Kali Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) comparison

Kali Linux and Red Hat are both solutions in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category. Kali Linux is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.8, while Red Hat is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8. Kali Linux holds a 2.5% mindshare in OSB, compared to Red Hat’s 9.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Kali Linux users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

Kali Linux

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1,583 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...

Read 337 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) reviews

22,455 Views
22,230 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Kali Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Kali Linux compete in the Linux distribution market. Users are happier with RHEL's support but believe Kali Linux offers better features, making it more valuable for specific use cases such as cybersecurity.

Features: RHEL is known for stability, security, and enterprise-level support. Kali Linux is valued for specialized tools, cybersecurity functionalities, and versatility. RHEL is preferred for enterprises, while Kali Linux is ideal for penetration testing.

Room for Improvement: RHEL could improve in cost and complexity of updates. Kali Linux users suggest enhancements in documentation and user-friendliness. The primary concern for RHEL is cost, and for Kali Linux, it is usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: RHEL is noted for extensive support and reliable deployment. Kali Linux, while efficient in deployment, offers less structured customer service. RHEL is easier to deploy in large-scale environments due to robust support.

Pricing and ROI: RHEL has higher setup costs but provides high ROI due to stability and support. Kali Linux has lower upfront costs, delivering good value for money but a lower ROI compared to RHEL. Red Hat generates better long-term returns despite higher initial expenses.

To learn more, read our detailed Kali Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Kali Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

July 2025

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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

11th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

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

7.1

Number of Reviews

337

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Kali Linux is 2.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 9.2%, down from 12.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

Featured Reviews

Rohit Srivastava

IT Manager at PRATHAM SOFTWARE PRIVATE LIMITED

SQLmap for web application testing and good for web application penetration testing, network testing, vulnerability assessment of any devices or domains

Sometimes, I do face challenges. There's an issue where sometimes during the initial installation, it doesn't install properly. It gives multiple errors like packages not installing, so we have to install those tools separately. For instance, if we want to install a network or other tools, we have to install those complete toolkits manually. So, the challenge is with the initial setup, where I sometimes get errors. Regarding wireless attacks, OS attacks, and social engineering... the tools should be easier to learn because I know everything very well, but some people in my team struggle to understand. If there were GUI interfaces for the tools, it would help me guide my team in using them step-by-step. Command lines are very difficult for other team members who know the tool's purpose but not the Linux commands. GUI interfaces need more improvement. So, the UI interface needs improvement to make it more visible and easier for users. Expert users can do everything without any issues, but new users will struggle.

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Bruce Lundberg

Linux HPC Systems Administrator at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Reliable patch management, high uptime, and incredible knowledge base

In terms of security, it does a lot of things that most people still turn off. SELinux is turned on by default. They have pretty good firewall rules in their defaults. The audit rules always take tweaking, but, overall, it comes out of the box not too bad. I used to write scripts to harden them from there. There are multiple ways to provision and patch. You have everything from local repositories to doing it by hand. Their knowledge base is incredible. There is so much information out there. It has never taken me longer than 30 minutes to find an answer to anything, even very tough ones. One company I worked for was a security company, and we did a lot of patching on everything. It was designed around security and email hosting, and uptime was pretty much whatever we wanted it to be. I have had a couple of times when the uptime was bad, but it was caused by a third-party solution. In fact, the Norton antivirus was definitely the worst. Red Hat had nothing to do with it.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 is much better than other OS because it gives you a good set of tools. It is preferred for vulnerability assessments and cybersecurity."

"The most valuable feature of Kali Linux is the attack it performs using a CVE script that's already on the internet."

"The interface is good and straightforward to use."

"I'm mostly using for the web security web application, so end map and the troubleshoot will it's my price, and it's available in ColliNX."

"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."

"The solution's most valuable feature is that it is very easy to use."

"Additionally, it now includes comprehensive migration analytics and reporting capabilities."

More Kali Linux pros

"The knowledge base is excellent."

"I enjoy the patching processes and the way Red Hat Enterprise Linux has elements set up. I have never had a patch session fail, even when installing a thousand packages at a time."

