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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Windows Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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
RHEL enhances efficiency, reduces costs, ensures stability, and boosts productivity through automation, manageability, and community support.
Sentiment score
5.0
Windows Server enhances efficiency, reducing support costs by 10-70%, valued for virtualization, integration, security, and operational stability.
A long lifecycle is key to having a good return on investment.
Architect at KnowIT
Being able to transform common manual tasks that previously took all day into processes that take an hour, half an hour, or even less, demonstrates clear value.
Systems administrator at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has saved us time and increased productivity.
Cloud engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The tool supports many applications.
Agile Consultant at MSOLdigi
You get a standard platform that is very secure and stable.
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
The return on investment is evident as having efficient resources to manage our infrastructure means we are less dependent on costly external support from Microsoft.
Executive Vice President Technology at InfoEdge India Ltd
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
RHEL's support is efficient and knowledgeable, often surpassing competitors, though response times may vary by support agent.
Sentiment score
6.3
Windows Server support is praised for expertise and responsiveness but experiences vary, with some users finding delays and inconsistencies.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) support is great, as they go beyond their duty to help resolve issues and provide solutions even for third-party software such as XRDP.
Senior Infrastructure Systems Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
When we do contact customer service, they are generally very knowledgeable and well-versed in our size.
Solutions Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Usually, I send the information, and they have something for me within hours, sometimes even minutes.
Team manager at Evertec
They resolved our problems within the defined SLA.
Relationship Manager at Cognizant
When I had an issue with Hyper-V, the support was excellent.
Systems technician. IT Office at LNU
The technical support from Microsoft is one of the best, though there can be challenges when it comes to priority zero or critical issues, where the queue can be longer.
Executive Vice President Technology at InfoEdge India Ltd
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
RHEL excels in scalability, adapting efficiently to diverse needs across platforms while users praise its reliable performance management.
Sentiment score
7.4
Windows Server efficiently scales from small to large user bases, supporting resource adjustments for smooth organizational growth.
Many of our applications scale really well, with some having several hundreds of VMs, which we couldn't accomplish on Windows.
Solutions Architect at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales very well with the growing needs of our company.
Director, DevOps at Lightedge Solutions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) handles increases in users, applications, or data smoothly, which is why we use it for all our projects, as it provides us with confidence.
Cloud Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I've worked in companies with 20,000 to 100,000 users, and it scales beautifully without issues.
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
We use it everywhere, and it serves approximately two thousand users in our company as a backend service.
System Engineer at Alnajat charity
Windows Server is highly scalable; I can upgrade the hardware capacity or storage capacity smoothly.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is praised for stability, minimal downtime, strong support, efficient patches, and swift bug resolutions.
Sentiment score
7.4
Windows Server is praised for its stability, with recent versions highly reliable despite occasional update challenges.
It works consistently with minimal downtime and very few bugs or glitches.
Senior DevOps Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It just works, and that's really the key factor; I can't remember the last time we had a system go down and had to restore it due to a bad patch.
Senior software engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
We've not had a service outage with Red Hat in six years.
Team Lead, Linux Systems & Tools at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
Manager at Accenture company
I rate the stability a 9 out of 10.
Connectivity Platform Cyber Security Specialist at BASF Business Services GmbH
The stability is better with the newer versions like 2019.
System Engineer at Alnajat charity
 

Room For Improvement

Enhancing RHEL user experience involves improving documentation, setup, security, training, automation, updates, integration, support, and interface.
Windows Server users cite security, performance, integration issues, setup complexity, high cost, and frequent maintenance as key concerns.
Addressing these limitations would significantly enhance the operating system's flexibility and efficiency.
Senior DevOps Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures.
IT Infrastructure Engineer at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
By providing pre-installed, native automation tools within the operating system, Red Hat would streamline processes and improve user efficiency.
Systems Engineer at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Deploying antivirus and firewall software on the server is advisable, but having an external firewall adds an extra layer of security.
Project and Service Delivery Manager Cloud at MANAPPURAM COMPTECH AND CONSULTANTS LIMITED
The vendor must update everything with the same user interface and make it more modern.
Agile Consultant at MSOLdigi
If Windows could make the OS part lighter, especially starting and restarting the Windows Server, which needs to be quick, then it would be great since this is an area where the tool lacks a bit.
Manager at Accenture company
 

