--- title: "CentOS Linux Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is CentOS Linux the right Operating Systems solution for you? Explore 34 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/229026/CentOS-Linux/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-10-19" --- CentOS Linux 4.6 (34) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/229026/CentOS-Linux/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated October 19th, 2026 # Reviews of CentOS Linux Ease of use 4.2 Customer Service 4.1 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews RM Ricardo M Analyst NetworkHospital & Health Care, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It is a dominant operating system in servers due to features, price and security, since CentOs is based on Red Hat Enterprise and is supported by its products at no cost.“ July 15, 2022 IB Ian B Prevent ManagerInformation Technology and Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The applications in CentOS are more secure than our Windows machines. “ June 19, 2023 Pinki K Technical consultant Computer Software, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Its very good experience to use centos with help of centos we sre able to deploy our application with minimum costs and setup the CI/CD process on centOs.“ August 29, 2022 Sakshi R Infrastructure Engineer Information Technology and Services, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “CentOS is an open source operating system, it's easy to use and features are awesome.i like the security feature the most.“ November 13, 2022 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 34 available reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use CEO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Free operating system for reliable web server" August 17, 2021 5.0 CentOS Linux is a cost-effective solution for enterprise-level web servers. Very stable and secure too. Pros CentOS Linux is a free and open-source operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It has been mainly used to host enterprise-grade web applications. It is a stable, secure, and reliable operating system that also offers a graphical user interface for personal computers. Most preferred OS by Webhosting providers. Cons Red Hat community is supporting CentOS 8 until the end of 2021, while support for CentOS 7 will be until 2024. This has created little uncertainty about its future. Its GUI interface for personal computers is difficult to customize. Switched from [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/)[Oracle Linux](https://www.capterra.com/p/229031/Oracle-Linux/)[Fedora Workstation](https://www.capterra.com/p/229028/Fedora-Workstation/) CentOS Linux is a more secure, stable, and cost-effective operating system for running web servers. Alternatives considered [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/)[Oracle Linux](https://www.capterra.com/p/229031/Oracle-Linux/)[Debian](https://www.capterra.com/p/229027/Debian/)[Fedora Workstation](https://www.capterra.com/p/229028/Fedora-Workstation/) Reasons for choosing CentOS Linux Because of easy availability, stability, and reliability. Review Source ICT Infrastructure Manager Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "great server Linux release" April 23, 2025 5.0 The best free Linux server release that can be used instead most famous paying versions Pros Free; can replace or be compatible with most of server Linux release Cons sometimes difficult to configure for basic services; not always updated as other Linux release Alternatives considered [SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop](https://www.capterra.com/p/229040/Suse-Linux-Enterprise-Desktop/)[Fedora Workstation](https://www.capterra.com/p/229028/Fedora-Workstation/) Reasons for choosing CentOS Linux Mantain compatibility respect other versions even if is free of charges for support Review Source Programmer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Linux, but better" February 1, 2022 3.0 Pros I really like this os, have a lot of good builtin things. really good for compiling things to \`many linux\` packages Cons A bit old, and not really get updated that often. and the GUI is not really nice in my opinion Review Source Jonathan Alexander C. IT infrastructure analyst Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "A stable distribution for your applications and services" July 15, 2022 5.0 I have used this Linux distribution for more than 5 years to develop applications as a development environment and as a telephony service server, say PBX, Asterix and more. It has been very useful and its constant updates have helped it to remain stable and to be one of the best Linux distributions used by developers and computer scientists. Pros What I like the most about this distribution is that it is easy to configure and put into operation, it is very stable for managing databases and applications Cons Currently I have no complaints about this distribution but they could improve the performance and distributed workload Alternatives considered [Fedora Workstation](https://www.capterra.com/p/229028/Fedora-Workstation/) Reasons for choosing CentOS Linux It is a distribution more oriented to developers and with greater library support Review Source IMI Ibrahim M I. System Engineer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Centos Linux review" August 12, 2021 5.0 No need to pay money if you have good knowledge with Centos linux you can use power of community to find a solution for