Oracle Linux vs Rocky Linux comparison

Oracle and Rocky Linux are both solutions in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category. Oracle is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.6, while Rocky Linux is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.3. Oracle holds a 9.4% mindshare in OSB, compared to Rocky Linux’s 15.7% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Oracle users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Rocky Linux users who would recommend it.

Oracle Linux

Read 118 Oracle Linux reviews

15,429 Views
12,996 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Rocky Linux

Read 6 Rocky Linux reviews

13,631 Views
12,667 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Oracle Linux

Rocky Linux

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Oracle Linux and Rocky Linux are enterprise Linux distributions, both vying for the attention of IT professionals seeking reliable operating systems for infrastructure needs. Oracle Linux appears to have an edge due to its advanced enterprise features and robust support, whereas Rocky Linux offers a cost-effective and community-driven alternative.

Features: Oracle Linux is renowned for its advanced security measures, hybrid cloud support, and comprehensive management tools like Ksplice for zero-downtime updates, the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for optimized performance, and vast compatibility with Oracle products. Rocky Linux is favored for its transparency and easy transition for CentOS users, straightforward installation process, and strong adherence to open-source principles, providing a stable and reliable platform.

Room for Improvement: Oracle Linux can enhance vendor support for non-Oracle hardware and simplify licensing terms to reduce costs and complexity. On the other hand, Rocky Linux could improve by increasing enterprise-grade support options, expanding its ecosystem for better application compatibility, and enhancing documentation for smoother adoption by traditional enterprise users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Oracle Linux offers seamless integration with Oracle Cloud and boasts a comprehensive support framework through professional services, enhancing the deployment experience. In comparison, Rocky Linux benefits from a cost-effective, straightforward deployment process backed by strong community support, providing flexibility for organizations seeking open-source solutions.

Pricing and ROI: Oracle Linux involves higher initial costs due to its subscription model, offering potentially higher ROI for enterprises leveraging its full capabilities. On the other hand, Rocky Linux, being a free open-source solution, presents minimal setup costs and favorable ROI for companies prioritizing budget-friendliness without sacrificing reliability, highlighting its cost-effectiveness in contrast to Oracle Linux's premium services.

To learn more, read our detailed Oracle Linux vs. Rocky Linux Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Oracle Linux vs. Rocky Linux

June 2025

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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

Oracle Linux

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

118

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Rocky Linux

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Oracle Linux is 9.4%, down from 15.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rocky Linux is 15.7%, up from 9.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

Featured Reviews

Thomas Waltair

Regional Head AND Director Product Development at Neptune Software Group

Provides outstanding performance and resource savings with effective customer service

The solution works closely with the operating system kernel, which gives better performance in terms of multi-threading and a distributed database. We work based on Oracle specifications, and whenever there are critical patches and vulnerability tests, we update with the latest security patches. The collaboration with Oracle WebLogic and other Oracle tools enhances performance as well.

Read full review

Jetsada Malaisirirat

System Engineer at clusterkit

Enhancements in package management elevate user experience

I have been using Rocky Linux for three or four years. It is used for HPC, online assessments, and Ceph storage The solution is free and open source. The OS choice in my project is quite specific. It is based on customer requirements, as they might want to use Rocky Linux or Ubuntu, depending on…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The user interface is comfortable and easy to use."

"The solution's technical support team answers all our queries."

"We don't have any failing cases. Oracle releases regular hot patches, so we don't have many difficulties."

"It is a good solution, and the performance is good."

"Oracle Linux is very secure making it one of the most valuable features. Additionally, it is easy to manage."

"The stability of Oracle Linux is good."

"It is a scalable solution."

"It helps us to create users and groups. We can also plan on the access that will be given to them. I use it for identity management during the installment and configuration process. We use it to start or stop processes and services. Another use case of the solution is post-opening."

More Oracle Linux pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution is its stability."

"I haven't needed to use customer service or support, which speaks volumes about their product's reliability and ease of use."

"It helps us keep our workstations in sync and ensures consistent settings across most of our machines."

"The custom install scripts streamline the setup process, making it straightforward."

"It's very simple to work with, easy to learn, and know where things are."

"The solution is free and open source."

Cons

"Time drifts happen frequently, and the database restarts automatically to protect data integrity."

"The area of Oracle Linux that needs improvement is related to updates. If they have updates, it should update itself without logging out your services."

"It would be ideal if they added a faster implementation of the security fixes, if possible."

"Addressing room for improvement in Oracle Linux, some applications supported by other operating systems are not supported, which is a pain."

"The Oracle Linux graphical interface could be improved by fixing its occasional freezing on personal home laptops."

"There can be improvements to the documentation capabilities."

"There were some problems when updating the operating system, which affected the system as a whole."

"They should improve in the area of entertainment applications for the average user."

More Oracle Linux cons

"The package versions can be quite older compared to other distributions such as Ubuntu."

"The solution's audio integration for virtual machines could be improved."

"I have certain problems with the tool's DNS part, making it an area where improvements are required."

"One of the potential issues is that if you don't pay for support, you may need to manage certain aspects on your own and rely on the community for assistance."

"Improved integration with Windows, particularly Active Directory, would be beneficial for the product. Currently, this aspect requires additional effort."

"In terms of improvement, Rocky Linux needs to clarify its identity and target audience."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is relatively affordable."

"The solution is free to use with a support subscription rather than having to buy licenses."

"Nowadays, Oracle is very open toward price negotiation; they negotiate well with their clients"

"Oracle Linux license and support are far more expensive than Red Hat or SUSE."

