AlmaLinux vs Debian comparison

AlmaLinux and Debian are both solutions in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category. AlmaLinux is ranked #17 with an average rating of 8.8, while Debian is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.5. Additionally, 100% of AlmaLinux users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Debian users who would recommend it.

AlmaLinux

Read 5 AlmaLinux reviews

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1,828 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Debian

Read 14 Debian reviews

3,769 Views
3,618 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

AlmaLinux

Debian

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 4, 2026

Debian and AlmaLinux compete in providing dependable open-source platforms for enterprises. AlmaLinux appears to have the upper hand due to its enterprise-grade stability and RHEL compatibility, which are crucial for businesses relying on RHEL-based applications.

Features: Debian offers a comprehensive repository with robust package management and extensive software availability, delivering versatility across applications. It benefits from broad community support and adaptability. AlmaLinux, on the other hand, provides enterprise-level stability and seamless RHEL compatibility, which offers a smoother transition for businesses using RHEL. The structured features of AlmaLinux are aligned with enterprise needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Debian's deployment model is simplified by its large community network, easing the initial setup phase. AlmaLinux offers a seamless deployment experience due to its RHEL compatibility, often needing fewer adaptations for RHEL-based infrastructures. While Debian benefits from community-driven support, AlmaLinux provides more structured assistance aligned with enterprise environments.

Pricing and ROI: Debian, being open source, leads to minimal setup costs and presents a strong ROI backed by its community support and adaptability. AlmaLinux, also open source, targets enterprises with a balance of operational expenses and the value of its RHEL compatibility. While Debian reduces initial expenditures, AlmaLinux's enterprise alignment suggests a potentially higher ROI for businesses prioritizing stability and compatibility.

To learn more, read our detailed Operating Systems (OS) for Business Report (Updated: January 2026).

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January 2026

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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

AlmaLinux

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

17th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Debian

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

9th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

reviewer2797887

Owner

Reliable long-term hosting has reduced server migrations and lets me focus on projects

One area for improvement with AlmaLinux is the use of SELinux to secure and harden my server, which I find to be a complicated beast. Better documentation on that part could be useful, although there is a lot of material out there. I choose a nine because nothing is ever perfect. For example, coming from Ubuntu, I found their firewall software easy to use, while with AlmaLinux's entire ecosystem, I always have to look up how to use firewall-cmd. These are just little preferences. I cannot think of anything else AlmaLinux could improve; it serves me well, and I have not been missing anything.

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Badal Shrivastav

Embedded Linux / BSP Engineer at Veethree

Reliable platform has supported long-term on-prem deployments and predictable OTA updates

If I consider how Debian can be improved, it could be more accessible in making newer software versions available for users who need recent features while still maintaining default stable behavior. While backports help, the workflow could be streamlined. The release cycle can feel slow for rapidly evolving tools, and better guidance around mixing stable, backports, and testing would help. Regarding hardware support, Debian can be improved by supporting multiple BSPs, making it more versatile in the embedded domain. Hardware support for new devices can sometimes lag behind, which is understandable given Debian's focus on stability. Clearer guidance on handling newer hardware or firmware would be beneficial.

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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 most valuable feature I find in AlmaLinux is the binary compatibility with RHEL and the long-term stability, which makes it a predictable, rock-solid system behavior, while also having small and safe packaging for subsystems or systems that run twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week."

"Positively, I can say that AlmaLinux has brought a sense of stability, and besides the security patches, we also noticed better virtualization for our use cases."

"AlmaLinux has impacted our organization positively by providing a stable and reliable enterprise Linux platform without licensing cost."

"AlmaLinux provides free updates and security, unlike Red Hat, where support must be purchased separately."

"The long-term support provided by AlmaLinux helps my business by ensuring that we do not have to renew our servers every four to five years."

"Debian is the most straightforward and compatible option, which greatly simplifies our engineers' tasks."

"The best features Debian offers are that it is fast, simple, and long-term supported."

"Debian offers features that are best for my needs, including being open source, which allows for the implementation of many things and the use of a wide variety of open-source tools."

"Debian always provides zero downtime because all that is needed is to run pseudo APT upgrade and it fixes NGINX or the other packages that need to be fixed."

"Debian has positively impacted my organization in that most of our applications are running on Debian."

"The best features Debian offers are its low weight, lightweight architecture, and faster response to services."

"Debian offers the best features in that it is open source, simple, and battle-tested, with a good release cycle."

"Debian's best features are that it is very light and very comfortable for even older computers."

More Debian pros

Cons

"One area for improvement with AlmaLinux is the use of SELinux to secure and harden my server, which I find to be a complicated beast."

"After six months of migration, we ended up using more resources for the same websites, and that's not acceptable."

"If AlmaLinux could provide ten to twenty years of fixes, that would be an improvement because I do not want to update the system all the time, as it becomes more challenging for me as a system administrator to track all the patches and everything I should patch on the system."

"Debian should have a reset feature; if something goes wrong, such as when I have installed or modified any root file, there should be a reset feature to restore my initial default settings."

"In terms of scalability, Debian on-premises is not very scalable because it depends on your hardware."

"About the features of Debian, of course, it is a slow distribution like many others."

"What keeps it from being a perfect score is mainly the slow access to newer software and hardware support, as well as documentation that is somewhat fragmented for advanced use cases."

