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 275 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: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

CentOS vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

April 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

275

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

"I like the command prompt of CentOS. It's very simple."

"The solution is easy to troubleshoot."

"There's lots of great documentation available."

"The latest version of this solution has everything built in, making it comprehensive and very easy to use."

"The most valuable feature is that it is compatible with RedHat."

"It's easy to install."

"You can work with the UI or in command line, if you prefer."

"The product offers a free community-based version."

More CentOS pros

"The technical support is very helpful."

"It is a good operating system. It is very stable. It does not take a lot of maintenance. You set it up well and it runs."

"RHEL makes patching and scripting much easier, and it provides all the features I need for patching and VM updates."

"Enterprise support is available for our customers."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux is very stable. It has been in the market for so many years, and it is used by large organizations."

"With regard to security, most companies are moving towards the black box approach and Red Hat. It's much more secure compared to the other vendors."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux's most valuable feature is its seamless integration with Kubernetes, a powerful platform for automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications."

"Red Hat is open source, so what we get with Red Hat Enterprise Linux is valuable support that is not included in the free version."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) pros

Cons

"This solution is no longer suited to our business following the change they have made to the release process. It is no longer an enterprise solution."

"We would like Red Hat to keep supporting the solution but they have decided to get rid of it and there isn't much we can do about it."

"GUI could be merged and expansion simplified."

"I would like the integration to be more secure."

"The server system is a little bit tough to manage."

"If CentOS could add Office features then that would be beneficial. Additionally, the UI could improve."

"The price could be better. They could add more drivers in terms of peripherals and other things. Add more drivers for the Linux specifications in the next release. Right now, they are just pushing to have more drivers for Windows instead of Linux."

"Continuous deployment is the only thing that can be improved."

More CentOS cons

"The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures."

"While Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers many valuable features, some, particularly the latest ones, are not immediately available until deployed on-premises."

"We just learned that we can get access to more support documents by going through the portal. I didn't know that. If it was something that was more known or advertised, that would have helped us to find out some of the information a little better."

"Deploying clusters on Red Hat, as well as on Oracle Linux, is a bit involving. I'd like them to simplify the setup or at least give meaningful log files to be able to see what's happening at the cluster level."

"Red Hat should improve its support services, specifically the responsiveness and expertise of its India-based team."

"The implementation and limitations of SELinux should be re-evaluated. Its current configuration presents numerous challenges and restricts certain functionalities, hindering the overall usability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux."

"We had issues migrating from the old to the new RHEL version in the virtual environment. It forced us to spin up a new virtual environment to have the new RHEL version."

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

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are no licensing fees for CentOS."

"CentOS is free."

"The product is free."

"The solution is open source."

"Once you buy the license, Linux will provide you with yearly or monthly patches, so your systems will be scalable for a long time."

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

"There are no costs for CentOS, it is open-source."

"The solution is open source so is free."

More CentOS pricing and cost advice

"We purchased the Red Hat Enterprise Linux license via Azure and the vendor."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux licensing is quite costly, but I personally do not deal with pricing."

"Regarding the prices, the new changes are actually not bad as it works for enterprise solutions."

"The prices are comparable, and good for what is being provided."

"I am not involved in the budgetary aspect, but from what I understand, the pricing is competitive, similar to what we paid for SUSE."

"We used to get our own license model. We purchased a license through Red Hat."

"The pricing is great for virtual systems."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux is quite expensive, particularly its technical support, which can cost $500 per hour."

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

11%

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.

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

Though a bit expensive compared to competitors, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is still recommended because it works effectively and delivers value for its pricing.

See all answers

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

The performance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux ( /categories/operating-systems-os-for-business ) (RHEL) could be improved, especially under high load scenarios or when running applications involving A...

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Comparisons

Oracle Linux vs CentOS

Compared 40% of the time

Ubuntu Linux vs CentOS

Compared 10% 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 6% of the time

More CentOS Competitors

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 22% 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

April 2025

Download CentOS product report

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

April 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)

April 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: April 2025.

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