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Francisco Javier Vergara - PeerSpot reviewer
SecOps Engineer at Iriusrisk
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Mar 18, 2026
Hosted critical applications reliably and now focus development time on features instead of images
Pros and Cons
  • "Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization by providing a great solution for hosting all of my applications, and it has helped my team focus only on the development of my applications since we do not have to worry about maintaining any base image."
  • "Amazon Linux can be improved by providing security updates more frequently."

What is our primary use case?

My main use case for Amazon Linux is to host my company's applications, internal applications, and automations.

For example, I host my own application called IriusRisk on Amazon Linux. I also deploy internal applications such as GoCD, which is a CI/CD solution, and I deploy agents that report information to my SIEM.

What is most valuable?

The best features Amazon Linux offers include how easy it is to deploy; I can launch a new EC2 instance from an AWS Amazon Linux image, and it helps significantly with maintenance since I do not have to maintain the image itself as it is already provided by AWS.

The easy deployment and managed images have helped my team by making it completely transparent for my engineers; we do not need to generate the images, we do not have to maintain the packages, and we only have to consume Amazon Linux images to always get the latest version.

Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization by providing a great solution for hosting all of my applications, and it has helped my team focus only on the development of my applications since we do not have to worry about maintaining any base image.

Specific outcomes that show how Amazon Linux has helped my team include fewer issues since we do not have to worry about my own images or keep track of package versioning, which already comes within AWS Amazon Linux and translates into more performance since the images are already built; I cannot provide a metric since we have already used this image, and we have never had to build my own images.

What needs improvement?

Amazon Linux can be improved by providing security updates more frequently.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Amazon Linux for eight years.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Amazon Linux is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of Amazon Linux is really good since I can consume it every time I need.

How are customer service and support?

I have never had to use customer support for Amazon Linux, but I have used AWS customer support service, and it is really helpful with a very short response time.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I did not previously use a different solution.

What was our ROI?

I do not have any specific ROI metrics since I have always used Amazon Linux for deploying my products, but I know that I have some other images that I build myself, and I know that building them, maintaining them, and deploying them is much less effective than deploying an Amazon Linux image because I have to maintain them and keep an eye on the packages used to ensure they are up to date and do not have any security issues.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is very easy and straightforward; I just fill a form and my instance is already running if using the image, and as for the pricing, it is included within the AWS cloud usage, so no extra fees are added by Amazon Linux.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Before choosing Amazon Linux, I did not evaluate other options.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Amazon Linux a 10 out of 10.

I chose a 10 because it helps speed up deployments, it is really scalable, and it saves me a lot of headaches.

I do not purchase Amazon Linux through the AWS Marketplace; I use AWS Amazon Linux from within the EC2 application and do not have to buy it in the marketplace.

My advice to others looking into using Amazon Linux is to use it, and you will find new use cases for it; it will help you significantly in shipping faster.

My overall review rating for Amazon Linux is 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Mar 18, 2026
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Technical Lead at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 10
Feb 3, 2026
Optimized performance and tight cloud integration have delivered secure, low‑cost app deployments
Pros and Cons
  • "Amazon Linux cost is free to use, which provides significant cost optimization benefits that we always leverage."

    What is our primary use case?

    My main use case for Amazon Linux is deploying Java microservice applications, Python applications, and .NET applications. I chose Amazon Linux most of the time because my platform and infrastructure are hosted in Amazon, so the compatibility is fine with Amazon Linux while using Amazon.

    I deploy applications on Amazon Linux by writing scripts in the user data script and deploying the web application from there.

    Amazon Linux is deployed in my organization in a private cloud where we deploy everything.

    What is most valuable?

    The best features Amazon Linux offers include optimized performance and tight AWS integration. SELinux is enabled on Amazon Linux and performs automatic security patching and CVE fixes. Critical vulnerability fixes and those security features have helped me significantly. The integration with AWS CLI, Cloud-init, and services such as SSM Agent and CloudWatch agent has been useful.

    Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization primarily by providing cost savings, as we do not want to spend on the OS portion.

    What needs improvement?

