
"SUSE Linux Enterprise is stable."
"SUSE Linux Enterprise is scalable."
"The operating system is efficient in terms of security."
"The initial setup is very straightforward."
 

Cons

"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."
"It would be helpful if we could easily switch from openSUSE Leap for testing to SUSE Linux Enterprise for production."
"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."
"The solution could be more stable."
"Additionally, error handling needs improvement. The system should be more transparent when there's an error, rather than just declaring a generic error. It would be helpful if it could provide more specific information about the problem on that particular system. As it stands, you can waste a lot of time trying to troubleshoot these vague errors."
"I would appreciate the product's future releases being lighter and operating more efficiently on smaller systems."
"SUSE could make more APIs available."
"The solution is expensive."
"Compared with the competition, of late actually, the solution has increased its pricing tremendously."
"The price of SUSE Linux Enterprise could improve, it is too expensive."
"They should improve their educational portal."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open-source."
"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."
"openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
"This is an open-source operating system that can be used free of charge."
"I would advise others to download the free or strictly open source versions, then test them in their environment before committing to a purchase. This will allow for testing suitability for applications that they want to run."
"Anyone can use Linux because it is open-source."
"The product is expensive. We purchase its yearly license."
"There is no license for this solution, there is only a subscription of support available."
"When we first implemented this product, we had licenses for support."
"The platform is affordable."
"The license we pay is for Oracle. We make use of the community edition."
"The price is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about openSUSE Leap?
openSUSE Leap has helped me with using containers in Podman.
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 can run openSUSE to test all my products. It would be helpful if I could easily sw...
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 solution. My office usually uses production servers on the SUSE Linux enterprise ver...
What do you like most about SUSE Linux Enterprise?
The initial setup is simple and takes five minutes for deployment and if you have automation in place, it will take four minutes.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SUSE Linux Enterprise?
I used the open-source version, so there were no setup costs.
What needs improvement with SUSE Linux Enterprise?
The software management side was a bit difficult, especially compared to Ubuntu. The software manager was different, making it challenging to install certain applications. Additionally, I encounter...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Air India, Akademicki Szpital Kliniczny (ASK), Allone, Altran, Apollo, ARCHIVA, Asia Innovatory Management School, ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GmbH, AutoData Norge AS, Baldor Electric, Business Connexion, CASIO, Ciclum Farma, Delta Lloyd, Edumate , HPE,  SAP SE,  Lenovo, BMW, T-Systems, UCX, Turners & Growers, Shenzhen Development Bank, Bosch Group, JK Tyres & Industries, IOCL, European Space Agency, Daimler AG, China Minsheng Banking Corp, Café Coffee Day, Unisys,  Petrochina Company Ltd, Fitch Ratings, ABeam Consulting Co Ltd, Tyro Payments, Rackspace, Pacific Textiles, ...
Find out what your peers are saying about SUSE Linux Enterprise vs. openSUSE Leap and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,957 professionals have used our research since 2012.