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Kali Linux vs Rocky Linux comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 13, 2025

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
6.2
Kali Linux improves vulnerability testing, offering cost-effective security benefits through AWS deployment and open-source tools for businesses.
Sentiment score
4.3
Transitioning to Rocky Linux yields cost savings and efficient support, though ROI remains partially evaluated due to retained resources.
Integrating Kali Linux with DevOps tools has resulted in reduced operational costs due to automated test cases, making it a worthwhile investment with significant returns by decreasing the attack surface area and the frequency of attack incidents.
SWE-1 at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
If we had installed it on-premises or through other means, it would have incurred significant money and effort to create the VMs, deploy it on machines, and then delete and format it after use.
Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
I have saved time by avoiding the lag I sometimes face on the TryHackMe in-built machine, and I have learned more efficiently.
Associate Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
When it comes to return on investment, a lot of money is saved since we moved from a purchased license to the open source provided by Rocky Linux.
System Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
ROI has been good as we have significant open source community involvement.
Technical Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I have seen a return on investment since there was definitely money saved at the time due to the lack of need for licensing since Rocky is available openly.
System Administrator at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.2
Kali Linux provides strong community support and documentation but lacks direct customer support, relying on user self-research.
Sentiment score
4.5
Rocky Linux is reliable with minimal customer support needed; community resources are effective, and official support responds promptly.
Since most of the tools and other things are community-based, the documentation and other community support are very good.
Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
I was able to solve the problems I was experiencing.
Product security engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The support level is extraordinary, providing on-time assistance.
Senior System Engineer at Al Jazeera Media Network
We have not yet needed to contact a vendor regarding Rocky Linux.
Senior Network Engineer at KLC bvba
Even if we raise a support ticket, we receive a resolution or a reply from the team within two business days.
System Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Users find Kali Linux scalable and flexible, supporting diverse platforms, ideal for penetration testing and educational purposes.
Sentiment score
5.6
Rocky Linux is praised for scalability, ease of integration, and effective performance in scalable and high availability environments.
You can use it on cloud, VPS, and on-premises.
Security Researcher at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would describe Kali Linux's scalability as very scalable because I can deploy it on a range of different machines, whether that is my laptop or using maybe Raspberry Pi or Android.
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Regarding the scalability of Kali Linux for my work and projects, whenever I was conducting brute force attacks and provided more than two or three million lines of payload, the system would freeze.
Product security engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Even if the server is not responding and we want to attach the volume on another instance or a temporary instance, it is very easy and straightforward with no hiccups.
CloudOps Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
It has handled growth or changing needs well.
System Administrator at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The scalability is quite good, though there are some issues with Rocky Linux.
System Engineer at clusterkit
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Kali Linux is praised for stability and dependability, recommended for virtualization, with occasional issues resolved using older versions.
Sentiment score
7.3
Rocky Linux is praised for stability, reliability, and ease of use on low-resource systems, receiving high user satisfaction ratings.
Due to the huge user base that uses it, it is kept up to date regularly.
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Kali Linux is stable for my use cases, though not the latest version.
Product security engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Kali Linux is very stable for my needs.
Consultant at Cognizant
Rocky Linux is stable, scalable, and it is very much easier to use.
System Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Rocky Linux is stable.
Software Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Kali Linux users seek better automation, UI, security, and support, with improved installation, hardware detection, and beginner-friendly resources.
Rocky Linux needs improvements in software availability, documentation, integration issues, updates, Kubernetes support, and security solutions to satisfy user needs.
If real-time customized port scanning can be added, for example, instead of a default port such as 8080 or 443, if we can use a customized port such as 9876, that capability would be great.
Senior Technical Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
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.
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
If there were video courses attached to how to safely use it, especially for absolute beginners with no previous experience using Linux operating systems, I think that could be very useful.
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It is based on customer requirements, as they might want to use Rocky Linux or Ubuntu, depending on their needs.
System Engineer at clusterkit
Rocky Linux could be improved by having more integration with Kubernetes.
Linux architect at European Commission
Currently, it takes more than one month to release a new package or kernel, so speeding that up would help reduce reported vulnerability remediations.
System Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Kali Linux is a cost-effective, open-source solution for enterprises seeking a comprehensive operating system with no licensing costs.
Enterprise clients find Rocky Linux economical, with options as low as $10 yearly, enhancing affordability compared to VMware.
Kali Linux is free software, an operating system that's available to download without any cost or licensing fees.
Associate Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I simply create a VM, so there are no costs involved.
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Kali Linux has been positive, as it operates under an open-source model.
SWE-1 at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
We switched to Rocky Linux because of the license price, and in our business, we don't need to have a higher cost as that is not a good idea.
Network Infrastructure Manager at SAGEMCOM
There is no extra cost for a license if we are purchasing Rocky Linux from the AWS Marketplace.
CloudOps Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Rocky Linux is free, and I can download it and deploy it in whatever environment I have, whether it be H3C, VMware, or Hyper-V.
Server & Cloud Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Valuable Features

