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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
11th
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
12th
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 January 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 6.0%, up from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Solaris is 1.9%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
openSUSE Leap6.0%
Oracle Solaris1.9%
Other92.1%
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's most valuable feature is the BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"One of the main advantages is the rock-solid reliability. It works. The stability is very good. It has a very good track record in the data security database."
"Oracle Solaris has a graphical interface that is user-friendly, especially with its use of dark colors."
"We use the solution as an internal operating system."
"Oracle Solaris is pre-installed in our environment. Thus, it is simple to customize."
"Oracle Solaris's operating system is good."
"Solaris' best feature is its stability."
"This product is stable, has good documentation, lots of solutions, a big community, and good support."
"The backup capabilities are quite good."
 

Cons

"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."
"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."
"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
"It would be helpful if we could easily switch from openSUSE Leap for testing to SUSE Linux Enterprise for production."
"Oracle is going to discontinue it, so I do not think any improvement is possible in Oracle Solaris."
"The tool is quite complex and difficult for anyone trying to use or study it."
"The scalability of the solution can be improved."
"More monitoring tools could be included in the product."
"Solaris' package management could be improved, especially in comparison to Linux."
"Oracle Solaris needs to improve its compatibility with office tools like Excel."
"Patching without downtime would be nice."
"I would love to see improvements in SVM, so file systems could be increased or migrated without downtime to the environment, similar to what ZFS is capable of."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
"The solution is open-source."
"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."
"This is an open-source operating system that can be used free of charge."
"The price is not good and needs to improve."
"There is no OS licensing cost if you use their hardware and purchase hardware maintenance."
"It is more expensive, but very complete and worth enacting."
"Solaris is highly priced compared to other solutions, but since it's a niche product, this is to be expected."
"The solution is free to use."
"It is a very expensive product."
"This solution needs a license to use it."
"The product is inexpensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
20%
Educational Organization
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
 

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 do you like most about Oracle Solaris?
We use the solution as an internal operating system.
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.
 

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: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.