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Oracle Solaris 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

openSUSE Leap
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
18th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle Solaris
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
16th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 4.9%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Solaris is 2.5%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle Solaris2.5%
openSUSE Leap4.9%
Other92.6%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Shafiq Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Head Of IT at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Long-term server platform has supported secure banking operations and simplified virtualization
Oracle Solaris is a very good operating system. Most of the time, we do not need to change or replace any configuration. If at any point in time we need to change something, it is really simple and a user-friendly environment. Although it is a CLI, Oracle introduced a GUI environment with Solaris 11.5. Currently, 11.5 has the operating system GUI as well as the CLI. The technical persons working on the operating system most of the time prefer to work on the CLI. It is actually really good and easy to use. As it is a server-level operating system, most of the time you do not need any extra features in the operating system because you are not using the operating system on home machines, desktops, or laptop machines. The extra features are not needed if we are talking about the enterprise level or an official operating system.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"openSUSE Leap has helped me with using containers in Podman."
"The most valuable feature by far has been the virtualization capabilities of the operating system."
"Stable - it just runs without the necessity to reboot."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots."
"This solution has helped my organization's security from the use of its firewall, and the features for blocking or allowing traffic are very effective and have worked well for us."
"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."
"Leap has provided me with the ability to offer what I consider Enterprise class server O/S platforms to my smaller customers who are looking to improve their competitive stances without breaking the bank."
"We like that the virtualization is built in, so you don't have to spend extra money on buying licenses for a hypervisor."
"If I talk about the Oracle Solaris platform, it is a very robust system; when you run the database, it will run as intended."
"Implementing this product is a no brainer if you are using Oracle databases on SPARC."
"Backwards compatibility and stability are the most valuable features."
"Solaris is scalable because they have their own file system, like CFS."
"The stability of the solution is good."
"Oracle Solaris's operating system is good."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of setup."
 

Cons

"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."
"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"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."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
"Currently, there are two variants, there's SPARC and there's x86. I would have wanted a scenario where they're all just one product."
"They could also enable Oracle OEM for x86 architecture as well."
"Oracle customer service is slow at times."
"More monitoring tools could be included in the product."
"I believe before Oracle was using Oracle Linux, they were using Oracle Solaris for their customers who are using Oracle databases. This was because it was more optimized for the hardware built for it. It has good performance for the database only. However, if you take it out of the Oracle applications, it will not do well compared to other operating systems, such as Linux or even Windows can have better performance."
"Needs NTFS support and VMware compatibility."
"One of the drawbacks is Oracle itself. Oracle has its good and bad they are not putting resources into the development."
"It is not easy to use. It doesn't have a user-friendly interface. It should be easy to use. We are planning to move from Solaris to Linux because Linux is more flexible and user-friendly. Its installation should also be easier. Solaris also needs specific hardware to work well, which is another reason why we are moving to Linux. It should be more flexible in terms of hardware. It should have better integration with other hardware platforms."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open-source."
"This is an open-source operating system that can be used free of charge."
"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."
"openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
"The current setup with hardware devices involves a higher cost, but the performance is top-notch."
"As a private user or individual, I wouldn't recommend it to others, considering it is a costly product."
"This solution needs a license to use it."
"The price of Oracle Solaris could be less expensive."
"The solution is expensive and is based on an annual fee."
"Solaris is highly priced compared to other solutions, but since it's a niche product, this is to be expected."
"It is an expensive product. I rate the pricing a ten out of ten."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
21%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise32
 

Questions from the Community

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.
How does Oracle Linux compare with Solaris?
When comparing Oracle Linux and Solaris, I believe that Linux is more secure and more flexible. It is also very suitable for enterprises that are already Oracle solution users. I found Linux to be ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Solaris?
I find the pricing of Oracle Solaris to be affordable compared to competitors like Windows.
What needs improvement with Oracle Solaris?
In my opinion, the GUI was missing, as I mentioned earlier. Oracle has already introduced it. There might be some additional security features. The firewall must be more capable because security is...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Solaris 11, Solaris
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Siemens, IVV
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Solaris vs. openSUSE Leap and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.