"Customer support for Debian has been acceptable. We approached the Azure Debian support, and while it seems adequate, they need to improve somewhat."

"The stable kernel because it is going to be older and naturally stable does not always support brand new components such as CPUs or specialized GPUs out of the box, which can make it difficult to use there."

"There are certain areas where Debian can definitely improve, particularly in restricted access privileges for certain aspects."

"It seems there should be a more deterministic way to do that. It does seem that you are running a lot of random install scripts to install things or relying on another two or three package management services, so there could be better software installation methods."

More Debian cons

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

18%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	4

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AlmaLinux?

AlmaLinux is free, so there are no costs there. The open source licensing helps a lot, and the setup cost is just my own time invested in learning the platform.

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What needs improvement with AlmaLinux?

I would like to see better tools in terms of memory consumption with AlmaLinux. I would like to know what processes exactly are consuming how much memory and have better core dumps or system core d...

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What is your primary use case for AlmaLinux?

I provide hosting and email services for customers using AlmaLinux. Most of our customers are using Plesk for managing their domains, and some servers end up having 300 or 400 domains, while others...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Debian?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing seems acceptable. We have also used Ubuntu. Comparing to Ubuntu, Debian is cheaper.

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What needs improvement with Debian?

In terms of improvements, I think Debian is fine as it is. I'm not an expert, so for me, it is acceptable.

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What is your primary use case for Debian?

I have been using Debian for a while now. My main use case for Debian is running PostgreSQL and related infrastructure. A specific example of an application I'm running on Debian is PostgreSQL.

See all answers

Comparisons

Oracle Linux vs AlmaLinux

Compared 19% of the time

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs AlmaLinux

Compared 17% of the time

Alpine Linux vs AlmaLinux

Compared 11% of the time

Fedora Linux vs AlmaLinux

Compared 10% of the time

openSUSE Leap vs AlmaLinux

Compared 10% of the time

More AlmaLinux Competitors

Rocky Linux vs Debian

Compared 37% of the time

openSUSE Leap vs Debian

Compared 11% of the time

Alpine Linux vs Debian

Compared 8% of the time

Kali Linux vs Debian

Compared 6% of the time

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Debian

Compared 4% of the time

More Debian Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AlmaLinux

January 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Debian

January 2026

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Also Known As

AlmaLinux OS 8 (x86_64), AlmaLinux OS 10 (x86_64)

Debian 12

Overview

AlmaLinux is an open-source, enterprise-level Linux distribution designed to provide stability, high performance, and community-driven support. It offers compatibility with RHEL, making it a reliable option for businesses seeking robust OS alternatives.

Built by CloudLinux, AlmaLinux serves enterprises looking for a powerful Linux distribution. It boasts seamless transitions from CentOS, providing a familiar environment for IT teams. With its open-source nature, AlmaLinux empowers organizations by offering control over their workflows. It supports diverse workloads, making it suitable for handling anything from basic setups to complex architectures. AlmaLinux stands out due to its strong security features, which focus on protecting sensitive data and maintaining secure server environments.

What are AlmaLinux's most important features?

Compatibility with RHEL: Ensures a seamless transition for users familiar with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Long-Term Support: Offers extended support periods, ensuring stability for enterprise systems.
Rich Community Support: Backed by an active community and regular updates.
Security Enhancements: Integrated security improvements for protecting business data.
Open-Source Nature: Provides flexibility and customization through a transparent codebase.

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

Cost Efficiency: Free to use, reducing operational expenses.
Reliable Performance: Consistent updates and support for enterprise needs.
Reduced Vendor Lock-in: Allows migration from other enterprise Linux systems with ease.
Security Assurance: Continuous security patches protect corporate assets.

AlmaLinux has been implemented across industries like finance, healthcare, and technology due to its reliability and adaptability. In finance, it ensures secure transactions and data integrity. Healthcare organizations rely on it for managing sensitive patient data. Tech companies use it for its stability and community-driven enhancements, making it a versatile choice for diverse applications.

AlmaLinux

Debian is a reliable open-source operating system ideal for servers and desktops. With its wide array of packages and stable releases, it suits developers and organizations seeking dependable performance and security.

Debian stands out for its stability and extensive package repository, making it a go-to choice for developers. Its open-source nature ensures transparency and flexibility. Debian's package management system, APT, simplifies software installation and updates. Its security updates are regular and prompt, ensuring systems are protected. With support for multiple architectures, Debian caters to various environments from desktops to large-scale servers.

What are the key features of Debian?

Package Management: APT tool for efficient software installation and updates.
Security: Regular security updates maintain robust protection.
Open Source: Community-driven with transparency and flexibility.
Architecture Support: Compatibility with diverse hardware systems.
Stability: Reliable performance across server and desktop configurations.

What benefits and ROI should be considered in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Free distribution reduces expenses.
Performance: Stable and reliable for demanding applications.
Customizability: Open-source nature allows tailored solutions.
Community Support: Extensive community for troubleshooting and advice.

Debian is widely used in industries such as web hosting, scientific research, and education, where reliability and long-term support are priorities. Its flexibility allows it to be adapted for specialized applications in scientific computing or educational environments, ensuring it meets industry-specific technical requirements.

Debian

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January 2026

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