No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs openSUSE Leap comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
26th
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
13th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 4.4%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SUSE Linux Enterprise is 4.0%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SUSE Linux Enterprise4.0%
openSUSE Leap4.4%
Other91.6%
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.
Prashant Saxena - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution specialist Data and AI at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Has supported ongoing hybrid deployments and integration but requires clearer feature documentation
I understand your point regarding my current use case for SUSE Linux Enterprise. I want to know if the purchase process is mostly directly from SUSE or through the AWS Marketplace, and what ways I am working with the vendor The high availability features in SUSE Linux Enterprise are helping in my…

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."
"The most valuable feature by far has been the virtualization capabilities of the operating system."
"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 very stable after it is configured. It is hard to have a panel slow, a problem, misconfiguration, or any kind of loss function."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots."
"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 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."
"From a functionality perspective, the suite is quite rich. We like that."
"We use this as our operating system; it's a platform to deploy solutions."
"The operating system is efficient in terms of security."
"SUSE Linux is the best enterprise Linux distribution, period."
"I have not experienced any issues with this operating system."
"The solution offers a secure operation system."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the installation part...We don't face any issues related to the operating system or application."
"The tool’s idempotency ensures all configurations are in place at all times."
 

Cons

"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."
"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."
"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."
"It would be helpful if we could easily switch from openSUSE Leap for testing to SUSE Linux Enterprise for production."
"They should improve their educational portal."
"Red Hat has more packages that are available than SUSE does. I'd love to see more projects based on SUSE."
"The quality of support offered by SUSE Linux Enterprise is not that great, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The need to register a system for updates and support can complicate deployment in an isolated environment."
"The solution has to be fine-tuned with better documentation."
"The platform doesn't support certain APMs."
"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 have not been overly impressed with their technical support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
"The solution is open-source."
"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."
"This is an open-source operating system that can be used free of charge."
"There is no license for this solution, there is only a subscription of support available."
"Anyone can use Linux because it is open-source."
"The tool is expensive compared to Red Hat. I rate its pricing a nine out of ten."
"SUSE Linux Enterprise is reasonably priced compared to other operating systems. I find it's a much better option for us than Oracle, for example, because of the pricing structure. The pricing is easier to explain to clients and makes it easier to get clients' commitment. The licensing is also simpler to manage and keep track of. Their responsiveness is great - they give feedback very quickly when we ask questions about licensing or other aspects. This helps ensure we're always at the gold standard regarding licensing and everything related to SUSE Linux Enterprise."
"When we first implemented this product, we had licenses for support."
"I have to pay for a license in order to get support."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"As far as licensing goes, there is nothing unusual here. The price and model have worked fine for my organization."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Operating Systems (OS) for Business solutions are best for your needs.
917,382 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
23%
University
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction 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 Business9
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SUSE Linux Enterprise?
I would rate pricing for SUSE Linux Enterprise considering one is a high price and ten is a low price.
What needs improvement with SUSE Linux Enterprise?
SUSE can make improvements to SUSE Linux Enterprise. I have suggestions about what they can add to the product to simplify users' lives. They need to intensely work on their marketing strategy.
What is your primary use case for SUSE Linux Enterprise?
I understand your point regarding my current use case for SUSE Linux Enterprise. I want to know if the purchase process is mostly directly from SUSE or through the AWS Marketplace, and what ways I ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP3
 

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: September 2026.
917,382 professionals have used our research since 2012.