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CentOS vs Flatcar Container 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

CentOS
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Flatcar Container Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
39th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
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 CentOS is 4.7%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Flatcar Container Linux is 0.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
CentOS4.7%
Flatcar Container Linux0.9%
Other94.4%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Mohammad Wasif - PeerSpot reviewer
IT infrastructure executive at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Has supported reliable deployments and simplified issue resolution in complex environments
The most suitable feature of CentOS is its exceptional stability, security, and long-term support, which make it a popular choice for enterprise and server environments. CentOS is widely recognized for providing a stable and secure platform, especially suited for server and mission-critical workloads. Whenever we face critical work, it is easy for our team to handle. For long-term support, each CentOS release generally guarantees long-term updates, ensuring reliability for extended periods. For package management, we use YUM and DNF in the new version for flexible and efficient software management. It depends on our users' requirements for installing CentOS. Licensing for CentOS is above my management details, so I am not aware of this information. CentOS always provides good feedback, is easy to handle, and easy to troubleshoot. The experience with CentOS OS has been very good over the last two months. I rate CentOS nine out of ten.
YD
Senior Consultant at Capgemini
The solution is stable and allows us to make needed changes
The development teams could sharpen their skills.  They should offer applications on the net I have eight years of experience with Flatcar Container Linux. The version of Flatcar Container Linux that I am using is stable. The scalability of this product is fine. It allows us to make the needed…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is easy to troubleshoot."
"There's lots of great documentation available."
"If you had to choose a Linux distribution for enterprise grade stability, then this would be the logical choice."
"CentOS's most valuable features are that it's cost-saving and helps to scale down your usage."
"The ROI is incalculable. We could not do our business without CentOS/Red Hat."
"CentOS adapts well to many software and applications, providing good compatibility."
"The most valuable features of CentOS are it is built from Linux, has good performance, and we can create scripts."
"Its performance is most valuable, and there is a performance boost as compared to when the applications are run on Windows OS."
"Flatcar's support is good, and the version I am using is stable and allows us to make needed changes."
"Flatcar's support is good. The version I am using is stable and allows us to make needed changes."
 

Cons

"I think CentOS should introduce more security patches to fix different vulnerabilities."
"As an open-source solution, there isn't much technical support."
"This solution is no longer suited to our business following the change they have made to the release process. It is no longer an enterprise solution."
"I'd like to see better integration with Open Stack, because it can be a bit of a struggle."
"I would like the integration to be more secure."
"I think CentOS can be improved, but it's not really a viable option anymore."
"The price could be better."
"The interface could be improved."
"The development teams could sharpen their skills. They should offer applications on the net."
"The development teams could sharpen their skills. They should offer applications on the net."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is open-source, which means it is a free product. It has a one-time deployment cost."
"The solution is free of cost to use."
"We don’t have to pay for the system’s licenses."
"CentOS is a free solution."
"The solution is open-source and does not have any costs or licensing fees."
"I'm not required to pay a licensing fee."
"I use the free version."
"The solution is not subscription-based, unlike Red Hat."
Information not available
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Comparison Review

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage and VMware Expert at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Comms Service Provider
15%
University
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise29
No data available
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CentOS?
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing for CentOS, there is no cost for licensing or setup pricing, so it is easy to set up and scale up the server.
What needs improvement with CentOS?
CentOS can be improved, but I have not yet faced any kind of issue or hectic problem.
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

CentOS 7 (x86_64) - with Updates HVM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
CISCO, mettle, Microsoft, Upguard, GMX
Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Rocky Linux, Canonical and others in Operating Systems (OS) for Business. Updated: May 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.