"The solution is less expensive than Solaris and allows for use of existing hardware."

"The licensing cost is expensive. It should be reduced by at least half."

"We pay a monthly subscription fee."

"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."

More Oracle Linux pricing and cost advice

"Compared to the market prices of other tools, the solution has a very competitive pricing."

"The product is expensive. I rate the pricing a three."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

14%

University

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Educational Organization

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

How does Oracle Linux compare with Solaris?

When comparing Oracle Linux and Solaris, I believe that Linux is more secure and more flexible. It is also very suitable for enterprises that are already Oracle solution users. I found Linux to be ...

See all answers

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 support. This solution is suitable for both desktop and server use. It has a very app...

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What do you like most about Oracle Linux?

The product is 99.99% stable.

See all answers

What do you like most about Rocky Linux?

It's very simple to work with, easy to learn, and know where things are.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Rocky Linux?

The OS choice in my project is quite specific. It is based on customer requirements, as they might want to use Rocky Linux or Ubuntu, depending on their needs. The package versions can be quite old...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Rocky Linux?

I have been using Rocky Linux for three or four years. It is used for HPC, online assessments, and Ceph storage.

See all answers

Comparisons

Ubuntu Linux vs Oracle Linux

Compared 23% of the time

CentOS vs Oracle Linux

Compared 20% of the time

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Oracle Linux

Compared 9% of the time

Oracle Solaris vs Oracle Linux

Compared 9% of the time

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs Oracle Linux

Compared 5% of the time

More Oracle Linux Competitors

Ubuntu Linux vs Rocky Linux

Compared 25% of the time

Fedora Linux vs Rocky Linux

Compared 24% of the time

Debian vs Rocky Linux

Compared 10% of the time

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Rocky Linux

Compared 8% of the time

openSUSE Leap vs Rocky Linux

Compared 7% of the time

More Rocky Linux Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Oracle Linux

May 2025

Download Oracle Linux product report

Buyer's Guide

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

June 2025

Download Rocky Linux product report

Also Known As

Oracle Enterprise Linux

No data available

Overview

Oracle Linux is a stable, reliable, and scalable operating system primarily used for deploying and running Oracle databases. It is also suitable for various other functions, including managing operating systems and web servers, supporting traffic surveillance, and identity management.

Oracle Linux is highly valued for its stability, reliability, scalability, good technical support, and ease of use. It has helped organizations to achieve faster DNS queries, stable development environments, reduced vulnerability issues, good performance for Oracle applications, and improved ability to run test scenarios and parallel queries across massive databases.

Oracle Linux Features

Oracle Linux has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

The software is 100% free (no cost) to use, distribute, and update

Ksplice allows for zero-downtime kernel and user-space upgrades

DTrace provides comprehensive kernel and application tracing

For Oracle Linux Support clients, Linux management and high availability are available at no additional cost

It's Oracle-optimized and works well with Oracle Database and Oracle Applications
New workload optimizations:
- Enhanced memory performance by attempting to better locate a process near its memory and better placement of tasks that do not fit on a single NUMA node
- SPECjbb's performance has been improved by up to 3.6 times thanks to optimizations that help reduce lock contention.
- With bcache, it's simple to employ SSDs as a block cache for slower block devices. A new, scaled block layer subsystem supports many millions of IOps on NVM-Express and high-end PCI-E devices.
Oracle Linux has three deployment options:

Linux in the cloud: Oracle Linux Premier Support is included in all Oracle Cloud Infrastructure subscriptions at no additional cost.
Linux on premises: This is the industry's most comprehensive and open Linux distribution.
Embedded Linux design: Embedding a feature-rich Linux distribution is an optimized, cost-effective solution for your business.

Oracle Linux Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Oracle Linux. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Save money by only paying for support for the systems you need
Improve security by applying patches faster and spending less time troubleshooting and updating
Improve Oracle software and hardware performance

Reviews from Real Users

Oracle Linux stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its stability and scalability. PeerSpot users take note of the advantages of these features in their reviews:

One PeerSpot reviewer, an IT Manager, reports, “I find the virtualization the most valuable.” He adds, “Oracle Linux is the best Linux operating system that I have ever known. It is very stable and strong.”

An Enterprise Architect at a financial services firm writes of the solution, “You also don't have memory issues, especially when it is engineered with platforms like Exadata and Oracle Cluster. These give you the most throughput and performance.” He adds, “It is very scalable, especially on platforms like Oracle Cluster and Exadata.”

Oracle

Rocky Linux is a robust and secure enterprise-grade operating system designed as a drop-in replacement for CentOS. Its primary use case is to provide a stable and reliable platform for organizations to run their critical workloads and applications.

The most valuable functionality of Rocky Linux lies in its compatibility with CentOS, ensuring a seamless transition for organizations already using CentOS. It offers long-term support, regular security updates, and a predictable release cycle, providing stability and reliability for mission-critical systems.

Rocky Linux helps organizations by offering a free and open-source alternative to CentOS, which was discontinued by Red Hat. It allows businesses to continue using their existing CentOS-based infrastructure without the need for costly migrations or vendor lock-in. With its strong community support and active development, Rocky Linux ensures a sustainable and community-driven future for CentOS users.

Moreover, Rocky Linux is built with security in mind, providing robust features like SELinux and secure defaults. This helps organizations protect their data and systems from potential threats and vulnerabilities.

Rocky Linux

Sample Customers

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Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Oracle Linux vs. Rocky Linux

June 2025

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