The product is based on Red Hat and very stable.
Développeur applications at Trust Merchant Bank
A stable solution that helps to create applications
Pros and Cons
- "The product is based on Red Hat and very stable."
- "The tool has no official support."
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
The tool has no official support.
For how long have I used the solution?
The product helps us to create applications.
How are customer service and support?
We had used support in the past and it was good.
Buyer's Guide
CentOS
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about CentOS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.
How was the initial setup?
The product's setup is simple. You can deploy the solution in one hour.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the product a nine out of ten. One admin is enough to maintain the product.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

DevOps and Automation Lead | Technical Expert at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
Easy to use with good performance and a robust community
Pros and Cons
- "The community and knowledge base are very robust."
- "The support could be a bit better."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use the solution for personal and testing purposes. It's used as an operating system.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to use. The performance is good.
The community and knowledge base are very robust.
It has a lot of great features.
It is stable and reliable.
I have found the solution to be scalable.
What needs improvement?
The support could be a bit better. They should be more customer friendly. They could also be a bit faster.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for many years. I've used it for almost five years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's stable. I'd rate it nine out of ten for reliability. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. The performance has been fine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. I'd rate the scalability nine out of ten.
I'm not sure how many people are using the solution in my company.
How are customer service and support?
Support could be faster and more responsive. However, support is okay.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I'm also using Ubuntu.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very straightforward. It is not complex. I deployed both on-premises and cloud options. It only takes a few hours.
I followed the documentation for preparing the nodes and the administration. There's good documentation for configuring time zones, networks, et cetera. The steps are pretty standard.
We had development and infrastructure teams on the solution. However, only one person can handle the deployment. I only have details on just my team and area. I'm not sure what it was like across the company.
What about the implementation team?
I handled the implementation in-house by myself.
What was our ROI?
I've never looked into the ROI of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I do not handle licensing. It's not in my scope of work.
What other advice do I have?
I've used the latest version of the solution.
I would recommend the solution to others. I'd advise people to have a clear view of how they will use the solution and take care to consider how they would like to scale.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
CentOS
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about CentOS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Software Developer at NMB Bank
Highly availability, performs well, but user interface could improve
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of CentOS are it is built from Linux, has good performance, and can we can create scripts. The scripts are you to do minor work automatically."
- "If CentOS could add Office features then that would be beneficial. Additionally, the UI could improve."
What is our primary use case?
I am using CentOS for hosting applications.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of CentOS are it is built from Linux, has good performance, and can we can create scripts. The scripts are you to do minor work automatically.
What needs improvement?
If CentOS could add Office features then that would be beneficial. Additionally, the UI could improve.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using CentOS for approximately three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
CentOS has been stable in our usage. We have had one server up for five years without any problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
CentOS is scalable. However, it is depending on the deployment. We use Docker for our applications so we have not scaled the solution, but if the bandwidth is good then CentOS can be scaled.
Our entire company infrastructure is using CentOS. When I host an application, it's usable by about 1,000 people.
How are customer service and support?
The support is handled by our other team. Even though I'm facing an issue, I talk to our team. If they cannot handle it, then they scale it to the CentOS support team.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I use MacOS, Windows, and Ubuntu on a daily basis.
For a server environment, I would recommend CentOS, but for normal usage, I would recommend MacOS.
When you buy a Mac it just comes with MacOS which is beautiful to work on. If I'm using a Windows laptop, I would go for CentOS. However, the problem with CentOS is there is no Microsoft Office.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
For the enterprise version of CentOS, there is a license required. However, for personal use, I do not need a license.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others is if they have a server environment then I would recommend CentOS. It's stable. One of the only letdowns is the repository for some applications, it takes time for CentOS to adapt.
It has to do with the ecosystem of CentOS, I'm not sure. When comparing CentOS to Ubuntu, if Ubuntu comes out with a release today and a few days later you see you can install it.
I rate CentOS a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Cost-effective product with an easy setup process
Pros and Cons
- "It is a scalable and cost-effective product compared to public cloud solutions."
- "There could be more integration features included in the product."
What is our primary use case?
We use CentOS for repository features.
What needs improvement?
There could be more integration features included in the product.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using CentOS for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have five CentOS customers. It is a scalable and cost-effective product compared to public cloud solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup process is easy. It requires five executives for deployment, including managers, admins, engineers, and developers. It takes around a month to complete.
What about the implementation team?
We take the help of a reseller to implement the product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We don’t have to pay for the system’s licenses.
What other advice do I have?
I rate CentOS a nine out of ten.
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Head of IT Infrastructure at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to set up and reliable, but the licensing structure has recently changed
Pros and Cons
- "There's lots of great documentation available."
- "We are aware that the licensing has shifted, and it's not a change we've liked."
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution as a web application server. I use it with Apache.
How has it helped my organization?
It's saved us a lot of money on licensing.
What is most valuable?
I like that the updating is very easy.
It's saved us a lot of money based on the licensing structure.
The solution is stable and reliable.
There's lots of great documentation available.
The initial setup was easy for me.
What needs improvement?
I do not need any extra features. Nothing is missing from the solution.
We are aware that the licensing has shifted, and it's not a change we've liked.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution since 2017.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a very stable product. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I've never scaled or clustered in any way, although I do have it in multiple systems.
I do not have plans to increase usage since that changed the way the licensing works.
How are customer service and support?
The documentation is excellent. I've never actually reached out to technical support. I've needed to leverage support services since the documentation is so strong.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Since they have changed their licensing strategy, we are using more Ubuntu.
How was the initial setup?
