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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Ubuntu Linux comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
261
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Ubuntu Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
138
Ranking in other categories
OpenStack (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 11.9%, down from 12.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ubuntu Linux is 17.2%, down from 23.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Saravvana Kumar. - PeerSpot reviewer
Highly stable, good knowledge base, and reasonable price
Its installation on a RAID or cluster system is something difficult. There are specific teams working on that. The GRUB configuration is also a little different from the other Linux distributions. In terms of additional features, as technology keeps evolving, the product will also have to evolve. For example, Microsoft Windows has come a long way. In Windows 11, there are so many features that are fundamentally the same as the oldest version, but there are other aspects or processes that have improved. macOS has also evolved over time. Similarly, in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux that I used in 2003 and the one that I am using now, some things are the same and some things have changed. Red Hat can continue to engage clients, understand the use cases, and update them.
Bahattin Yetismis - PeerSpot reviewer
The product is easy to use and has excellent performance and availability
The setup is really straightforward. It is not complex. We develop DevOps scripts to deploy it. It takes only one or two hours. If the hardware is available, then it will take only one hour. We prepare the hardware environment and deploy the solution. After that, we deploy the Docker container environment. Then, we run the whole software. The product is deployed on-premises because we are still in the testing phase. We have a small number of customers. In the future, we will try to migrate to the cloud.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The graphical user interface is useful. However, we prefer to use the command line as we can do many more things."
"I like RHEL's clustering capabilities and high-level architecture. It has high availability, built-in disaster recovery, SSH features, and scripting."
"Because most databases run on Linux, that's what makes this solution so important. If you install a Unix system and want to use a database, you won't have to say, 'I can't find any database to run on this.'"
"The solution is useful for application support and automations."
"RHEL improves database and application performance for my end users. The application can collect regional and national data for my end user, a strategic customer in Indonesia."
"Copious documentation is probably the best feature of the solution."
"RHEL enables us to deploy applications and emerging workloads across bare-metal and virtualized environments and I find those workloads to be extremely reliable. The reliability is so good that I rarely find myself calling Red Hat support any longer. Support is the first benefit of using RHEL, but the second thing is that the platform is so stable that the need to use support is negligible."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a stable and supported platform with valuable built-in security features that help reduce risk and maintain compliance."
"You can do everything you need to do with a browser."
"I like this product much better than some other similar solutions."
"The main feature of the solution is it has a command-line editor."
"The solution has a very good graphical user interface."
"This open source operating system promotes very secure environments with less possibility of being attacked. Support for this system is great because of its quick SLA."
"Ubuntu is very easy to use and you can manage it on your own."
"Stable and easy to use solution."
"The solution is easy to use."
 

Cons

"It does have a workstation option, but you rarely hear anything about it. I would love to see the workstation replace Windows. That is a stretch goal, but it is possible."
"The cockpit server doesn't work and is useless. I don't like the images shown in GCP. I prefer the ones in AWS. It seems like the solution is in tune with what we deploy on the private cloud."
"I would probably focus more on a rolling release schedule. Instead of a long-term operating support of ten years, I would just have one release and keep rolling it."
"The knowledge base provided by Red Hat exists, but I find it difficult to navigate. The information seems scattered and hard to find."
"We would like to have a better understanding of what to expect when we move to a different version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux."
"It would be great if Red Hat had its cloud instead of using AWS, Azure, or GCP. RHEL should have a dedicated cloud. I would also like to see more Windows support."
"The vulnerability assessment part should also be improved. We do a lot of patching regularly. They try to fix an issue very quickly, and we also end up facing bugs that are not properly documented. When releasing the general availability for a particular solution, they need to do a lot more work on their side."
"The documentation is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"One of the reasons people don't use Ubuntu on servers is because they are not as secure as Red Hat."
"It could always be a bit more secure."
"People with a Windows background may not find the solution's user interface user-friendly."
"The documentation is very poor."
"The solution should have more personal use applications for this platform."
"There is a large open-sourced community that is helpful. I had a lot of problems when starting out and there was plenty of assistance throughout the community. Since everyone is helping for free the support could be better."
"I don't like the graphical interface in Ubuntu and it should be better."
"For a broken Ubuntu system, you must do a new installation. There is no existing repair option."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not involved in the budgetary aspect, but from what I understand, the pricing is competitive, similar to what we paid for SUSE."
"While expensive, Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers efficiency and performance."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux is suitably priced with various support tiers to match organizational needs and environments."
"It is cost-efficient for the tasks it does and the improvements that it brings. For a professional environment, it is very cost-efficient. It was easy to purchase the subscription."
"They knew we would buy tons of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, so they were a little bit more relaxed. We wanted a thousand licenses, and we could pick those up. We true up. Our license experience has been positive with the exception of having to deal with all of the broken-up accounts, which is as much our fault as anybody's."
"It seems to be fair. It is not overpriced."
"This is not a cheap solution but it gets you the support if you ever need it."
"I don't have any issues with the licensing or pricing. In general, OpenShift is a little more expensive."
"Ubuntu is an open-source Linux operating system that can be used free of charge."
"We are not using the licensed version of the solution, we are using the free version."
"​Old equipment works for at least two or three years more, which means a significant savings.​"
"The solution is open source and its use is included in the monthly fees we pay."
"If the customer wants to start, there is no license required. It is all free, but they must purchase the production license."
"It is not a very expensive solution."
"There are no licensing fees, it's an open-source solution."
"We do not incur a licensing fee for the solution, as we make use of the free version."
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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
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
14%
University
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
 

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...
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)?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has a yearly subscription cost for the licensing that includes maintenance and support.
Which would you choose - Ubuntu Linux or Oracle Linux?
Ubunto Linux is a complete Linux operating system that is freely available with both community and professional support. This solution is suitable for both desktop and server use. It has a very app...
What do you like most about Ubuntu Linux?
It has a good support system for loading databases.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ubuntu Linux?
Ubuntu Linux is open-source and free to use, which makes it cost-effective.
 

Also Known As

Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL
Ubuntu
 

Learn More

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Samsung, eBay, AT&T, Walmart, Cisco, Time Warner Cable, Bloomberg, Best Buy, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Ericsson, Orange, Wells Fargo
Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. Ubuntu Linux and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.