"The initial setup of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is straightforward; I find it very easy to set up."

"The high availability capability and the support functions we get from Red Hat Enterprise Linux are among the most valuable features."

"The simplicity of patching Red Hat Enterprise Linux is most valuable."

"The most valuable feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is its comprehensive ecosystem."

"It is a stable solution."

"More applications are adopting a Red Hat way of operating. I personally observed many application teams port their applications to Red Hat due to these vulnerability considerations."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) pros

Cons

"From an improvement perspective, it should be made possible for users to learn about the product easily."

"The tool is slightly difficult to learn."

"Unfortunately, my current tool runs on Windows 10, and its use is restricted to enterprise versions. Integrating this tool or similar functionalities into Kali Linux for non-enterprise users would be incredibly valuable."

"From an improvement perspective, Kali Linux could include more ML to help with academic literature, as it is one of the areas where there are shortcomings in the solution."

"The product should improve its security features."

"I would like for them to offer more features for the free version in order for users to test them in their internal environment before purchasing."

"The installation process of Kali Linux can be slow, particularly when installing and upgrading packages within virtualized environments."

"Any new user or someone without deep expertise won't be able to understand how to scale or manage it"

More Kali Linux cons

"Some libraries supported by others, such as Oracle, are not supported by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Especially in terms of Java, as now Java is with Oracle, if the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) system could align with those libraries, it would be helpful for end-users, eliminating the need to figure out which library is causing issues."

"The solution's licensing sometimes could be a little bit confusing for someone who's not a full-blown system admin and doesn't have a lot of experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux."

"Live patching should be improved."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be improved by making it lighter. By making it lighter, there should be versions for specific cases, for customers or images."

"Red Hat could add some AI features. There's a lot of talk about AI nowadays, but I don't think will be in Red Enterprise Linux itself. The cloud applications benefit from AI, but I don't think that will be integrated into the OS yet."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be improved by incorporating some of the third-party repositories, as different repos might show more options than one would get with a base builder for Red Hat, so having the choice to include those during install would be beneficial."

"It would be very good if we can easily migrate from CentOS to Red Hat. We are about to move from CentOS to Red Hat. It would be great if they can give us a free version. Otherwise, we need to purchase licenses, which are quite expensive."

"One area for improvement is the Subscription Manager, which is sometimes an inconvenience, especially when it doesn't work well with Satellite."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Kali Linux offers a perpetual license, meaning you pay for it once and can use it. While free versions of Linux are available, Kali Linux, being an enterprise edition, usually comes with a perpetual license. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."

"I use it free of charge."

"It is an open-source tool."

"The tool is open-source."

"The price is good because Kali Linux already provides a good bundle of tools."

"I have used the free version."

"The licensing fee is expensive compared to other products."

"Kali Linux is open source."

More Kali Linux pricing and cost advice

"I have limited information regarding Red Hat Enterprise Linux pricing and licensing, but our managers appear satisfied."

"This is not a cheap solution but it gets you the support if you ever need it."

"If Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can reduce its pricing, then it would be easier to convince others that there is not much difference between open-source solutions while still receiving several features for a licensing cost."

"The solution's pricing is reasonable and less expensive than other products such as Windows or Oracle."

"For me, it is not too bad, but my company pays the bill, so I do not worry too much about it."

"I did some research on pricing a long time ago, and at that time, it was much cheaper than Windows. I do not have current details about pricing, but it is affordable."

"The licensing is a bit odd because we need to procure the licenses from a third party."

"I do not know the overall cost, but I know that Red Hat is cheaper than Windows."

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user281973

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…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

University

12%

Educational Organization

11%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kali Linux?

Kali Linux offers a perpetual license, meaning you pay for it once and can use it. While free versions of Linux are available, Kali Linux, being an enterprise edition, usually comes with a perpetua...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Kali Linux?

The tool is already stable and well-developed, so there's minimal feedback for enhancement or change. However, it should improve security, which is crucial, especially with the increasing use of Ka...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?

It is open source. We can customize it as per our requirements.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?

