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CentOS vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 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
6.0
CentOS offers significant ROI through cost savings on servers, time efficiency, and community support, benefiting IT budgets.
Sentiment score
6.3
Organizations gained ROI with RHEL via cost reduction, enhanced security, reliability, compliance, automation, integration, and community support.
The money saved was significant, approximately fifteen percent of our IT budget.
Senior Support Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
I have seen a return on investment, particularly in terms of money saved because I do not pay for the servers.
Technical Lead InfraOps at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
I have seen a return on investment using CentOS. I can share that mainly time is saved because of the interfaces I have used.
Technical person at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
A long lifecycle is key to having a good return on investment.
Architect at KnowIT
Being able to transform common manual tasks that previously took all day into processes that take an hour, half an hour, or even less, demonstrates clear value.
Systems administrator at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees
I invest effort and money in RHEL 8, expecting the system to be secure and reliable when serving my clients.
Associate Director at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.5
CentOS depends on community support and internet resources for issue resolution, contrasting with Red Hat's commercial support model.
Sentiment score
7.3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux support is praised for responsiveness and competence, though some report slower response times with complex issues.
I would rate the customer support for CentOS a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
I've seen many people across the globe interacting, and when users encounter issues, the community provides solutions.
Presales Engineer at Crayon AS
I would rate the documentation about eight in terms of usefulness.
Technical Operations Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) support is great, as they go beyond their duty to help resolve issues and provide solutions even for third-party software such as XRDP.
Senior Infrastructure Systems Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
When we do contact customer service, they are generally very knowledgeable and well-versed in our size.
Solutions Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Usually, I send the information, and they have something for me within hours, sometimes even minutes.
Team manager at Evertec
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
CentOS is scalable, cost-effective, and adaptable, excelling in both small and large deployments across diverse applications.
Sentiment score
7.1
RHEL effectively scales across environments, supporting vertical and horizontal scaling while integrating with tools like Ansible despite potential costs.
It allows users to scale resources vertically for upgrading hardware and horizontally by adding more servers, making it suitable for modern web hosting and containerized applications.
IT Infrastructure Engineer at Trigyn Technology
CentOS is scalable and user-friendly without requiring complex configurations.
Presales Engineer at Crayon AS
CentOS's scalability for my organization has handled growth and changing needs smoothly.
Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Many of our applications scale really well, with some having several hundreds of VMs, which we couldn't accomplish on Windows.
Solutions Architect at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales very well with the growing needs of our company.
Director, DevOps at Lightedge Solutions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) handles increases in users, applications, or data smoothly, which is why we use it for all our projects, as it provides us with confidence.
Cloud Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
CentOS is highly stable and reliable, with excellent performance and continuous uptime, making it ideal for stable environments.
Sentiment score
7.9
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is praised for its stability, reliability, quick support, and minimal downtime, enhancing server efficiency.
CentOS is stable, reliable, flexible, and very useful.
IT Infrastructure Engineer at Trigyn Technology
CentOS's simplicity and stability make it easy to use.
Presales Engineer at Crayon AS
I believe CentOS is stable, but we are gradually moving away from it.
Technical Operations Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
It works consistently with minimal downtime and very few bugs or glitches.
Senior DevOps Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It just works, and that's really the key factor; I can't remember the last time we had a system go down and had to restore it due to a bad patch.
Senior software engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
We've not had a service outage with Red Hat in six years.
Team Lead, Linux Systems & Tools at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

CentOS users seek better support, security, stability, and user interface due to recent changes, prompting interest in alternatives.
RHEL could improve container support, setup ease, and pricing, while enhancing AI integration and streamlining licensing.
The documentation and support could be improved, along with compatibility with newer hardware as hardware continually evolves over time.
Presales Engineer at Crayon AS
Kernel parameters, sysctl config details, tuned profiles, process prioritization, optimized disk, and input scheduler choice are all points for performance optimization.
IT Infrastructure Engineer at Trigyn Technology
FreeRADIUS security improvements and security patches are needed.
Technical person at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Addressing these limitations would significantly enhance the operating system's flexibility and efficiency.
Senior DevOps Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures.
IT Infrastructure Engineer at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
By providing pre-installed, native automation tools within the operating system, Red Hat would streamline processes and improve user efficiency.
Systems Engineer at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

