We performed a comparison between CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) finishes ahead of CentOS in this comparison. Users feel that RHEL offers better stability, control, and consistent value-added updates. Additionally, the improved integration with RHEL provides for a better TCO, allowing resources to be distributed elsewhere in the organization, further enhancing productivity and profitability.
"It helps us install and deploy our applications."
"CentOS is very easy to use, and all the commands are user-friendly."
"It is a scalable and cost-effective product compared to public cloud solutions."
"It is a stable soultion."
"The user interface of CentOS is intuitive, we can also use the command prompt."
"The solution is easy to use but not as easy as Windows."
"It's less expensive than Red Hat."
"The product is very efficient when it comes to virtualization."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux's most valuable feature is that it comes with all the tools we need to set up and maintain an enterprise-grade system."
"The Red Hat Linux comes with Anaconda, a fascinating tool that is useful if I need to connect multiple systems. I also like role-based access."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux's most valuable feature is its stability."
"The most valuable feature is its security. In Windows, there are risks of attacks or of data leaks because it is using .exe files, but in Red Hat's Linux-based operating system, the data is more secure."
"The solution has features that simplify adoption for non-Linux users. There is an interface that you can activate on RHEL systems, and on other Linux systems as well, so that you will get a graphical user interface instead of just a shell. It's easier for an administrator who is used to only working on Windows."
"We have used many of the Linux-based operating systems for production purposes, but this is the only solution that guarantees performance and scalability. When we run industry servers, they demand high performance."
"The solution's technical support is really good and responsive. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."
"The enterprise support of the product is valuable to us."
"The support could be a bit better."
"If a proper GUI-based tool was connected remotely or on the machine, it could be a great addition to CentOS."
"There could be more integration features included in the product."
"The main issue is the End of Support. For that reason, we will switch to another operating system."
"The product lacks a graphical user interface that can help users automate certain systems using the native features offered by CentOS."
"The YUM install manager can be improved. It is below average as compared to the other install managers. This is the only major problem that I see with CentOS. They should reduce dependency on the YUM manager."
"The stability could always be improved."
"CentOS should extend the support of the solution. The solution is set to have no update support in 2023."
"We had issues migrating from the old to the new RHEL version in the virtual environment. It forced us to spin up a new virtual environment to have the new RHEL version."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux's patching process needs improvement, particularly in achieving consistency. Currently, when you patch, you might not have control over the timing, leading to different software packages ending up at different patch levels. This lack of consistency can make it challenging to manage and control the various components effectively."
"I would mostly like to see improvement around corporate messaging. When Red Hat 8 came out, and Red Hat decided to change, it inverted the relationship between Red Hat and CentOS. This caused my customers who had a CentOS to RHEL development to production workflow quite a bit of heartburn that several of them are still working out. A lot of that probably could have been avoided through better messaging."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux has affected our HA systems in a negative way. We're working through some of those issues."
"The patching process with Red Hat is disruptive and not very cost-effective."
"I know for our purpose and what we have been using it for, it has been working well. Their support, however, can be better."
"Security could be increased."
"Writing SELinux policies is sometimes very hard if you want to deploy a new application on it."
More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Pricing and Cost Advice →
CentOS is ranked 5th in Operating Systems (OS) for Business with 63 reviews while Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is ranked 1st in Operating Systems (OS) for Business with 191 reviews. CentOS is rated 8.2, while Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is rated 8.8. The top reviewer of CentOS writes "Allows you to securely store data, and command prompts make it simple to use". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) writes "Highly stable, good knowledge base, and reasonable price". CentOS is most compared with Oracle Linux, Ubuntu Linux, Windows Server, SUSE Linux Enterprise and openSUSE Leap, whereas Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is most compared with Windows Server, Ubuntu Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Windows 10 and Rocky Linux. See our CentOS vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) report.
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