The licensing cost for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is comparable to SUSE for premium support. For approximately $2,000 per year, you can get premium support for one subscription which allows yo...

See all answers

Comparisons

Windows 10 vs Kali Linux

Compared 18% of the time

CentOS vs Kali Linux

Compared 17% of the time

Windows 11 vs Kali Linux

Compared 15% of the time

Rocky Linux vs Kali Linux

Compared 9% of the time

Debian vs Kali Linux

Compared 7% of the time

More Kali Linux Competitors

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 20% of the time

Windows Server vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 14% of the time

Rocky Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 13% of the time

Oracle Linux vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 9% of the time

openSUSE Leap vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Compared 4% of the time

More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Kali Linux

August 2025

Download Kali Linux product report

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

August 2025

Download Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) product report

Also Known As

No data available

Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL

Overview

Kali Linux is widely used by organizations for penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, web application security, network audits, ethical hacking, and open-source intelligence, providing extensive free features.

Organizations run Kali Linux in virtualized environments alongside other operating systems, employing tools for automated scans, malware identification, infrastructure testing, and application development or hosting. These users benefit from lower maintenance requirements and a smaller footprint. The toolset includes Nmap, SQLMap, Metasploit, and Hydra, ensuring effective security assessments. Its high scalability, performance, user-friendly interface, and extensive documentation enhance the platform's usability. Known for stability, flexibility, and virus resistance, Kali Linux supports web security, troubleshooting, and configuration tasks comprehensively.

What are the most important features of Kali Linux?

Nmap: A network scanning tool for discovering hosts and services.
SQLMap: An SQL injection and database takeover tool.
Metasploit: A penetration testing platform with various exploit tools.
Hydra: A network log-in cracker supporting numerous protocols.
Documentation: Offers extensive resources for user guidance.
Stability: Provides a reliable and consistent operating environment.
Scalability: Adapts efficiently to growing security needs.
Performance: Ensures fast and efficient operations.
Virus Resistance: Enhances security through robust virus protection.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Free tools reduce operational expenses.
Operational Efficiency: Lower maintenance needs and quick setup.
Enhanced Security: Robust tools for comprehensive security measures.
Flexibility: Adaptable to different environments and requirements.

Kali Linux can support industries in improving security through stable and flexible environments that resist viruses and provide extensive documentation. Users employ it for web security, troubleshooting, and configuring capabilities. Necessary improvements include automation, user-friendliness, and integrating AI and blockchain. Enhancements in security features, faster installations, and better learning tools are also essential. Machine learning integration and non-enterprise user functionalities can address current limitations.

Kali Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is recognized for its stability, security, and performance, serving diverse industries with its robust support and seamless cloud deployment capabilities.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides comprehensive server applications across cloud environments, featuring tools like Ansible for enhanced user experience. It integrates OpenShift, Identity Management, and automation, supported by extensive documentation. Users seek easier upgrades, enhanced network virtualization support, and improved live patching.

What are the key features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Stability and Security: RHEL is designed to provide a stable and secure environment, backed by consistent updates.
Cloud Deployment: Easily deployable across cloud platforms, enhancing flexibility.
Integration with Ansible: Enhances operational efficiency with powerful automation tools.
OpenShift and Containerization: Supports modern app development with integrated OpenShift features.
Extensive Documentation: Offers comprehensive resources for users to troubleshoot and optimize.

What are the benefits of using Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Reliable Support: Benefit from extensive support options for seamless operation.
Enhanced Security: Built-in features ensure data integrity and protection.
Increased Flexibility: Suitable for diverse deployment environments, including on-premises and cloud.
Operational Efficiency: Tools like automation and cloud navigation improve productivity.
Training and Resources: Access to comprehensive training contributes to smoother implementations.

In sectors like finance, telecommunications, and education, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is crucial for running stable, secure systems. Its application spans web servers, data management, and containerization through tools like Kubernetes. Organizations adopt it for on-premises, virtualized, and cloud environments, ensuring robust infrastructure management.

Red Hat

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

Buyer's Guide

Kali Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

July 2025

Free Report: Kali Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Find out what your peers are saying about Kali Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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