CentOS vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) comparison

CentOS and Red Hat are both solutions in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category. CentOS is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.8, while Red Hat is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8. CentOS holds a 5.5% mindshare in OSB, compared to Red Hat’s 9.9% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of CentOS users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

CentOS

Read 68 CentOS reviews

8,350 Views
8,466 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...

Read 271 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) reviews

32,560 Views
12,986 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

CentOS

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and CentOS both provide robust operating systems but cater to slightly different markets. Users often prefer CentOS for its no-cost offering and identical features, while RHEL is favored for its pricing and comprehensive support.

Features: RHEL offers advanced security features, enterprise-level support, and consistent updates. CentOS provides identical features to RHEL, extensive documentation, and high reliability but lacks official support.

Room for Improvement: RHEL could improve its update process, reduce licensing costs, and offer more flexibility in licensing. CentOS could benefit from better community support, more frequent updates, and improved support mechanisms provided by the community.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: RHEL is known for its straightforward deployment process and excellent customer service with round-the-clock support. CentOS deployment is seamless but lacks official customer service, relying on community forums and user contributions.

Pricing and ROI: RHEL has higher setup costs due to licensing fees but offers significant ROI through enhanced security and management features. CentOS, being free, presents zero setup costs and attracts users seeking lower total cost of ownership.

To learn more, read our detailed CentOS vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

CentOS vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

February 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

CentOS

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

271

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of CentOS is 5.5%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 9.9%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

Featured Reviews

Mahender Nirwan

Software developer at TAIGLE LLC

In-depth documentation available and command-line utility works well

One issue I recently faced, but I think it was due to my IT support guys, was that when the server storage gets full, the service crashes. It's very difficult to regain access and stability in that situation. That could be improved. So, the stability might be improved. But I don't think it's a CentOS-level issue. The system administrators need to come up with a solution for that, but I don't think it's CentOS's fault. I haven't done any research [R&D] on this issue. There's one thing for sure. We recently migrated from CentOS 7 to CentOS 9, and it was a bit difficult. For example, updating Windows is simple; you just download it, and it takes about 15-20 minutes. But that's not the case with migrating from CentOS 7 to 9. We had to back up the entire server, launch a new server, and then restore the backup to the new server. We couldn't directly migrate. I think that was a bit of a problem. The setup and updates are not that new in CentOS.

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Bruce Lundberg

Linux HPC Systems Administrator at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"A valuable features of CentOS is that it's quite stable and doesn't crash often. It's also quite intuitive."

"The most valuable feature of CentOS is that it is easy to use."

"We used the solution as an operating system."

"CentOS' best feature is that it's the standard product for Linux, so it's well-supported."

"It's easy to install."

"The solution is stable and reliable."

"It has minimal updates compared to other distributions."

More CentOS pros

"It is generally easy to initiate a support case with Red Hat, and there are clear escalation paths if needed. The support team responds based on the contract level."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux has enabled us to achieve security standards certification, which has allowed us to maintain business operations without interruption."

"The most significant advantage is that it is more stable and secure than other operating systems."

"The feature that I like the most is that we can integrate it easily with our existing infrastructure. We found that it is much easier to deploy RHEL in our environment compared to a competing distribution like Ubuntu."

"The biggest thing that I have found valuable is stability."

"The most valuable aspects of Red Hat Enterprise Linux are its flexibility and security."

"Automation makes compliance a lot easier."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux is known for its performance, ease of deployment, and flexibility."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) pros

Cons

"Integration with other platforms could be improved."

"The support could be a bit better."

"CentOS is pretty old now, so I wouldn't recommend anyone use it."

"Updates are going to a streaming version."

"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."

"CentOS is very close to the end of life."

"The main issue is the End of Support. For that reason, we will switch to another operating system."

"We are aware that the licensing has shifted, and it's not a change we've liked."

More CentOS cons

"The adoption was slightly slow because the knowledge in the market is slightly less available. It's hard to find resources to actually support the product."

"I really think that the upgrade policies between the major versions, like from from RHEL 5 to RHEL 6, should be much easier, similar to what is in place for upgrading from RHEL 6 to RHEL 6.8."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux should be available in a free version that developers could try on their own machines before deciding to implement the enterprise edition. It would be nice to have a community version available with all the features so developers can become more familiar with RHEL."

"We have encountered compatibility issues with certain hypervisors, mainly with RHEL six hosts on the newer versions of FoxMox."

"The cost of this solution could be improved."

"The organization moved away from Red Hat because IBM introduced paywalls and additional barriers that did not exist before, which made everything a lot harder."