CentOS is seen as a cost-effective enterprise solution, due to its open-source nature, eliminating licensing fees.
RHEL's subscription model offers cost-effective support and reliability, appealing to enterprises despite being pricier than open-source alternatives.
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing for CentOS, there is no cost for licensing or setup pricing.
Devops Engineer at EDAG
There was no cost in terms of deploying it or getting the license for it.
Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
CentOS is a free product with free updates.
Technical Operations Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
It may be considered expensive compared to other solutions like CentOS or Ubuntu, which offer some of the same features without additional costs.
Cloud Infrastructure Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Windows Servers base their cost on the number of users and have high licensing fees, while Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers free versions alongside its paid, supported versions.
Senior DevOps Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Compared to cloud-based platforms like AWS or Azure, which offer flexible pay-as-you-go options, RHEL's subscription-based model can become cost-prohibitive for those with limited budgets or smaller-scale projects.
Senior Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Valuable Features

CentOS is favored for enterprise use due to its stability, ease of use, scalability, and strong community support.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux enhances security, trust, and support, excelling in reliability, scalability, and integration with automation tools.
CentOS has helped me most through its enterprise-level stability.
Technical person at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
I have found CentOS servers to run very long without any issues, as well as clean updates that do not cause any downtimes.
Technical Lead InfraOps at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
The best features CentOS offers in my experience are that it is reliable, cost-effective, and easy to scale.
Devops Engineer at EDAG
It also has strong security features, is OIS and FIPS certified, and has built-in Linux security configurations.
Cloud Infrastructure Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
There is also no downtime.
Linux/DevOps Engineer at Ekwantu Consulting
The operating system allows for the simple addition of kernels, modules, and other applications, making it highly adaptable to various needs.
Technical Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

CentOS
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
448
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of CentOS is 4.7%, up from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 6.7%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)6.7%
CentOS4.7%
Other88.6%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

AnilKumar13 - PeerSpot reviewer
Devops Engineer at EDAG
Cost-effective platform has enabled extensive test environments with rapid server expansion
The best features CentOS offers in my experience are that it is reliable, cost-effective, and easy to scale. When I mention reliability and cost-effectiveness, I explain that our product-based company uses a performance testing tool, so to generate load using the tool, we use CentOS generators, which are also known as VMs. We spin up a number of VMs in different locations such as Central, East, and West. If we purchase a subscription, it requires a good amount of money, but if we use CentOS, it is free of cost, and we can scale from more than 20 to 100 servers. The biggest benefit of CentOS for my organization is cost saving. CentOS has made a positive difference for my team and company by making scalability easier. For testing, sometimes we require 50 to 200 servers in different locations, and I can easily spin up and scale in and scale down.
CC
Vice President at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Automation has transformed daily operations and supports secure, continuous infrastructure
When considering improvements to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I see one primary area. Within your portal, if you provided more study material along with demonstrations similar to the sessions we are attending, which feature a user-friendly guide, you could incorporate this into your Red Hat console. When I want to install an agent or something else, typing in the console should provide me with clear step-by-step instructions. Throughout the years, installation steps have been available, but regarding AI agents or Ansible automation, I need to verify whether clear information exists. Including this information would be beneficial. Additionally, if you add the sessions that have occurred to your portal or another location, this would help us review them multiple times to gain better understanding. Time is limited, and many sessions occur simultaneously, making it impossible to attend everything. Making these sessions available on your website would be very helpful.
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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
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business100
Midsize Enterprise52
Large Enterprise320
 

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
When choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), our security requirement was that I am using it on IBM Power servers, which offered a bundle price. That is why I opted for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (...
What needs improvement with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
Regarding disadvantages in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), the certification cost is a concern for me. The problem with the certification is that its price is high, and it needs to be minimal for ...
What is your primary use case for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
I am using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on a document management system, services server lines, and to build these applications. Regarding lifecycle practices in the cloud, I am using two applic...
 

Also Known As

CentOS 7 (x86_64) - with Updates HVM
Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for AWS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Travel Channel, Mohawk Industries, Hilti, Molecular Health, Exolgan, Hotelplan Group, Emory University, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, HCA Healthcare, Paychex, UPS, Intermountain Healthcare, Brinker International, TransUnion, Union Bank, CA Technologies
Find out what your peers are saying about CentOS vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.