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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
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Flatcar Container Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
38th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of CentOS is 4.4%, down from 5.9% 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 (%)
CentOS4.4%
Flatcar Container Linux0.9%
Other94.7%
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 product is based on Red Hat and very stable."
"If I need to install a feature or fix a server issue, I can easily find answers online. The CentOS community is also vast and helpful."
"Since joining my organization, which has been using CentOS, I've observed that all products with CentOS as a base OS run smoothly."
"CentOS has helped me most through its enterprise-level stability."
"We used the solution as an operating system."
"The latest version of this solution has everything built in, making it comprehensive and very easy to use."
"Setup is straightforward. You can complete it in about 30 minutes."
"The most valuable feature of CentOS is the speed and it is very easy to use."
"Flatcar's support is good. The version I am using is stable and allows us to make needed changes."
 

Cons

"We are aware that the licensing has shifted, and it's not a change we've liked."
"It could be more secure."
"The solution could be more scalable."
"The server system is a little bit tough to manage."
"I would like to see more frequent updates."
"More security features could be included in the next release."
"The documentation and support could be improved, along with compatibility with newer hardware as hardware continually evolves over time."
"They could build more options into the wizard."
"The development teams could sharpen their skills. They should offer applications on the net."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"CentOS is an open source that is free of cost."
"We are using a subscription-based license option for CentOS."
"There are no costs for CentOS, it is open-source."
"Once you buy the license, Linux will provide you with yearly or monthly patches, so your systems will be scalable for a long time."
"The solution is open source."
"There are no licensing costs for CentOS."
"CentOS is cheaper compared to Windows."
"It is open-source, which means it is a free product. It has a one-time deployment cost."
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
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
13%
University
13%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise28
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?
I am not entirely sure about the license I purchased for my local machine, but I assume it is the community version, while for the AWS one, I do not entirely remember the pricing.
What needs improvement with CentOS?
I do not find anything that can be improved in CentOS. I am a huge fan of it, and there is hardly anything that Linux in general does not already provide. I think CentOS is the best and closest thi...
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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: February 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.