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AlmaLinux vs Rocky Linux comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 15, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
4.9
Organizations saved costs and reduced security risks with AlmaLinux's free, stable, and efficient open-source platform with long-term support.
Sentiment score
4.6
Rocky Linux reduces costs, maintenance time, and boosts community support, leading to significant savings and resource onboarding opportunities.
We were looking for an open source and free solution. AlmaLinux fits in our requirement.
Technical Consultant at Prodevans Technologies
The clearest measurable benefit is avoiding operating system subscription costs while maintaining enterprise Linux compatibility and stability.
Associate Systems Engineer at Dhanyaayai Enterprises Pvt Ltd
We saved approximately 70% of our budget with AlmaLinux, and the system is stable and reliable.
Systems Engineer at SARL Rajafood
When it comes to return on investment, a lot of money is saved since we moved from a purchased license to the open source provided by Rocky Linux.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
ROI has been good as we have significant open source community involvement.
Technical Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I have seen a return on investment since there was definitely money saved at the time due to the lack of need for licensing since Rocky is available openly.
System Administrator at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
4.9
Users find AlmaLinux support beneficial when needed, but most rely on smooth experiences, public resources, and proficient teams.
Sentiment score
4.7
Rocky Linux support is reliable with active community help, excellent customer support, and a preference for in-house assistance.
AlmaLinux offers strong community support and excellent documentation.
Associate Systems Engineer at Dhanyaayai Enterprises Pvt Ltd
The customer support for AlmaLinux is good.
Ingénieur Systéme at Groupe Open SA
I have not had a reason to communicate with the technical support of AlmaLinux because everything has been smooth for me.
Cloud Security Engineer at Andela
The support level is extraordinary, providing on-time assistance.
Senior System Engineer at Al Jazeera Media Network
We have not yet needed to contact a vendor regarding Rocky Linux.
Senior Network Engineer at KLC bvba
Even if we raise a support ticket, we receive a resolution or a reply from the team within two business days.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
4.6
AlmaLinux is praised for its excellent scalability, supporting seamless resource management and expansion in diverse environments and deployments.
Sentiment score
5.9
Rocky Linux is highly scalable, easily automated, Red Hat compatible, and suitable for diverse environments from small to large clusters.
It is very scalable and performs well both on small deployments and large-scale infrastructure with many servers.
Ingénieur Systéme at Groupe Open SA
We can scale in, scale out, horizontally, and vertically depending on the way we want.
Technical Consultant at Prodevans Technologies
AlmaLinux scales very well and can support everything from a small virtual machine to large enterprise deployments.
Associate Systems Engineer at Dhanyaayai Enterprises Pvt Ltd
Even if the server is not responding and we want to attach the volume on another instance or a temporary instance, it is very easy and straightforward with no hiccups.
CloudOps Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
It has handled growth or changing needs well.
System Administrator at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The scalability is quite good, though there are some issues with Rocky Linux.
System Engineer at clusterkit
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Users praise AlmaLinux for its stability, reliability, and compatibility, citing no interruptions or issues during extended operation periods.
Sentiment score
7.3
Rocky Linux is praised for stability, reliability, ease of use, scalability, and performance on low-resource systems without complexity.
Its security is another highlight, providing minimal disruptions, timely security patches, bug fixes, and a reduced attack surface.
system administration | DevOps | Softrware Developer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
AlmaLinux is a reliable and stable version of Linux.
Systems Engineer at SARL Rajafood
It is designed for enterprise workloads and follows a long-term support model, making it suitable for production servers, databases, web applications, virtualization platforms, and cloud environments.
Associate Systems Engineer at Dhanyaayai Enterprises Pvt Ltd
Rocky Linux is stable, scalable, and it is very much easier to use.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Rocky Linux is stable.
Software Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

AlmaLinux enhancements include better updates, integration, documentation, security, community support, and reduced dependency on Red Hat releases.
Rocky Linux users seek better Kubernetes integration, faster updates, improved Windows support, and enhanced documentation for better overall experience.
The AlmaLinux team can look into this and see what they can improve in terms of resource consumption and monitoring tools that can actually help the users of AlmaLinux pinpoint the exact processes or services that are causing that amount of resource consumption.
DevOps at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
If something is added to AlmaLinux that allows for some subscription or makes it exactly equal to RHEL, it would be perfect.
Devops Engineer at EDAG
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.
system administration | DevOps | Softrware Developer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
It is based on customer requirements, as they might want to use Rocky Linux or Ubuntu, depending on their needs.
System Engineer at clusterkit
Rocky Linux could be improved by having more integration with Kubernetes.
Linux architect at European Commission
Currently, it takes more than one month to release a new package or kernel, so speeding that up would help reduce reported vulnerability remediations.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users value AlmaLinux for its cost-effectiveness, GPL public license, free updates, and as a Red Hat alternative.
Rocky Linux is valued for its cost-effectiveness and stability, offering enterprise-level features without licensing fees.
In the open-source environment, I believe a Linux distribution is always free of cost.
Junior Software Test Automation Engineer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
AlmaLinux is free, so there are no costs there.
I have no licensing cost, which means there is no burden related to licensing.
Solution Architect at Dhanyaayai enterprise private limited
We switched to Rocky Linux because of the license price, and in our business, we don't need to have a higher cost as that is not a good idea.
Network Infrastructure Manager at SAGEMCOM
There is no extra cost for a license if we are purchasing Rocky Linux from the AWS Marketplace.
CloudOps Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Rocky Linux is free, and I can download it and deploy it in whatever environment I have, whether it be H3C, VMware, or Hyper-V.
Server & Cloud Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Valuable Features