"We finally started doing Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Edge. That one definitely is an improvement. One piece that is missing is that we are required to use moby-engine, but currently, Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Edge forces Podman, so we have to work around it."

"The solution lacks proper documentation."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs involved."

"CentOS is free."

"This is a free solution."

"The product is free."

"I use the free version."

"There are no licensing costs for CentOS."

"The solution is open source so is free."

"For the enterprise version of CentOS, there is a license required. However, for personal use, I do not need a license."

More CentOS pricing and cost advice

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux licensing is expensive."

"I do not have much knowledge of licensing. That is handled by the procurement team, but I know that it is expensive. If they can provide more licensing options, it will be much easier for companies to buy."

"We use open source. We only have a subscription for support."

"There are special academic offerings for academic institutes, which is pretty good. We need these offerings. In my personal opinion, the prices are okay. However, for educational purposes, they could be lower. For example, in Germany, the budget in the education sector for IT is lower compared to the huge universities in the US."

"The licensing makes perfect sense for the amount of stuff you get with the operating system."

"The price is reasonable."

"Red Hat Linux is inexpensive. Linux solutions are generally inexpensive."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers a compelling value proposition for corporations due to its robust support infrastructure, which is essential for maintaining enterprise-level systems."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user281973

Storage and VMware Expert at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

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…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

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 stability, and also lots of features. I specifically like that the solution has fe...

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What do you like most about CentOS?

CentOS is very easy to use, and all the commands are user-friendly.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CentOS?

I am not responsible for the setup cost in my company, so I am unsure about the cost of the license.

See all answers

What do you like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?

It is open source. We can customize it as per our requirements.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?

The setup and licensing costs for RHEL are high, especially concerning support and associated applications. Red Hat charges high prices for support solutions like Ansible ( /products/red-hat-ansibl...

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What needs improvement with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?

RHEL has experienced a change in approach after being acquired by IBM, and the company has shifted away from open-source principles. The knowledge base is now outdated and lacks documentation for f...

See all answers

Comparisons

Oracle Linux vs CentOS

Compared 40% of the time

Ubuntu Linux vs CentOS

Compared 11% of the time

Windows Server vs CentOS

Compared 9% of the time

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs CentOS

Compared 8% of the time

Kali Linux vs CentOS

Compared 5% of the time

More CentOS Competitors

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 23% of the time

Windows Server vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 16% of the time

Rocky Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 15% of the time

Oracle Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 9% of the time

openSUSE Leap vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 3% of the time

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

CentOS

March 2025

Download CentOS product report

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

March 2025

Download Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) product report

Also Known As

No data available

Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL

Overview

CentOS is a versatile operating system with many use cases, including virtual spaces, scientific computing, data center servers, web-based applications, and more. Its valuable features include customization options, low memory consumption, performance, scalability, open-source nature, cost-saving, and compatibility with Red Hat packages.

The solution has helped organizations save money on licensing and improve testing capabilities for new implementations without spending additional resources. CentOS is a stable, reliable, and efficient operating system that is easy to use and integrate with other applications and services.

CentOS

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is recognized for its stability, security, and performance, serving diverse industries with its robust support and seamless cloud deployment capabilities.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides comprehensive server applications across cloud environments, featuring tools like Ansible for enhanced user experience. It integrates OpenShift, Identity Management, and automation, supported by extensive documentation. Users seek easier upgrades, enhanced network virtualization support, and improved live patching.

What are the key features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Stability and Security: RHEL is designed to provide a stable and secure environment, backed by consistent updates.
Cloud Deployment: Easily deployable across cloud platforms, enhancing flexibility.
Integration with Ansible: Enhances operational efficiency with powerful automation tools.
OpenShift and Containerization: Supports modern app development with integrated OpenShift features.
Extensive Documentation: Offers comprehensive resources for users to troubleshoot and optimize.

What are the benefits of using Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Reliable Support: Benefit from extensive support options for seamless operation.
Enhanced Security: Built-in features ensure data integrity and protection.
Increased Flexibility: Suitable for diverse deployment environments, including on-premises and cloud.
Operational Efficiency: Tools like automation and cloud navigation improve productivity.
Training and Resources: Access to comprehensive training contributes to smoother implementations.

In sectors like finance, telecommunications, and education, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is crucial for running stable, secure systems. Its application spans web servers, data management, and containerization through tools like Kubernetes. Organizations adopt it for on-premises, virtualized, and cloud environments, ensuring robust infrastructure management.

Red Hat

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

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

Buyer's Guide

CentOS vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

February 2025

Free Report: CentOS vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Find out what your peers are saying about CentOS vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.

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