Kali Linux is favored for its pre-installed security tools, user-friendly design, and customizable features for efficient cybersecurity tasks.
Rocky Linux enhances reliability and efficiency with strong community support, stability, easy migration, scalability, and cost savings.
Kali Linux has positively impacted my organization by improving efficiency in penetration testing; its open-source nature permits extensive customization and inclusion of numerous comprehensive pre-installed tools, contributing to a secure network environment with effective monitoring of network applications.
SWE-1 at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
A unique and really helpful feature of Kali Linux, compared to other operating systems, is that many of the offensive security tools are already pre-configured and pre-installed.
Product security engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Kali Linux positively impacts my organization by allowing us to monitor changes and security posture for the company.
Consultant at Cognizant
Rocky Linux has positively impacted my organization, specifically through cost savings, because we did not have to buy any licenses or extra licenses of other distros, such as Oracle or Red Hat.
IT / IAM Senior Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
For production deployment, Rocky Linux is a great choice because it offers full RHEL compatibility without licensing costs, along with strong community support.
CloudOps Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Since migrating to Rocky Linux, I've seen specific outcomes such as improved security because CentOS stopped the project, and security patches aren't being released.
Linux architect at European Commission
 

Categories and Ranking

Kali Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Rocky Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Kali Linux is 3.2%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rocky Linux is 12.2%, down from 13.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Rocky Linux12.2%
Kali Linux3.2%
Other84.6%
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.
Massimiliano Adamo - PeerSpot reviewer
Linux architect at European Commission
Has supported seamless migrations and enabled running complex data workloads securely
The best features Rocky Linux offers include clustering and all the packages from Red Hat.Rocky Linux has impacted my organization very positively because we migrated everything from CentOS and Windows servers to Rocky Linux. Everything is clear, with good packaging, and now it's version 9.6, which is very important for us due to security problems since we are in Europe. Rocky Linux is very good for security and other aspects. Since migrating to Rocky Linux, I've seen specific outcomes such as improved security because CentOS stopped the project, and security patches aren't being released. We need to maintain a system similar to Red Hat, which is very stable and has many features such as file system, topology, and containers.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
14%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
14%
University
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
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 Business5
Large Enterprise14
 

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 do you like most about Rocky Linux?
It's very simple to work with, easy to learn, and know where things are.
What needs improvement with Rocky Linux?
I am not an expert on Rocky Linux, but I do not have anything to say regarding improvements; I think it is doing better. I chose a rating of eight out of ten because Rocky Linux must grow more; it ...
What is your primary use case for Rocky Linux?
My main use case for Rocky Linux is for the Nutanix environment, where we have a data center and everything is hosted there, including all the services and systems. Rocky Linux is the main OS of th...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Kali Linux vs. Rocky Linux and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.