any faced issue Pros Opensource, community support, hardware support Cons GUI stability while I access it remotely Switched from [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/) Because I see that Centos as a linux based server is more stable for implemented solutions by our company Alternatives considered [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/) Reasons for choosing CentOS Linux Stability and contentious updates Review Source Torikul I. Freelancer - Web Developer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "CentOS Linux is one of the best free OS system " September 25, 2021 5.0 My overall experience was amazing, I have used CentOS Linux couple of years for my project purpose. It was a successful decision for me to pick CentOs because this OS helped me a lot. But currently, I'm not using it anymore. Pros The main thing is this operating system is totally free and a lot helpful for web application development. I have used this OS for a long time but there was nothing out of my requirements. I got almost every single feature and functionality that I basically want to have an operating system. Its customization, sensitivity, and advanced options are so helpful. Cons There are no highlighted cons I noticed with this operating system but I think its UI/UX part should be improved. Switched from [Zorin OS](https://www.capterra.com/p/235851/Zorin-OS/) I have switched to Zorin OS to know or achieve some experience of this operating system. Review Source ZAiN R. Web Designer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Rock Solid Linux Distribution used as a Web Server" June 24, 2022 5.0 Used as a webserver, no issues experienced. Minimal configurated in conjunction with servermin Pros Rock solid Good community support with tons of tutorials online Cons Not as much support as the ever popular Ubuntu Alternatives considered [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/)[Fedora Workstation](https://www.capterra.com/p/229028/Fedora-Workstation/) Reasons for choosing CentOS Linux Hosting provider supported this with Servermin/Webmin. Automatic installation was included Review Source Server Administrator Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "RedHat/IBM killed CentOS " June 2, 2022 5.0 CentOS was a great Linux distribution, very stable secure and reliable. now it's all gone after RedHat decided to kill and replace it with CentOS Stream. Pros CentOS was a great operating system based on RedHat Enterprise Linux source code, it was a down stream of RedHat Enterprise Linux which means any updates or security patches or issues fixed and tested by RedHat Enterprise Linux community end up released in CentOS after a while. But now After RedHat/IBM decided to kill CentOS, they required it and made it an up stream to RedHat Enterprise Linux, so instead of CentOS taking updates tested in RedHat, RedHat now uses CentOS as for testing. Cons RedHat/IBM acquired CentOS and killed the project. Reasons for choosing CentOS Linux CentOS was based on Redhat Enterprise Linux which was a great Enterprise great distribution. Review Source Pinki K. Technical consultant Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Create your application deployment server with centos " September 12, 2022 5.0 Its very good experience to use centos with help of centos we sre able to deploy our application with minimum costs and setup the CI/CD process on centOs. Pros Very easy to setup and can consume very less resources. We are using sent of to deploy our application on dockers and with help of centos we are able to do this with minimum resources use. We are using centos to deploy our javascript application and also to install Jenkins, sonarqube etc. Tools. Cons Its user interface is not good. All you need to be good at terminal side means have to remember all commands. Switched from [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/) Review Source Ankit .. Devops Engineer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Centos Operating System" May 24, 2024 4.0 It is built on the red hat enterprise linux so making secure and reliable to use. Free to use so it easy is for a beginner to start using it for learning. It works with much faster speed compared to other operating systems. Pros It is free to use so anyone get started with it. It is flavour of linux so if a person knows linux already it very easy to switch to centos. Centos provides more security features than linux. As it is being used for hosting many servers it is go to choice to learn a os. Cons Having less community support. Having long release cycle compared to fedora, ubuntu. It is designed to be used through terminal, can'nt perform actions using the UI. Review Source 情報システム Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "惜しまれつつもサービス終了" October 20, 2022 5.0 とても良い製品でしたが、今後サポート終了が発表されました。完全終了までに代替製品を検討していく予定です。 Pros 費用対効果の面です。この製品が無償で利用できていたことには驚きしかありません。 Cons 特になかった印象です。