Setup Cost

Red Hat Enterprise Linux's pricing is cost-effective for enterprises needing support, despite free alternatives, with simplified and appealing licensing.
Windows Server licensing is complex and costly, but it's popular for its features despite pricing concerns compared to alternatives.
It may be considered expensive compared to other solutions like CentOS or Ubuntu, which offer some of the same features without additional costs.
Cloud Infrastructure Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Its pricing has room for improvement because it's more expensive in the local market due to purchasing power parity in India.
Cloud engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Windows Servers base their cost on the number of users and have high licensing fees, while Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers free versions alongside its paid, supported versions.
Senior DevOps Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most expensive, I rate it ten out of ten.
Manager, IT Security at Averis Sdn Bhd
Microsoft offers product pricing with licenses per processor and CAL licenses for accessing.
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
The cost associated with Windows Server—considering pricing, licensing, and setup—is expensive, no doubt.
Executive Vice President Technology at InfoEdge India Ltd
 

Valuable Features

Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers robust security, flexibility, and comprehensive management, enhancing reliability, scalability, and operational efficiency for organizations.
Windows Server excels with Active Directory, Hyper-V, integration, security, and usability, making it ideal for enterprise solutions.
It also has strong security features, is OIS and FIPS certified, and has built-in Linux security configurations.
Cloud Infrastructure Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
There is also no downtime.
Linux/DevOps Engineer at Ekwantu Consulting
The operating system allows for the simple addition of kernels, modules, and other applications, making it highly adaptable to various needs.
Technical Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The IP directory is the most valuable feature.
Connectivity Platform Cyber Security Specialist at BASF Business Services GmbH
I can manage the firewalls on the server easily, open or close ports to manage security traffic, and use encryption on the hard disk to keep data secure.
Systems technician. IT Office at LNU
When we deploy this operating system, we're primarily focused on managing virtual environments.
Project and Service Delivery Manager Cloud at MANAPPURAM COMPTECH AND CONSULTANTS LIMITED
 

Categories and Ranking

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
392
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windows Server
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
196
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 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 7.4%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Server is 8.7%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)7.4%
Windows Server8.7%
Other83.9%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

RO
Server administrator at Northrop Grumman
Empowers collaboration through streamlined integration and extensive documentation
Improving Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be tough, however, a significant area is collaboration tools. We have many Windows users that use Outlook and Skype or Teams to collaborate on our network. They want Linux desktops due to the fact that they want to use containers. Their biggest complaint is, 'I need two workstations to do my container work and one to collaborate.' If somehow RHEL can start introducing or collaborating with Teams and Outlook so their users can work with their Windows peers, that would be great. But I don't think that's available yet. Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, there needs to be more of an education piece to it. For instance, when purchasing 10 or 100 node licenses, they could suggest, 'We also offer this 1,000 node license instead, and it'll save you specific amounts.' Just more education on their offerings would be helpful, because usually, we're coming out with the requirements, and then they just provide it to us. They could inform us about saving by bundling it differently or using alternative approaches.
GS
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Long-standing experience improves reliability and security, making it a trusted platform
It's difficult to see improvements when using it daily. They improved compatibility with other platforms, such as Linux. One improvement I was thinking about some years ago was the ability to manage an on-premises server from Azure. Now, they have created Azure Arc, and we are using it as a very good way of managing on-premises servers. What can be improved is on the Azure side. With Active Directory on the server side and Entra ID on the Azure side in our hybrid environment, we find issues with data syncing to Entra ID. In Entra ID, Microsoft omitted some parameters. In Active Directory, you can put an expiring date to an account, but you cannot do that in Entra ID. We have other means of doing that, but it's common to have consultants working for six months, requiring account expiration or renewal processes. The Entra ID Connect syncing tool could be improved. Though they moved the service to Azure and use an agent instead of having a dedicated server, it remains cumbersome to set up due to the differences between Entra ID and Active Directory.
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Comparison Review

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business91
Midsize Enterprise49
Large Enterprise268
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business78
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise89
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
It is open source. We can customize it as per our requirements.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
Regarding the pricing of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) subscription, I believe the pricing is fair. The support that Red Hat provides is very good. Whenever I encounter issues, Red Hat always pro...
What needs improvement with Windows Server?
I cannot answer regarding which metrics I use to measure the effectiveness of Microsoft Defender for IoT because I have to check with my technical team. I have been fulfilling a role as IT manager ...
What is your primary use case for Windows Server?
What suits me the most is that for all my OT environment, I can manage all those devices in one secure portal from Microsoft.
 

Also Known As

Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for AWS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Rakuten, Rackspace, Tyco
Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. Windows Server and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.