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SUSE Linux Enterprise vs openSUSE Leap comparison

 

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
25th
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
12th
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 July 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 4.8%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SUSE Linux Enterprise is 4.3%, down from 7.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SUSE Linux Enterprise4.3%
openSUSE Leap4.8%
Other90.9%
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.
MoezCHEBBI - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Lead DevOps Engineer at Kyndryl
Has delivered expert training and enabled smooth migrations using automated deployment tools
SUSE Linux Enterprise is a mature and reliable platform, but there are areas where it can be improved. Modernizing the system management tools is important as many users appreciate YaST for its centralized management, but there is a growing demand for more modern, web-based, and modular tools. The introduction of tools such as Agama, a web-based installer, and Cockpit in newer releases is a step in the right direction.SUSE has made progress with multi-Linux support, allowing organizations to manage and support not just SUSE systems but also other distributions such as Red Hat and CentOS; continuing to expand these capabilities, especially for hybrid and multi-cloud environments, will help organizations manage diverse infrastructure more effectively. Security is a top concern, and further strengthening default security policies, simplifying compliance management, and integrating advanced vulnerability management tools would be a valuable improvement.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"openSUSE Leap has helped me with using containers in Podman."
"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 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."
"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."
"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 most important feature is the automatic kernel lifecycle subscription, which is critical for us because the server cannot go down once we start offering any services on the cluster."
"This is a very stable product and we plan to continue using it in the future."
"Out-of-the-box SLES supported all of our HBAs and hardware specific components."
"SUSE is always providing high availability support with security, synchronizations, and the best performance line in SUSE Linux Enterprise."
"The solution offers a secure operation system."
"Linux is easy to use. You have more control on a Unix system."
"The most valuable feature is that there is an inbuilt HANA firewall."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the installation part...We don't face any issues related to the operating system or application."
 

Cons

"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
"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."
"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."
"The solution is expensive."
"We have had trouble integrating Autodesk with the SUSE manager."
"Sometimes it is a bit of work for developers to change the configurations."
"The software management side was a bit difficult, especially compared to Ubuntu."
"The updating package: We had trouble installing packages outside of the repository."
"The solution could be more stable."
"The price of SUSE Linux Enterprise could improve, it is too expensive."
"I have not been overly impressed with their technical support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open-source."
"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 platform is affordable."
"The tool is expensive compared to Red Hat. I rate its pricing a nine out of ten."
"Regarding pricing, everybody would want it to be cheaper."
"There is no license for this solution, there is only a subscription of support available."
"As far as licensing goes, there is nothing unusual here. The price and model have worked fine for my organization."
"Anyone can use Linux because it is open-source."
"The price is reasonable."
"When we first implemented this product, we had licenses for support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
21%
Educational Organization
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
 

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

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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: June 2026.
903,996 professionals have used our research since 2012.