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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs SUSE Linux Enterprise vs Ubuntu Linux comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 9.1%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SUSE Linux Enterprise is 6.9%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ubuntu Linux is 12.5%, down from 20.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Bruce Lundberg - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable patch management, high uptime, and incredible knowledge base
In terms of security, it does a lot of things that most people still turn off. SELinux is turned on by default. They have pretty good firewall rules in their defaults. The audit rules always take tweaking, but, overall, it comes out of the box not too bad. I used to write scripts to harden them from there. There are multiple ways to provision and patch. You have everything from local repositories to doing it by hand. Their knowledge base is incredible. There is so much information out there. It has never taken me longer than 30 minutes to find an answer to anything, even very tough ones. One company I worked for was a security company, and we did a lot of patching on everything. It was designed around security and email hosting, and uptime was pretty much whatever we wanted it to be. I have had a couple of times when the uptime was bad, but it was caused by a third-party solution. In fact, the Norton antivirus was definitely the worst. Red Hat had nothing to do with it.
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.
PrashantSharma - PeerSpot reviewer
Performs efficiently but requires overcoming a learning curve
There are many differences between Ubuntu Linux and Windows as they are totally different systems. You need to have more knowledge about Linux before using Ubuntu Linux. Although it is designed as a desktop system, basic knowledge is still required. Windows can be used by any layman, which is the main difference. I do not know much about security breaches or potential issues. The Wi-Fi and wireless capabilities work perfectly fine. Excluding the learning curve, I would rate it a 10. However, considering the learning curve, I would give it a six or seven. My advice would be to have patience. Overall rating: 10 out of 10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Support is most valuable. If a customer has a problem with a feature or a bug, we can open a support case for that, and the issue is resolved or taken care of. That's the main benefit of the product."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 updates the Cipher Suites and the security proceeds it. I wasn't pleasantly surprised because a bunch of our server communication didn't work. Having the Cipher Suites updated is a good thing but was not convenient."
"Automation is the most valuable feature. I don't like having to solve a problem more than once. If I can just whip up some code to take care of deploying something, responding to something, etc., then that is what I prefer. It is a lot easier out-of-the-box to do than it is with Windows. With Windows, there is always the process of bootstrapping into being able to have the automation framework available, then making the automation framework work."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its good integration with Ansible."
"The Podman feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is very valuable; that's probably the core of it—just a simple containerized solution that allows us to stand it up in a server really quickly."
"My thoughts on the stability and reliability of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) platform are that it has been excellent."
"The deployment is a smooth process."
"I have used a lot of different Linux distributions, and one thing that I like about Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the support. The support from Red Hat is very good. They offer excellent customer and vendor support."
"It's a flexible solution."
"SUSE Linux had a clean user interface, which was a valuable feature for me."
"The solution is easy to use, secure and allows for simple manipulation."
"YaST simplifies the server management of SUSE allowing for a centralized utility to control most of the server functions."
"It's easy to set up."
"The stability of the solution is good. We have not had any issue with performance."
"I like how the tool handles kernel modules and upgrades - we rarely have issues after upgrades, unlike with other Linux distributions like Oracle Linux or Ubuntu. The kernel module management is excellent. Changes made in one version typically work the same in other versions too, which isn't always the case with other distributions. There's also lots of information and community support available if you run into any problems, both on the official website and in forums and user groups. I know many people who use it specifically, so it's easy to get independent support if needed. I've been working with the tool for a long time, since 2003, before they became SUSE Linux Enterprise. It's always been one of the most admin-friendly Linux versions."
"The most valuable feature is that there is an inbuilt HANA firewall."
"The solution is free to use and open-source."
"There is substantial documentation and community support available."
"The feature that I most like in Ubuntu is that it is really easy to use. Ubuntu is very easy to use and comes with many available packages. I think that Ubuntu is a good solution for the small business or a small lab."
"Ubuntu Linux's most valuable feature is its open-source nature."
"The product is easy to use."
"One of the best features of Ubuntu Linux is that if I need something, I just download it."
"The solution is flexible and user-friendly."
"Stable and easy to use solution."
 

