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Kali Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

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

Kali Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
11th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
13
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
7.2
Number of Reviews
334
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Kali Linux is 2.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 9.2%, down from 12.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Rohit Srivastava - PeerSpot reviewer
SQLmap for web application testing and good for web application penetration testing, network testing, vulnerability assessment of any devices or domains
Sometimes, I do face challenges. There's an issue where sometimes during the initial installation, it doesn't install properly. It gives multiple errors like packages not installing, so we have to install those tools separately. For instance, if we want to install a network or other tools, we have to install those complete toolkits manually. So, the challenge is with the initial setup, where I sometimes get errors. Regarding wireless attacks, OS attacks, and social engineering... the tools should be easier to learn because I know everything very well, but some people in my team struggle to understand. If there were GUI interfaces for the tools, it would help me guide my team in using them step-by-step. Command lines are very difficult for other team members who know the tool's purpose but not the Linux commands. GUI interfaces need more improvement. So, the UI interface needs improvement to make it more visible and easier for users. Expert users can do everything without any issues, but new users will struggle.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We use the product for open-source intelligence and identifying vulnerabilities."
"Additionally, it now includes comprehensive migration analytics and reporting capabilities."
"The interface is good and straightforward to use."
"The most effective features of Kali Linux include its stability as a Linux operating system, its flexibility in configuring resources such as partitions, its powerful and stable file system, and its multi-user capability, which allows for setting user privileges and rights. Additionally, Kali Linux provides access to a wide range of free and open-source applications for testing and development purposes."
"The solution's stability is very good."
"Kali Linux is much better than other OS because it gives you a good set of tools. It is preferred for vulnerability assessments and cybersecurity."
"The most valuable feature of Kali Linux is the attack it performs using a CVE script that's already on the internet."
"The tools available in Kali Linux are incredibly effective for conducting security assessments."
"Compared to any other product, Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a stable backported solution for a long time."
"I would rate the customer service and technical support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) at a ten out of ten."
"We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux with Git apps in our closed environment to develop and run scenarios."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux's most valuable attribute is its stability."
"The tool's most valuable features are stability and maturity. Linux offers cost efficiency. Red Hat comes at the top of other Linux vendors. I am very satisfied with RHEL's maturity."
"The features and tools help us to maintain security overall."
"The solution is very stable, reliable, easy to use, and has good technical support."
"The Red Hat command line interface is more user-friendly than the Windows command line interface."
 

Cons

"Any new user or someone without deep expertise won't be able to understand how to scale or manage it"
"There can be some lagging issues because the product gets stuck at times, making it an area of concern where improvements are required."
"From an improvement perspective, it should be made possible for users to learn about the product easily."
"I would like to have automation in Kali Linux instead of manually configuring or setting up something in case of an upgrade."
"The installation process of Kali Linux can be slow, particularly when installing and upgrading packages within virtualized environments."
"From an improvement perspective, Kali Linux could include more ML to help with academic literature, as it is one of the areas where there are shortcomings in the solution."
"I would like for them to offer more features for the free version in order for users to test them in their internal environment before purchasing."
"The tool is slightly difficult to learn."
"Their support needs improvement. It should be faster for priority tickets."
"It can be improved overall. Specifically, I'm interested in seeing some of the image incorporation with RHEL 10, as that might improve some of our upgrades and help in moving to the newer versions."
"I recommend that they improve their virtualization product, specifically the management console."
"If I can resolve an issue myself, that would be ideal, as it means I wouldn’t need to raise a case at all. The KB articles should contain all the necessary information for reference."
"From a cloud perspective, I'm looking for more integrations with native cloud services. For example, the ability to use native Azure Key Vault instead of Ansible Key Vault or Red Hat Key Vault."
"Some of the documentation that I have run into or encountered appeared to be a bit outdated. That would be an area for improvement."
"The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures."
"We need to have more flexibility on the developed versions. Not everybody is ready to subscribe to enterprise versions. They would like to test the tool without subscriptions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is open-source."
"There is no need to make any payments towards the licensing costs since it is a solution that is available for free."
"The licensing fee is expensive compared to other products."
"The price is good because Kali Linux already provides a good bundle of tools."
"Kali Linux offers a perpetual license, meaning you pay for it once and can use it. While free versions of Linux are available, Kali Linux, being an enterprise edition, usually comes with a perpetual license. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."
"I have used the free version."
"I use it free of charge."
"It is an open-source tool."
"We get our licenses directly through Red Hat."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a more cost-effective solution than Windows Servers."
"Red Hat is stable, and we always opt for the lower-tier subscription, which is affordable."
"When I started using it, Red Hat Enterprise Linux was free for all and open-source. It is now paid with access to many features to upgrade and use their services."
"This is not a cheap solution but it gets you the support if you ever need it."
"The solution's price is reasonable."
"Lowering the cost of enterprise-level offerings could attract organizations seeking operating systems or Kubernetes solutions, as these tools are essential for many businesses in the region."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux is quite expensive, particularly its technical support, which can cost $500 per hour."
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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
Comms Service Provider
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
University
12%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Kali Linux?
I use the tool with Nmap to perform network audits. We use it to find vulnerabilities in our network through attacks. It's for those who want to launch or create viruses or perform attacks on syste...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kali Linux?
Kali Linux offers a perpetual license, meaning you pay for it once and can use it. While free versions of Linux are available, Kali Linux, being an enterprise edition, usually comes with a perpetua...
What needs improvement with Kali Linux?
The tool is already stable and well-developed, so there's minimal feedback for enhancement or change. However, it should improve security, which is crucial, especially with the increasing use of Ka...
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...
What do you like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
It is open source. We can customize it as per our requirements.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
The licensing cost for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is comparable to SUSE for premium support. For approximately $2,000 per year, you can get premium support for one subscription which allows yo...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Kali Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,313 professionals have used our research since 2012.