    Amazon Linux can be improved by integrating other cloud features so that other cloud providers can also use Amazon Linux. GCP and Azure could benefit from Amazon Linux compatibility as well.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Amazon Linux for seven years.

    What was our ROI?

    I have saved approximately five percent.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing includes working on multiple other vendor licenses for the software licensing portion. The setup cost involves initial migration planning and related activities.

    What other advice do I have?

    Amazon Linux cost is free to use, which provides significant cost optimization benefits that we always leverage. My advice to others looking into using Amazon Linux is to use it and save your cost. I would rate this product nine out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Private Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Amazon Web Services (AWS)
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
    Last updated: Feb 3, 2026
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    Buyer's Guide
    Amazon Linux
    March 2026
    Learn what your peers think about Amazon Linux. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
    884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Analista Cloud PL at NuageIT
    Real User
    Top 10
    Feb 3, 2026
    Time savings have improved as instances create quickly and support smooth application migrations
    Pros and Cons
    • "The best features Amazon Linux offers are best practices in AWS, the usability, and the ease of use in AWS."
    • "Amazon Linux can be improved with better integrations in applications."

    What is our primary use case?

    Amazon Linux is used in projects at my company. A quick specific example of how I use Amazon Linux is in applications, for clients, and in application migrations.

    What is most valuable?

    The best features Amazon Linux offers are best practices in AWS, the usability, and the ease of use in AWS.

    What makes the usability and switching in AWS stand out for me is the ease of usability, that it already comes with frameworks installed, and the ease of use with SSL. Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization, and I have seen improvements and benefits since using it. I have noticed improvements, even small ones, such as time optimization.

    What needs improvement?

    Amazon Linux can be improved with better integrations in applications. There are other improvements I think Amazon Linux needs, but it is mostly working well for me.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Amazon Linux for five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Amazon Linux is stable in my experience.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Amazon Linux's scalability meets my needs as it does not present any problems for me in day-to-day use.

    How are customer service and support?

    Customer support for Amazon Linux exists, but I have never needed to use it, although I know it is available. I would rate the customer support at a seven on a scale of one to ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I previously used Ubuntu before Amazon Linux, and I decided to switch due to its features.

    What was our ROI?

    I have seen a return on investment with Amazon Linux, especially in terms of time saved. For example, the instance is created quickly and comes with some Amazon packages already installed, which has saved me time.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Amazon Linux is that there is no cost, and I am paying only for the AWS instance.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Before choosing Amazon Linux, I evaluated other options, specifically Debian and Windows.

    What other advice do I have?

    My advice to others looking into using Amazon Linux is that you can use it without regret. I would rate this review at ten out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Amazon Web Services (AWS)
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
    Last updated: Feb 3, 2026
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    Arjun Parmar - PeerSpot reviewer
    DevOps Engineer at Wissen infotech
    Real User
    Top 20
    Jan 21, 2026
    Automation has boosted server deployments and command tools make daily web operations efficient
    Pros and Cons
    • "Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization by increasing productivity since automation is easy and fast, allowing me to set up servers easily, thus productivity increases and efficiency improves as soon as possible while deploying my application using Amazon Linux."
    • "For the improvement of Amazon Linux, I think there should be UI features in the future, as Amazon Linux currently has only terminal capabilities without a UI, and I hope to see documentation updates as soon as possible so when documentation expires, I am updating it and referring to it soon."

    What is our primary use case?

    My main use case for Amazon Linux is mostly deploying servers using NGINX and application runner, and I use it as a base image in Amazon Linux itself when I write any Docker file.

    In my current project, investment.in, I use Amazon Linux as a web server as well.

    What is most valuable?

    The best features Amazon Linux offers, in my opinion, are the yum command and the packages that are already included, along with other packages that I can easily install in the Linux environment.

    These features help me in my daily work by making automation very easy.

    Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization by increasing productivity since automation is easy and fast, allowing me to set up servers easily, thus productivity increases and efficiency improves as soon as possible while deploying my application using Amazon Linux.

    What needs improvement?