AlmaLinux offers updated PHP, security, long-term support, RHEL compatibility, easy migration, cost savings, and seamless integration with cPanel.
Rocky Linux offers stability, RHEL compatibility, seamless CentOS migration, enterprise support, cost savings, and strong security for efficient workflows.
The tooling stability for DevOps is also significant, allowing easy use of infrastructure as code with Ansible or scripting playbooks that remain valid for years, making it especially important for the CI/CD pipelines.
system administration | DevOps | Softrware Developer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Because AlmaLinux is binary compatible with Red Hat, it provides a very stable and reliable operating system suitable for production environments.
Ingénieur Systéme at Groupe Open SA
The prompt patching and OS updates with AlmaLinux have helped our team by improving our FedRAMP compliance and vulnerability scan reports.
Cloud Software Engineer at Coupa Software
Rocky Linux has positively impacted my organization, specifically through cost savings, because we did not have to buy any licenses or extra licenses of other distros, such as Oracle or Red Hat.
IT / IAM Senior Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
For production deployment, Rocky Linux is a great choice because it offers full RHEL compatibility without licensing costs, along with strong community support.
CloudOps Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Since migrating to Rocky Linux, I've seen specific outcomes such as improved security because CentOS stopped the project, and security patches aren't being released.
Linux architect at European Commission
 

Categories and Ranking

AlmaLinux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
12th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Rocky Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of AlmaLinux is 3.8%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rocky Linux is 8.2%, down from 15.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Rocky Linux8.2%
AlmaLinux3.8%
Other88.0%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Naim Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at SMC Labs, LLC
Private cloud practice has become seamless and deployments run smoothly for my projects
I follow the documentation for AlmaLinux, which I believe could be more extensive for enterprise setups. My primary use case remains deploying private cloud infrastructure using OpenStack Yoga, thus suggesting improvements to cater to specific cloud instances like AWS Graviton or Azure NVMe. Driver or kernel updates for new hardware or cloud instances like AWS Graviton or Azure NVMe tend to arrive a little later in AlmaLinux than they do in the Red Hat distribution. Therefore, I suggest that faster releases of cloud-optimized images and updated hardware drivers could enhance AlmaLinux's competitiveness. Additionally, I find it sometimes difficult to find answers on forums due to the community not being as large as that of Red Hat or CentOS. My suggestion is to create an active forum or Q&A session where developers can directly address user problems, growing the community and providing optional enterprise support tiers for large organizations. Additionally, I have continued to consider improvements. For server administration and language runtime management, I encountered conflicts on production servers with older and newer versions of tools such as Python and Node.js. Simplifying the application space management would reduce the friction in multi-language development environments. Moreover, including more pre-configured or auto-remediation scripts like CIS Benchmark or STIG compliance would be immensely helpful for enterprise security hardening.
Massimiliano Adamo - PeerSpot reviewer
Linux architect at European Commission
Has supported seamless migrations and enabled running complex data workloads securely
The best features Rocky Linux offers include clustering and all the packages from Red Hat.Rocky Linux has impacted my organization very positively because we migrated everything from CentOS and Windows servers to Rocky Linux. Everything is clear, with good packaging, and now it's version 9.6, which is very important for us due to security problems since we are in Europe. Rocky Linux is very good for security and other aspects. Since migrating to Rocky Linux, I've seen specific outcomes such as improved security because CentOS stopped the project, and security patches aren't being released. We need to maintain a system similar to Red Hat, which is very stable and has many features such as file system, topology, and containers.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
15%
University
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Large Enterprise16
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AlmaLinux?
The billing with AlmaLinux is very low, and the manager is very satisfied.
What needs improvement with AlmaLinux?
AlmaLinux could be improved by enhancing security and increasing speed.
What is your primary use case for AlmaLinux?
AlmaLinux is used as a DHCP server. I installed DNSmasq service on AlmaLinux and use it for many tasks and services such as Kaspersky EDR. AlmaLinux is easy to use as a VM and with containers.
What needs improvement with Rocky Linux?
I am not an expert on Rocky Linux, but I do not have anything to say regarding improvements; I think it is doing better. I chose a rating of eight out of ten because Rocky Linux must grow more; it ...
What is your primary use case for Rocky Linux?
My main use case for Rocky Linux is for the Nutanix environment, where we have a data center and everything is hosted there, including all the services and systems. Rocky Linux is the main OS of th...
What advice do you have for others considering Rocky Linux?
My advice to others looking into using Rocky Linux is to go ahead and use it. I give Rocky Linux a rating of eight out of ten.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

AlmaLinux OS 8 (x86_64), AlmaLinux OS 10 (x86_64)
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about AlmaLinux vs. Rocky Linux and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
896,467 professionals have used our research since 2012.