Cons

"I encountered an issue updating the time zone for one of my assigned countries due to a daylight-saving time change."
"The only thing that I really have difficulty with is SELinux, so perhaps there is room to make it more accessible."
"The price is something that can be improved, as they are still being undercut."
"Red Hat has several areas ripe for improvement. In the Asia Pacific region, where cost-optimization is highly valued, Red Hat's support and subscription costs are perceived as high and could be reduced."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be improved in terms of applications to interact better with the operating system for monitoring, control, and a better administration interface, though I don't work in the technical department."
"Red Hat can be tricky at times, but all operating systems are. The moves to systemd and NetworkManager haven't made the product more user-friendly. Let's put it that way. The network management they had before was easier and somewhat more reliable than NetworkManager, which Red Hat forces us to use now."
"A completely new setup should not be required when upgrading to a new version."
"Live patching should be improved."
"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."
"The solution could be more stable."
"They should probably just make clustering a bit simpler and also provide more descriptive log files for cluster services."
"I have not been overly impressed with their technical support."
"The software management side was a bit difficult, especially compared to Ubuntu."
"SUSE could make more APIs available."
"Red Hat has more packages that are available than SUSE does. I'd love to see more projects based on SUSE."
"The free version sometimes has security holes."
"Ubuntu is putting great efforts into making their platform a great hosting platform for Kubernetes and other related tools, but they are not addressing the challenges with what it takes to run Ubuntu in a large Windows-based environment."
"The product could be easier to manage."
"There are some drivers that are not there encoded, however, I thought that was pretty normal. They could be more comprehensive."
"Ubuntu Linux does not easily detect the drivers of new devices, and you need to do some trial and error for some of the third parties porting into it."
"Ease of use and ease of deployment could still be improved in this system."
"Management monitoring and interface could be better."
"An easier to configure firewall would be a good add-on."
"The config file can be changed in many ways, but with other solutions, there is only one way to configure the system."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its licensing is pretty confusing. There are a lot of subscriptions, and it isn't always clear which subscription is the best, but with their support, it's easy to find the right one."
"The product is on the expensive side."
"Our client has a direct subscription to Red Hat."
"The pricing and licensing are a bit higher for Red Hat Enterprise because we're able to get 70% of its features with the CentOS version. For the 30% of features that Red Hat provides, I think they need to reduce the licensing fee."
"I don't have any issues with the licensing or pricing. In general, OpenShift is a little more expensive."
"The setup cost is non-existent. With licensing, there was a little snafu because I misread something. There was a slight learning curve because we use virtual data center licensing. We had to understand how it all maps. We had to understand how that mapping works when the hypervisors are Red Hat or VMware. There is a slight learning curve, but it worked out. It ends up being easy."
"We have moved to the Simple Content Access (SCA) model. It is much easier to do renewals and see how I am using my licenses. I used to have to do it all by hand. It would take me a good couple of hours every few months to make sure that we were up to snuff on everything. However, with the new model that they have, this is very easy. I just go to cloud.redhat.com to look and see how I am utilizing my licenses. If I am running out of bounds, I can find out why. If it is simply that we have images that need to be removed, we remove those images. If we need to buy more licenses, then we can start the process of purchasing more licenses."
"For the basic operating system, its price is fair. It is not cheap, and it is also not expensive. For the OpenShift or OpenStack implementation, the cost is a little higher than what I would expect, but it is doable. For a storage solution, it is almost impossible to pay. In comparison to open-source competitors, RHEL has the most cost-effective open-source subscription model."
"Anyone can use Linux because it is open-source."
"There is no license for this solution, there is only a subscription of support available."
"The license we pay is for Oracle. We make use of the community edition."
"The price is reasonable."
"As far as licensing goes, there is nothing unusual here. The price and model have worked fine for my organization."
"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."
"Regarding pricing, everybody would want it to be cheaper."
"The tool is expensive compared to Red Hat. I rate its pricing a nine out of ten."
"Ubuntu pricing is reasonable."
"Ubuntu Linux is free to use."
"Ubuntu is an open-source Linux operating system that can be used free of charge."
"I am using the free version. There is no subscription."
"I use the free version, so I don't have any license fees."
"The solution is open source, so there is no licensing fee."
"This solution is free."
"It is open source, so it is free. There is no licensing fee."
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Comparison Review

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 24, 2017
It's improved our company's system environments that run Oracle databases.
Red Hat is mission critical to our environment Red Hat has improved the mission critical environments running Oracle databases, while CentOS has improved our web environment and MySQL. Oracle and SAP Environment and all HPC environments. 10 years No issues Very stable i don´t find any problem…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
University
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which would you choose - RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) or CentOS?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is fantastic. It is an inexpensive solution that has excellent security, performance, and st...
What do you like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
It is open source. We can customize it as per our requirements.
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 f...
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, ...
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 suppo...
What do you like most about Ubuntu Linux?
It has a good support system for loading databases.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ubuntu Linux?
The cost is not much, and I am not sure about the licensing cost because a separate team handles it.
 

Also Known As

Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP3
Ubuntu
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Travel Channel, Mohawk Industries, Hilti, Molecular Health, Exolgan, Hotelplan Group, Emory University, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, HCA Healthcare, Paychex, UPS, Intermountain Healthcare, Brinker International, TransUnion, Union Bank, CA Technologies
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, ...
Samsung, eBay, AT&T, Walmart, Cisco, Time Warner Cable, Bloomberg, Best Buy, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Ericsson, Orange, Wells Fargo
Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Canonical, Oracle and others in Operating Systems (OS) for Business. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.