    For the improvement of Amazon Linux, I think there should be UI features in the future, as Amazon Linux currently has only terminal capabilities without a UI, and I hope to see documentation updates as soon as possible so when documentation expires, I am updating it and referring to it soon.

    When using Amazon Linux, I would prefer if any command goes wrong that an auto-command feature would appear there.

    I chose eight out of ten because command line improvement is needed along with UI features, and the second thing is that you can use auto-command line features.

    I do not think there are any other improvements Amazon Linux needs right now, maybe something related to security, performance, or compatibility.

    My advice for others looking into using Amazon Linux is to make sure the command line is easy and that Amazon Linux has more performance than other Linux environments and is more secure than other Linux environments as well.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Amazon Linux for more than five years, because I started using Amazon Linux in college.

    What other advice do I have?

    I have more to add about how I use Amazon Linux; using the command, using shell machines, and using the terminals in Amazon Linux could be a great experience.

    I would like to add that Amazon Linux is easy to use with the command line and also user-friendly, with no need to download any third-party updates like RPM packages and then install; I just use the command line only to download directly and install directly.

    I purchased Amazon Linux through the AWS Marketplace.

    I think next time with Amazon Linux, whenever a bad command is returned, it could be auto-generated to create the perfect command, and that is something you can implement.

    I give this product a rating of eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Enterprise customer
    Last updated: Jan 21, 2026
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    Steven Alila - PeerSpot reviewer
    Fullstack Developer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Dec 9, 2025
    Rich ecosystem has supported AI development and secure migrations but still needs clearer examples
    Pros and Cons
    • "The ecosystem of software packages in Amazon Linux has helped us keep up to date with the artificial intelligence trend, where people are using ChatGPT to code, and they are also using Amazon Developer Q to program applications much faster, and then also to meet requirements with the Google Play Store and Apple Store."
    • "Amazon Linux can be improved by having the documentation contain more examples of use cases."

    What is our primary use case?

    I have experience with the product. AWS Lambda functions and the S3 bucket are the Amazon products I deal with mostly.

    What is most valuable?

    I am generally satisfied with Amazon Linux; I appreciate the EC2 instances as well.

    The ecosystem of software packages in Amazon Linux has helped us keep up to date with the artificial intelligence trend, where people are using ChatGPT to code, and they are also using Amazon Developer Q to program applications much faster, and then also to meet requirements with the Google Play Store and Apple Store.

    The rich documentation of Amazon Linux is beneficial for my migration processes; it is very helpful.

    Amazon Linux's security updates have been helpful in general because I have had to be more specific in using the Identity Access Management (IAM) service so that we can have role-based permissions in preference to just keeping it open.

    What needs improvement?

    Amazon Linux can be improved by having the documentation contain more examples of use cases.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with Amazon Linux for at least five years.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was very friendly for me; it was very friendly on Mac. I did not have any severe challenges installing or updating.

    What other advice do I have?

    I do not use the optimized kernel in Amazon Linux.

    I tried a little bit with Alexa services, but considering, it has been a while since I updated the integrated AWS CLI feature in Amazon Linux.

    I find the pricing friendly because it is per hour; I use the pay-as-you-go option so that if the application does not have a lot of users, it is cheap. However, when there are many users, the users then pay for the expenses of the application.

    There is a need for features including integration with other marketplaces; when you build, launch once, and deploy everywhere, it would be easy to just deploy once if there was that integration. That would be a nice feature to have.

    I would recommend Amazon Linux to others. I give this review a rating of 7.

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    Last updated: Dec 9, 2025
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    reviewer2797701 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Principal DevOps Engineer at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Jan 20, 2026
    Using cloud-native images has streamlined cluster management but has needed newer package versions
    Pros and Cons
    • "Amazon Linux has impacted my organization positively by simplifying the workflow where we manage our EKS nodes."
    • "Sometimes we cannot find some modern application packages; I tried to install a PostgreSQL server and I was unable to find the latest version available from the package registry, so I had to compile it myself."

    What is our primary use case?

    My main use case for Amazon Linux is as a base for my EC2 instances, but recently I have been using it almost exclusively as EKS node stock images.

