SUSE Linux Enterprise vs openSUSE Leap comparison

openSUSE and SUSE are both solutions in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category. openSUSE is ranked #13 with an average rating of 9.5, while SUSE is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.2. openSUSE holds a 6.1% mindshare in OSB, compared to SUSE’s 7.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of openSUSE users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of SUSE users who would recommend it.

openSUSE Leap

Read 6 openSUSE Leap reviews

7,155 Views
6,392 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SUSE Linux Enterprise

Read 32 SUSE Linux Enterprise reviews

11,017 Views
9,820 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

openSUSE Leap

SUSE Linux Enterprise

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

SUSE Linux Enterprise and openSUSE Leap are both contenders in the Linux ecosystem. Based on the analysis, SUSE Linux Enterprise appears to have the upper hand due to its enterprise-focused features and robust support options.

Features: SUSE Linux Enterprise provides advanced support for SAP HANA, integration with the Oracle stack, and administration with YaST for server management. openSUSE Leap is stable and easy to use, prioritizing features such as the BTRFS file system for system snapshots.

Room for Improvement: SUSE Linux Enterprise requires improvements in package updates, cloud integration, and pricing. There is also a need for more APIs and clustering capabilities. openSUSE Leap needs improved compatibility, better GUI development, and enhanced documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SUSE Linux Enterprise is versatile, supporting public, on-premises, and hybrid cloud deployments with strong enterprise support. openSUSE Leap is limited to on-premises deployment and depends on community support.

Pricing and ROI: SUSE Linux Enterprise requires a paid license for support, offering significant ROI particularly for SAP. It is cost-effective compared to other enterprise solutions. openSUSE Leap is a free, open-source option for cost-sensitive users, lacking the same ROI benefits in enterprise use as SUSE Linux Enterprise.

To learn more, read our detailed SUSE Linux Enterprise vs. openSUSE Leap Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs. openSUSE Leap

March 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

openSUSE Leap

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

13th

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SUSE Linux Enterprise

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

6th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 6.1%, up from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SUSE Linux Enterprise is 7.3%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

Featured Reviews

NagendraKavadi

Systems Analyst at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

Provides BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots

I only use the tool for testing purposes on my team, but multiple people use it. We don't make a team effort to install the solution. When it comes to maintenance, we ask our company to buy SUSE Linux Enterprise. My team consists of 13 people. We are currently integrating the solution with Ansible to do some coding. Although not a full-fledged automation, we are integrating the solution with Ansible and executing a couple of playbooks connected to openSUSE Leap. I would recommend the solution to other users looking for an open-source solution. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

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Dominique Locksley

Linux System Administrator at Adapt IT

Has good kernel modules and upgrades

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.

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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 solution is easy for me to use because the backend is derived from FreeBSD and this is something I have been using for over 20 years."

"The most valuable feature by far has been the virtualization capabilities of the operating system."

"The solution is very stable after it is configured. It is hard to have a panel slow, a problem, misconfiguration, or any kind of loss function."

"The solution's most valuable feature is the BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots."

"openSUSE Leap has helped me with using containers in Podman."

"Stable - it just runs without the necessity to reboot."

"Some of the functionalities I like the most are the security features. This includes security restrictions on specific folders and secure communication for SFTP. These features are more secure and reliable. The tool also makes compliance possible."

"The stability of the solution is good. We have not had any issue with performance."

"The most valuable features of the solution are patching and the BTRFS file system."

"The initial setup for most modern Linux distributions is normally straightforward. Most of the common distributions use an ncurses or GUI install."

"The initial setup is very straightforward."

"SUSE Linux Enterprise is stable."

"SUSE Linux's most valuable feature is the documentation - there is a lot of documentation about how to create custom servers."

"SUSE Linux had a clean user interface, which was a valuable feature for me."

More SUSE Linux Enterprise pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the console."

"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."

"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."

"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."

"It would be helpful if we could easily switch from openSUSE Leap for testing to SUSE Linux Enterprise for production."

"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."

"They should probably just make clustering a bit simpler and also provide more descriptive log files for cluster services."

"Red Hat has more packages that are available than SUSE does. I'd love to see more projects based on SUSE."

"They should improve their educational portal."

"The solution is expensive."

