Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

AlmaLinux vs Oracle Linux comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 4, 2026

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
4.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
128
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

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.
DR
Manager, Information Technology at Gemini Equipment
Stable performance enhances operations, but improving interface and customization is necessary
Oracle Linux can be improved by making it more user-friendly. The interface and some features need improvement. The interface is very important. Sometimes, there is a very lengthy process to generate a single report. The customization also needs development. There should be more customization allowed for the system. There are some limitations as we cannot customize the system according to our needs. We have to use the standard features which are not always suitable for our business. Despite these limitations, we continue to use it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"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."
"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."
"Once installed, the product is good, I like it. The core of the software is really good."
"The solution provides the best return on investment."
"It is very compatible because it's from the same product family, so it makes the work very easy."
"The solution's technical support team answers all our queries."
"The stability is excellent and the initial setup is easy."
"It's mostly reliable."
"If we use Linux, Solaris, or some other operating systems, we have to build a lot of packages using RPMs (the packet manager). That's a difficult task. With Oracle Linux, we use a single command to update from the Oracle website."
"Overall, I rate this solution as the best solution at nine out of ten."
 

Cons

"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."
"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."
"It could also have a more user-friendly interface."
"The GUI could be made more attractive."
"Expertise in Oracle Linux is not extensive, so it was challenging to find someone with experience in this technology."
"It is not a user-friendly solution."
"Time drifts happen frequently, and the database restarts automatically to protect data integrity."
"The solution could improve by giving the client or customer more control."
"The solution could be more user friendly."
"Managing upgrades, especially moving from one version of Oracle Linux to another, can be challenging."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We are not paying anything for the operating system."
"We are currently operating the solution using a license-based version. We get licenses per machine."
"We pay a monthly subscription fee."
"We pay for a license for this solution annually."
"The price of Oracle Linux overall could be less expensive."
"The product's pricing is cheap. The tool's pricing is yearly."
"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."
"The price of Oracle Linux could be less expensive for those who are running a small freelance company, such as I do. We use the solution fully but the income that you're receiving is slow."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Operating Systems (OS) for Business solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise74
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AlmaLinux?
AlmaLinux is free of charge, which is why I chose this distribution. It offers an alternative to Red Hat, which is free only without support and updates. AlmaLinux provides free updates and securit...
What needs improvement with AlmaLinux?
It is hard to say what needs improvement because I am on the operations side and focus on installing servers and running our software.
What is your primary use case for AlmaLinux?
I use AlmaLinux as the base operating system for all of our Linux servers. Our environment includes use cases that range from a load balancer on the NGINX platform to our monitoring software, Check...
How does Oracle Linux compare with Solaris?
When comparing Oracle Linux and Solaris, I believe that Linux is more secure and more flexible. It is also very suitable for enterprises that are already Oracle solution users. I found Linux to be ...
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

AlmaLinux OS 8 (x86_64), AlmaLinux OS 10 (x86_64)
Oracle Enterprise Linux
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
See here
Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Rocky Linux, Canonical and others in Operating Systems (OS) for Business. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.