    A specific example of how I am using Amazon Linux in one of my projects is that it hosts our Kubernetes nodes that connect to AWS EKS services.

    What is most valuable?

    The best feature Amazon Linux offers, in my opinion, is the compatibility with AWS cloud and AWS services.

    When I mention compatibility with AWS cloud and services, I appreciate how it is connected to AWS System Manager and how it automates registration to EKS.

    Amazon Linux has impacted my organization positively by simplifying the workflow where we manage our EKS nodes. It simplifies our workflow because it reduces time; we always know that Amazon Linux AMIs are updated with all security patches and compatible with EKS, so we are able to rely on them.

    What needs improvement?

    I am not sure how Amazon Linux can be improved, as we are fully satisfied with it, but sometimes we cannot find some modern application packages. I cannot provide examples right now, but I think previously I tried to install a PostgreSQL server into it and I was unable to find the latest version available from the package registry, so I had to compile it myself.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I do not remember exactly how long I have been using Amazon Linux, but probably starting in 2018.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Amazon Linux is stable in my experience; there were no issues at all with stability.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability of Amazon Linux for my needs is good; it is the same as any Linux distribution.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We previously used Ubuntu and kops to deploy Kubernetes clusters, but we switched when Amazon provided the EKS service and AMIs with Amazon Linux that connects to EKS.

    Before choosing Amazon Linux, we worked on Ubuntu.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Amazon Linux is free, so we are not purchasing Amazon Linux, but we use AMIs that are published on the Marketplace.

    I do not have experience with the pricing of Amazon Linux.

    What other advice do I have?

    My advice to others looking into using Amazon Linux is to use it if you need it.

    I would not add more about the needed improvements, perhaps around package availability or anything else that comes to mind.

    My overall review rating for Amazon Linux is 7.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Amazon Web Services (AWS)
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    Last updated: Jan 20, 2026
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    Alfredo Barba - PeerSpot reviewer
    Founder at Asynka
    Real User
    Top 5
    Dec 24, 2025
    Reliable platform has supported automated migrations and streamlined workflows for diverse workloads
    Pros and Cons
    • "In my opinion, the best features of Amazon Linux include the stability and its standard Linux distribution, which in some cases is easier to deploy and manage than the Ubuntu distribution, but I feel comfortable with Ubuntu too."

      What is our primary use case?

      The use cases for this in our company is that we have a customer that internally uses it for several applications, and they are a telecommunications company that has virtual machines and Linux machines for several purposes.

      What is most valuable?

      In my opinion, the best features of Amazon Linux include the stability and its standard Linux distribution, which in some cases is easier to deploy and manage than the Ubuntu distribution, but I feel comfortable with Ubuntu too.

      The rich documentation with Amazon Linux is beneficial for my migration processes; I think that one of the strongest parts is the documentation. AWS has a lot of documents and official documentation, which is pretty good in most cases, even though in some instances, you have to use the documentation for third parties.

      It helps with workflow by being pretty useful for automation tasks.

      What needs improvement?

      Right now, I don't think there are any specific areas to improve in Amazon Linux.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      I say it's stable because I'm a pretty big fan of the Linux platform in general, so for me, it is the most stable distribution and the most stable operating system, especially since I know that they use the latest kernel.

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      I say it is also scalable because when AWS starts a project that works with something, they do things in a very good manner; AWS is a very stable distribution.

      How are customer service and support?

      I rate the support or customer service of Amazon as very good because our customer has a support contract, so they pay a lot of money for access; my team can reach AWS engineers 24/7. It's really good support.

      I haven't used a lot of support in the case specifically for Amazon Linux, but the few times I have to request support for that platform, the engineers have been very proficient and they have a lot of knowledge in the platform.

      How would you rate customer service and support?

      How was the initial setup?

      For me, the initial setup is complex, but I don't have sufficient elements to emit a concept in that part.

      What other advice do I have?

      I use AWS, Azure, and I'm starting to use GCP, Google Cloud Platform.