強いていえば、RedHatが元になっているとはいえ、完全互換ではなかったために微妙に動作不安定になったり、サポート対象外になるようなことがあった程度でしょうか Alternatives considered [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/) Reasons for choosing CentOS Linux 大規模向けのRedHatをベースにしていたため、ユーザーが増えた場合に対してもそれなりに安心感があるとおもったため Review Source UNSHAKEABLE H. CEO Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Competent software" September 16, 2021 4.0 I was able to cut short a few of my scheduling tasks, and allow other company members to easily use the OS to try to resolve unfinished work. Pros The job scheduling that I used was adequate to test altering employee scheduling. I felt it had a ease of use aspect, however as I stated the update to this system will be obsolete soon. That will send me looking for another system that may not be economically friendly toward business cost. Cons integration with my current business software was not difficult for the most part. But the system was only being used for a trial period, so when it becomes obsolete it won't disrupt my current administrating duties. Reasons for choosing CentOS Linux It was recommended as a free-trial offer. Review Source Systems Engineer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Open source version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux" July 30, 2021 5.0 We use CentOS in mostly three environments: 1) application test environments where we don't need 24/7 support and can afford to do things ourselves; 2) internal IT utilities like firewalls, DNS, backup proxies, management servers where we have multiple servers doing the same job or doing things that only affect IT admins and don't require 24/7 support; 3) embedded in supported vendor turnkey solutions. If we need to run Linux in a production application/database environment, we run Red Hat and pay for support. Pros It is free. You get the same binaries as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, except for the Red Hat Network portion, and it is usually available a few weeks after a given Red Hat release. It is more secure and stable than Windows. Since it is widely adopted, there are lots of web sites for software and knowledge bases. Cons It is an unsupported release, although you can buy third-party support. I have not done this. It is less widely adopted and somewhat more difficult to use than Windows, but is not a problem for a skilled Unix administrator. Review Source Infrastructure Engineer Infrastructure Engineer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "CentOS Honest Review" November 14, 2022 4.0 When I started my career as infrastructure engineer, my almost work is related to Linux, at my early stage it was difficult for me to learn and understand Linux but centOS solves the problem to learn linux. Now I can easily understand Linux and can do my daily tasks more efficiently and perfectly. Also almost every organisation has adapted cloud so it is easy to move from CentOS to Amazon cloud Linux. I would say if you are at your learning phase then CentOS is the best. Also if have small or medium enterprise then there is nothing better than CentOS. Pros CentOS is an open source operating system, it's easy to use and features are awesome.i like the security feature the most.CentOS graphical user interface is fantastic, nowadays every organisation needs Linux at any point of time, I would say CentOS is best OS for beginners you can easily learn and understand Linux . Cons CentOS is little bit outdated than other OS like windows and Mac. I would if UI of CentOS can be enhanced and some new features will be added then it will be great.Installing the new packages is not easy in CentOS as compare to other OS. Switched from Installing the packages easier on windows than CentOS. Windows UI is better than centOS. Review Source Netbackup administrator Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "CentOS user review" November 23, 2022 4.0 Overall, it has been a good experience along with working on ubuntu, fedora, suse for different work purpose Pros Centos runs only the most stable version of codes and integrates it as well.The CLI works buttery smooth and is superfast Cons CentOS has a small database and still emerging and developing.So not much updates.. Overall its great. Switched from [Fedora Workstation](https://www.capterra.com/p/229028/Fedora-Workstation/) Review Source IB Ian B. Prevent Manager Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "A Great Alternative to Windows" June 21, 2023 4.0 We have had a very reliable experience with CentOS. Applications run well on it and we are able to secure our backups more using that operating system. We have had some difficulty getting users up to speed on how to properly navigate the OS. Pros Have a Linux based operating system has made it helpful for our engineers to use for certain projects. User interface for CentOS is setup for administrators to access tools efficiently. The applications in CentOS are more secure than our Windows machines. Cons There are only specific application that are compatible with CentOS. The support for Linux is hard to find that is able to resolve issues at a good price. There are less engineers that are able to use and manage CentOS. Review Source Co-owner Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "CentOS is an excellent Linux OS for servers but its future is now very unsure" November 23, 2021 5.0 My overall experience with CentOS is good, it was a very reliable and stable distribution, it was free and yet it contained everything you would get with the paid RHEL version. Pros CentOS is a very stable and reliable Linux distribution that I have used in various organisations as a server OS. It works well, has good package management and can be quite easily secured. Works well with products like cPanel. Cons The problem with CentOS now is that its future is unknown. Red Hat has stated it won't be continuing this distribution - which is probably related to the acquisition of Red Hat by Big Blue (IBM). It's a real shame to see such a monument of open-source like CentOS being discontinued. I only hope this is not the first nail in the coffin for open-source as a whole. Review Source Angus M. Company