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SUSE Linux Enterprise vs openSUSE Leap comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 11, 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
15th
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
8th
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 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 SUSE Linux Enterprise is 4.6%, down from 7.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SUSE Linux Enterprise4.6%
openSUSE Leap5.2%
Other90.2%
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

"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"I have not experienced any issues with this operating system."
"From a functionality perspective, the suite is quite rich."
"SUSE Linux Enterprise provides a stable, secure, and well-supported platform for enterprise workloads, with powerful management tools and robust support for clustering, cloud, and containers."
"The most valuable feature is that there is an inbuilt HANA firewall."
"Technical support is very strong."
"The solution offers a secure operation system."
"The tool’s idempotency ensures all configurations are in place at all times."
"It also was very easy to setup, and offered an easy to use advanced setup option as well. This helped to create special configurations for different use cases."
 

Cons

"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."
"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."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."
"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."
"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"All distributions of Linux could use some improvement."
"The platform doesn't support certain APMs."
"The free software sometimes has security holes and for security reasons I think they need to separate the free software because it's a risk, especially nowadays when we're doing a lot of fortification or strengthening the operating system."
"I would like to see better functionality for interacting with cloud-based systems."
"SUSE Linux Enterprise can be improved by having more documentation or logging systems available on the internet, as we face difficulties troubleshooting issues without sufficient resources."
"Compared with the competition, of late actually, the solution has increased its pricing tremendously."
"SUSE Linux could provide more information about cost and the details of how clustering works."
"The quality of support offered by SUSE Linux Enterprise is not that great, making it an area where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open-source."
"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."
"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."
"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."
"I have to pay for a license in order to get support."
"Regarding pricing, everybody would want it to be cheaper."
"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."
"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."
"The product is expensive. We purchase its yearly license."
"The price is reasonable."
"The license we pay is for Oracle. We make use of the community edition."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
20%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software 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

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for openSUSE Leap?
openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost.
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: April 2026.
894,998 professionals have used our research since 2012.