      I have also used ZoomInfo. I have been using the product since its creation. I have not used the ZoomInfo product.

      With Amazon, I use AWS in infrastructure, EC2, S3, RDS, etcetera. Mostly infrastructure products, and in Azure, I use virtual machines, VNETs, and SQL Azure, etcetera.

      I have used Amazon Linux machines, but in some cases, I deliver Ubuntu servers, but I have used Amazon Linux machines as well.

      I use that feature in Amazon Linux, absolutely.

      I don't remember if I use the optimized kernel in Amazon Linux because I have used the Linux functions and the Linux functionality per se, but I'm not used to that functionality in AWS.

      I don't have so much experience regarding the pricing and licensing of Amazon Linux.

      We are partners with Amazon, we are registered partners, and we have several people certified in AWS, but we need to get much more business and pay the subscription to go to the next step in our level of partnership.

      I rate this review with an overall rating of 10.

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      Public Cloud

      If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

      Amazon Web Services (AWS)
      Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
      Last updated: Dec 24, 2025
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      Henry Rivera - PeerSpot reviewer
      Solutions Architect at 3t Solutions
      Real User
      Top 5
      Jun 17, 2025
      Reliable documentation and support streamline deployment and troubleshooting
      Pros and Cons
      • "The main positive impact of Amazon Linux on my company has been no interruptions of services, and the public website is up and running, which allows us to monetize with virtually no staff hours for downtime or service interruptions."

        What is our primary use case?

        The main use case for Amazon Linux is hosting websites.

        This is for overall company operations.

        What is most valuable?

        The best features with Amazon Linux include the integration with AWS and other services.

        It is an operating system that AWS manages, and I feel I can trust it regarding the updates without interfering with or interrupting services.

        The performance of Amazon Linux with AWS services is perfectly fine. I use it and change the instance type to give it more resources at times, and for the sandbox, I give it less, and it satisfies what we want.

        Amazon Linux reduces the time it would take for setup or deployment because I rely on the documentation for AWS since it's streamlined, and the commands I need to run are easily accessible whenever I need to look up anything.

        We've used the application load balancers with Amazon Linux, and that's the main one I can think of regarding advanced networking capabilities.

        That feature has definitely helped us enhance the scalability and reliability of our cloud applications by easing administration, as the application load balancer is managed by AWS and ties in with Amazon Certificate Manager, ensuring I do not have to concern myself with scalability and any updates.

        The main positive impact of Amazon Linux on my company has been no interruptions of services.

        The public website is up and running, which allows us to monetize with virtually no staff hours for downtime or service interruptions.

        What needs improvement?

        I cannot say honestly how these features have contributed to my system security and package management processes.

        I try to keep the services and what I use on Amazon Linux very limited to support overall configurations.

        I would love it if Amazon could provide fleet management of their operating system for updates and configuration, as that's an area I would need more attention to.

        For how long have I used the solution?

        I have dealt with the Amazon Linux product for 10 years.

        How are customer service and support?

        I would rate customer service or technical support from Amazon a 10.

        How would you rate customer service and support?

        Positive

        Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

        I switched to Amazon Linux primarily because I was running my operating systems within AWS, knowing that Amazon would support it and all the documentation was up-to-date.

        We were using CentOS before switching to Amazon Linux.

        Mainly, we used CentOS, which was managed by Red Hat or IBM. Once they changed their upgrade path, it became unviable, so we went with Amazon Linux, which made the most sense in AWS.

        How was the initial setup?

        My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Amazon Linux is straightforward and simple.

        What was our ROI?

        I have seen a return on investment with Amazon Linux.

        What other advice do I have?

        I have experience with RDS with AWS.

        I have experience with Amazon Linux and other Amazon products.

        I have mentioned relevant data points about ease of use and the trust that Amazon provides, as I don't have to concern myself with other Linux distributions.

        I realized those benefits during the actual deployment.

        On a scale of 1-10, I rate Amazon Linux a 10.

        If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

        Amazon Web Services (AWS)
        Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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        Download our free Amazon Linux Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
        Updated: March 2026
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        Download our free Amazon Linux Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.