Director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "My Favourite Linux Distro Great Security And Great For Web Hosting" August 9, 2022 5.0 CentOS has improved my knowledge of Linux greatly and helps me in my day to day business life whether it's for web hosting, or getting a new project set up online. Pros My favourite thing about CentOS is how great the security is. There is barely ever any exploits for CentOS compared to other operating systems, the firewall is great and new patches are always secure. Cons The only slight gripe that I have with CentOS is that not all packages which you can get on other distros are available out of the box. Switched from [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/) Review Source Network Manager Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Security, scalability and speed for your networks." December 14, 2021 5.0 In General CentOS it allows me to optimize my hardware resources, deploy through enbedded tools, virtual machines and containers. Segment my services. If you are an advanced Linux user, there are few limits that you will find. Pros CentOS is my preferred distro for servers. From application services to virtualizations. It is very stable, weekly updates, a well documented CLI easy to use. Cons I have no problems with CentOS, if something doesn't work, searching the community for the answer is likely to be solved. Review Source Sysadmin Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "CentOS Linux now is a rolling relaase" June 14, 2021 5.0 It's one of the most used OS in servers arround the world. The free version of REHL. Great community support. Now some users move to Rocky Linux the fork of this. Pros This is a great software for most of uses. I use this on several servers. Has a lot of documentation, great comunity support. Cons This OS change your release type. Will be a rolling release and i don't like it. You need to move to RedHat Enterprise o another distro like Debian or Ubuntu if you need stability in your environment. Alternatives considered [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/)[Debian](https://www.capterra.com/p/229027/Debian/) Reasons for choosing CentOS Linux Some features on CentOS are very robust. Review Source Editor's Chief Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Best free of charge linux for workstations, or at least it was" September 17, 2021 5.0 Cent OS helped us for the implementation of a remote server with stability and security Pros The implementation of RHEL is well know within the enterprise world, and for the case of a network infrastructure is almost perfect, CentOS was the best free alternative, sadly it will come to an end. Cons There is a learning curve and in terms of security is good, but that comes with a cost like the repository implementation, is not the best, is almost like Fedora, it just make things a little bit more complicated. Review Source Rosa maria M. Operaria de Limpieza Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Mi hijo me habla de CentOS como servidores." December 14, 2022 3.0 Excelente, tiene las 3 B (Bueno , Barato y Bonito), usa pocos recursos y funciona de maravilla. Pros Aparte de ser gratuito se puede personalizar cada servidor. Mi hijo lo utiliza hasta para servidores de prueba en su universidad y no consume muchos recursos de hardware. Cons No hay nada que no me guste, pero espero que aumenten mas librerias para mejorar nuestra seguridad. Alternatives considered [Microsoft Azure](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/)[AWS IoT](https://www.capterra.com/p/234826/AWS-IoT/) Review Source JJ G. CTO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Strong Linux Operating System for Business Servers" November 21, 2022 4.0 It has been a great operating system for our cloud server and containers. Pros I like that CentOS doesn't use a lot of memory resources to run fast our server. Cons I don't like the recent changes and discontinuity of CentOS 7 and 8. It's confusing how to upgrade to CentOS RHEL version without affecting our actual server functions. Alternatives considered [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/) Review Source Backend Developer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "My experience of using Cent OS" October 10, 2022 5.0 Cent OS Linux is the greatest piece of software in the world. I mean, it's a really really really great operating system. Pros I really like Cent OS Linux. It meets all my specifications for software and does it without any problems. Was looking for something that wasn't too technical, didn't require a lot of time commitment or expenditure and was compatible with most operating systems and hardware. I found it in Cent OS Linux Cons It has no bad sides which I have faced. So I love it most and recommended it. Review Source Analyst Network Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "CentOS Linux, review" July 18, 2022 5.0 Pros It is a dominant operating system in servers due to features, price and security, since CentOs is based on Red Hat Enterprise and is supported by its products at no cost. Security updates are fast and it is a stable and efficient operating system. I have used it based on asterisk for the administration of telephone exchanges and on Centos to install CCTV software which has been wonderful for me Cons One of the things I don't like is that to scale you have to add servers, we have limitations for synchronized audio and video and if the server fails everything fails Review Source Similar Products Featured