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Kali Linux vs openSUSE Leap comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

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

Kali Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
openSUSE Leap
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
14th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
6
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 Kali Linux is 3.7%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 5.6%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Kali Linux3.7%
openSUSE Leap5.6%
Other90.7%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Ciyagi Ciyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Runs efficiently across devices and streamlines penetration testing workflows
Kali Linux could be improved by including more tools. I would personally like to see improvements in Kali Linux, particularly regarding Grub issues that sometimes occur when installing the VM. Additionally, I have experienced problems when updating Kali Linux from a higher version to a lower version, which resulted in crashes. These Grub issues should be resolved. I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data.
NK
Senior Manager at Cognizant
Provides BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots
I only use the tool for testing purposes on my team, but multiple people use it. We don't make a team effort to install the solution. When it comes to maintenance, we ask our company to buy SUSE Linux Enterprise. My team consists of 13 people. We are currently integrating the solution with Ansible to do some coding. Although not a full-fledged automation, we are integrating the solution with Ansible and executing a couple of playbooks connected to openSUSE Leap. I would recommend the solution to other users looking for an open-source solution. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most effective features of Kali Linux include its stability as a Linux operating system, its flexibility in configuring resources such as partitions, its powerful and stable file system, and its multi-user capability, which allows for setting user privileges and rights. Additionally, Kali Linux provides access to a wide range of free and open-source applications for testing and development purposes."
"We use the product for open-source intelligence and identifying vulnerabilities."
"In general, Kali Linux is used for hosting applications, developing new applications, and operating systems. It's also used in containers and nodes. The tool offers a smaller footprint than Windows because it lacks the functionality of graphical user interfaces. One advantage of Kali Linux is its lower maintenance requirements than Windows, with slower update cycles and easier maintenance procedures."
"Kali Linux has helped me significantly in simulating penetration testing and other activities, and since all the tools are open source, I can easily modify and customize them based on my needs."
"I use the tool with Nmap to perform network audits. We use it to find vulnerabilities in our network through attacks. It's for those who want to launch or create viruses or perform attacks on systems. With Kali Linux, you can conduct penetration testing for networks, web applications, and Android mobile apps."
"Kali Linux has positively impacted my work by facilitating and simplifying the setup for an operating system and installing tools."
"The most valuable feature of Kali Linux is the attack it performs using a CVE script that's already on the internet."
"Kali Linux has the capability of real-time data scanning for vulnerability assessment for backend services, and that is actually very far more valuable."
"The solution is very stable after it is configured. It is hard to have a panel slow, a problem, misconfiguration, or any kind of loss function."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots."
"The most valuable feature by far has been the virtualization capabilities of the operating system."
"The solution is easy for me to use because the backend is derived from FreeBSD and this is something I have been using for over 20 years."
"Stable - it just runs without the necessity to reboot."
"openSUSE Leap has helped me with using containers in Podman."
 

Cons

"From an improvement perspective, it should be made possible for users to learn about the product easily."
"The only real limitation I can see with Kali Linux is the steep learning curve of using it."
"The only point that I didn't find on Kali Linux for now is the ability to customize port scanning."
"There are areas for improvement in Kali Linux, particularly regarding its use of the Linux kernel, which requires external additional patching, and the fact that network services are disabled by default, which complicates usage; enhancing user-friendliness through more GUI-based tools and better integration could be beneficial."
"While Kali Linux has gotten better over the past years, it could be improved if it was bundled in a CLI-only pack."
"The tool is slightly difficult to learn."
"I would like to have automation in Kali Linux instead of manually configuring or setting up something in case of an upgrade."
"Increasing the tutorials and the help inside Kali Linux would make it more useful."
"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."
"It would be helpful if we could easily switch from openSUSE Leap for testing to SUSE Linux Enterprise for production."
"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."
"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I use it free of charge."
"The tool is open-source."
"Kali Linux is a free product, and you don't have to pay for a license."
"Kali Linux is open source."
"I have used the free version."
"There is no need to make any payments towards the licensing costs since it is a solution that is available for free."
"It is an open-source tool."
"The licensing fee is expensive compared to other products."
"The solution is open-source."
"This is an open-source operating system that can be used free of charge."
"openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
14%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Educational Organization
10%
Comms Service Provider
19%
Educational Organization
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Kali Linux?
I use the tool with Nmap to perform network audits. We use it to find vulnerabilities in our network through attacks. It's for those who want to launch or create viruses or perform attacks on syste...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kali Linux?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Kali Linux has been that it was free to use.
What needs improvement with Kali Linux?
I think Kali Linux is good, but there is a widespread misunderstanding related to Kali Linux because many people believe Kali Linux is a tool for hackers and that anything can be hacked using it. T...
What needs improvement with openSUSE Leap?
Both openSUSE Leap and the SUSE Enterprise version use the same kernel. Suppose I have a lower environment where I can run openSUSE to test all my products. It would be helpful if I could easily sw...
What is your primary use case for openSUSE Leap?
I use openSUSE Leap for testing purposes. Before officially using any server in our office, we test it using the solution. My office usually uses production servers on the SUSE Linux enterprise ver...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for openSUSE Leap?
openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Kali Linux vs. openSUSE Leap and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,797 professionals have used our research since 2012.