I have the solution in Red Hat Linux. It's easy if you understand what to do. You do have to have some level of knowledge, however. It's not for non-technical users.
I've had it deployed on-premise and on the cloud.
What was our ROI?
We have witnessed a strong ROI. It manages our web applications very well.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I'm not well-versed in licensing. It's almost free. The cost is very, very low.
What other advice do I have?
I started with version seven, and now I'm on version eight.
Now that the licensing has changed, I'd advise potential users to be aware of this.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. The stability and security are good.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
CRS at Kneedrag
A scalable, stable test and development solution that would benefit from notification features for upgrade deployment
Pros and Cons
- "The latest version of this solution has everything built in, making it comprehensive and very easy to use."
- "There is no notification before updates are applied to the solution, which occasionally means that new functionality isn't compatible with how the product is currently being used, and causes issues."
What is our primary use case?
This solution is mainly used for testing and development purposes.
What is most valuable?
The latest version of this solution has everything built in, making it comprehensive and very easy to use.
What needs improvement?
There is no notification before updates are applied to the solution, which occasionally means that new functionality isn't compatible with how the product is currently being used, and causes issues.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with this solution for around 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have found this solution to be stable during my time using it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is very scalable, you simply add a node and expand a cluster so that you can scale out on your containerization.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for this solution is straightforward and very self-intuitive.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs involved.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Chief Product Officer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Straightforward to set up, easy to use, and open-source
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to troubleshoot."
- "The solution could be more scalable."
What is our primary use case?
We deploy our products onto the solution. We use it as an OS. Our support team deploys it to customers.
What is most valuable?
Overall, the solution works well.
The team is very comfortable using it.
It is very simple and straightforward to set up.
The solution is stable.
It's open-source.
The solution is easy to troubleshoot.
As a well-known product, it's easy to find people who know the solution well.
What needs improvement?
I'm not an expert on the solution. I cannot pinpoint specific issues.
The solution could be more scalable.
For how long have I used the solution?
The company has used the solution for more than ten years, and I have used the solution in the company for one year (since I came on board).
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is very good. I'd rate it eight or nine out of ten. There are no bugs or glitches. We haven't had any issues. There haven't been any crashes. It doesn't freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability could be better. It doesn't scale that well. I'd rate the scalability seven or eight out of ten.
We have around 50 people, our support team, using the solution.
Our support team deploys the solution on the customer side to assist customers, so the amount of usage would depend on the number of customers we have.
How are customer service and support?
We get support from a vendor. It's open source. We can figure out how to troubleshoot on our own.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've also used Oracle Linux as well. We put deep packet processing on the Linux solution.
How was the initial setup?
We haven't had issues with the setup. The support team is comfortable handling the setup.
The deployment isn't too long. I didn't get a sense that the deployment took too long.
They mostly give you a file, and it's deployed in a single step. It's not a big project.
We have about five people who handle deployment and maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is open-source. We do not pay a licensing fee.
What other advice do I have?
We may be using version nine of the solution.
This is a very widely known solution that is very stable. It's easy to find engineers comfortable with it since its usage is common.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Group DWH and BI Senior Manager at Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa
All of the features of Red Hat without the subscription fee
Pros and Cons
- "It has all the features of Red Hat, but you don't have to pay for the subscription."
- "Integration with other platforms could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use CentOS in conjunction with our applications and databases.
What is most valuable?
It's free — it's an open-source solution. It has all the features of Red Hat, but you don't have to pay for the subscription. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same as Red Hat Linux. It uses all of the same repositories, the only difference is that it's open-source.
What needs improvement?
Integration with other platforms could be improved. There should also be more repositories. There are ways to get data from the repositories, but it could be enhanced.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using CentOS since 2019.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Version 7 is stable — not the recent versions; I believe they have some issues. We are using a stable version as of now. We haven't faced any issues so far.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
CentOS is scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have contacted their support, but it's not commercial technical support. On their website, there are blogs and other users that help. They have a large community that can answer most questions.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before CentOS, we used Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The reason why we approached CentOS is that it has the same flavor, but there is no subscription. Earlier, we were paying for Red Hat Linux on a yearly subscription. In order to minimize the cost, especially for some of the applications, it didn't make sense to pay on a yearly basis.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not very straightforward — it's intermediate. Linux is not an easy thing to install. If you don't have the knowledge, it can be a little difficult.
I believe there is a desktop version available that has a UI but we haven't tried it. That might be a little easier to install; but since it's on a server, we needed to use the command prompt.
What about the implementation team?
We installed it ourselves.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is no price or licensing required — it's open-source.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of nine.
I would definitely recommend this solution to others. Not the desktop version — I don't have experience with it. On a server level, I would definitely recommend it.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Buyer's Guide
Download our free CentOS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2025
Product Categories
Operating Systems (OS) for BusinessPopular Comparisons
Ubuntu Linux
Oracle Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Rocky Linux
Windows Server
SUSE Linux Enterprise
openSUSE Leap
Windows 10
Oracle Solaris
Kali Linux
Debian
Alpine Linux
Flatcar Container Linux
Buyer's Guide
Download our free CentOS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- Which would you choose - RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) or CentOS?
- Oracle Linux or RHEL; Which Would You Recommend?
- What change management solution do you recommend for users to adapt to Windows 10 updates?
- What operating system do you use in your business?
- When evaluating Enterprise Linux, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
- What is the best Windows MSI installer?
- Which operative system would be a good alternative for DevOps?
- What features do you look for in an operating system?
- What operating system will be a good alternative for SLES?
- Why is Operating Systems (OS) for Business important for companies?