"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."

"I have not seen an ROI with this solution."

"The quality of support offered by SUSE Linux Enterprise is not that great, making it an area where improvements are required."

"The platform doesn't support certain APMs."

More SUSE Linux Enterprise cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open-source."

"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."

"openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost."

"This is an open-source operating system that can be used free of charge."

"The product is expensive. We purchase its yearly license."

"The product's licensing options align well with the evolving landscape of Linux variants."

"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."

"The license we pay is for Oracle. We make use of the community edition."

"As far as licensing goes, there is nothing unusual here. The price and model have worked fine for my organization."

"The price of SUSE Linux Enterprise could be cheaper. Other solutions, such as"

"There is a free tier and a paid support tier. If you do not need support, then the solution is free to use. If you need support then there is an option for that as well."

"SUSE Linux Enterprise is reasonably priced compared to other operating systems. I find it's a much better option for us than Oracle, for example, because of the pricing structure. The pricing is easier to explain to clients and makes it easier to get clients' commitment. The licensing is also simpler to manage and keep track of. Their responsiveness is great - they give feedback very quickly when we ask questions about licensing or other aspects. This helps ensure we're always at the gold standard regarding licensing and everything related to SUSE Linux Enterprise."

More SUSE Linux Enterprise pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

14%

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about openSUSE Leap?

openSUSE Leap has helped me with using containers in Podman.

See all answers

What needs improvement with openSUSE Leap?

Both openSUSE Leap and the SUSE Enterprise version use the same kernel. Suppose I have a lower environment where I can run openSUSE to test all my products. It would be helpful if I could easily sw...

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What is your primary use case for openSUSE Leap?

I use openSUSE Leap for testing purposes. Before officially using any server in our office, we test it using the solution. My office usually uses production servers on the SUSE Linux enterprise ver...

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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 four minutes.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SUSE Linux Enterprise?

I used the open-source version, so there were no setup costs.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SUSE Linux Enterprise?

The software management side was a bit difficult, especially compared to Ubuntu. The software manager was different, making it challenging to install certain applications. Additionally, I encounter...

See all answers

Comparisons

Ubuntu Linux vs openSUSE Leap

Compared 23% of the time

Rocky Linux vs openSUSE Leap

Compared 17% of the time

Fedora Linux vs openSUSE Leap

Compared 9% of the time

CentOS vs openSUSE Leap

Compared 6% of the time

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs openSUSE Leap

Compared 4% of the time

More openSUSE Leap Competitors

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs SUSE Linux Enterprise

Compared 30% of the time

Ubuntu Linux vs SUSE Linux Enterprise

Compared 18% of the time

Rocky Linux vs SUSE Linux Enterprise

Compared 7% of the time

Oracle Linux vs SUSE Linux Enterprise

Compared 6% of the time

CentOS vs SUSE Linux Enterprise

Compared 6% of the time

More SUSE Linux Enterprise Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

March 2025

Download openSUSE Leap product report

Buyer's Guide

SUSE Linux Enterprise

March 2025

Download SUSE Linux Enterprise product report

Overview

openSUSE Leap is a brand new way of building openSUSE and is new type of hybrid Linux distribution. Leap uses source from SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE), which gives Leap a level of stability unmatched by other Linux distributions, and combines that with community developments to give users, developers and sysadmins the best stable Linux experience available. Contributor and enterprise efforts for Leap bridge a gap between matured packages and newer packages found in openSUSE’s other distribution Tumbleweed.

openSUSE

SUSE Linux Enterprise is a versatile operating system ideal for deploying solutions, managing applications, and running certain applications. It is also used for migrating SAP workloads to the cloud, integrating with SAP HANA solutions and products, and as an operating system for application servers.

The solution is praised for its YaST tool for easier server administration, compatibility with Oracle and SAP, stability, scalability, ease of use, extensive documentation, pacemaker cluster, and SUSE Manager for patching. SUSE Linux offers extended support for each version and a special edition for SAP applications.

SUSE

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

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, ...

Buyer's Guide

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs. openSUSE Leap

March 2025

Free Report: SUSE Linux Enterprise vs. openSUSE Leap

Find out what your peers are saying about SUSE Linux Enterprise vs. openSUSE Leap and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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