--- title: CentOS Reviews meta_title: 'CentOS Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 425 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how CentOS works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.4 review_count: 425 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-09' parent_category: name: IT Infrastructure url: https://www.g2.com/categories/it-infrastructure --- # CentOS Reviews **Vendor:** CentOS **Category:** [Operating Systems](https://www.g2.com/categories/operating-system) **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 425 ## About CentOS CentOS is a community-driven, free software project that provides a robust and reliable Linux distribution, serving as a foundational platform for open-source communities, cloud providers, hosting services, and scientific data processing. Derived from Fedora Linux, CentOS Stream offers a continuously delivered distribution that tracks just ahead of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), with major releases every three years and each maintained for five years. This structure allows CentOS Stream to function as a production operating system, a development environment, or a preview of upcoming RHEL releases. Key Features and Functionality: - Continuous Delivery: CentOS Stream provides a rolling-release model, delivering updates that precede RHEL's official releases, ensuring users have access to the latest features and improvements. - Community Collaboration: The project fosters a collaborative environment where Special Interest Groups (SIGs) develop and package software tailored to specific needs, such as cloud infrastructure, storage solutions, and virtualization technologies. - Enterprise Compatibility: By closely tracking RHEL, CentOS Stream ensures compatibility and stability, making it suitable for enterprise deployments and development environments. Primary Value and User Solutions: CentOS Stream addresses the need for a stable yet forward-looking Linux distribution that bridges the gap between development and production environments. It offers a reliable platform for developers to test and deploy applications that will be compatible with future RHEL releases, thereby reducing the time and effort required for migration and ensuring smoother transitions. Additionally, the active community and SIGs provide specialized solutions and support, enhancing the overall ecosystem and catering to diverse user requirements. ## CentOS Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users value the **enterprise-grade reliability** of CentOS, ensuring smooth operation for long-term server use. (16 reviews) - Users appreciate the **long-term stability** of CentOS, ensuring reliable performance for critical services and production servers. (14 reviews) - Users find CentOS to be **easy to manage** , making it a reliable choice for long-term server usage. (8 reviews) - Users value CentOS for its **RHEL compatibility** , ensuring stability and reliability for production and critical services. (8 reviews) - Users value the **strong community support** of CentOS, enhancing their experience with reliable assistance and resources. (6 reviews) - Security (5 reviews) - Easy Setup (4 reviews) - Implementation Ease (4 reviews) - Long-Term Support (4 reviews) - Users appreciate the **compatibility with Red Hat Enterprise Linux** , enhancing stability and performance in production environments. (3 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users criticize CentOS for its **outdated technology** , making it difficult to access newer software and lacking support. (7 reviews) - Users struggle with the **lack of support** for newer software and limited documentation, affecting their overall experience. (5 reviews) - Users experience **slow updates** in CentOS, which complicates planning and reduces stability for some applications. (5 reviews) - Users report a **lack of features** in CentOS due to slow updates and limited access to newer software versions. (4 reviews) - Users are frustrated with the **limited availability** of updates and newer software versions in CentOS, affecting timely installations. (4 reviews) - System Instability (4 reviews) - Apple Limitations (2 reviews) - Users experience **compatibility issues** with CentOS, struggling with software support and outdated packages affecting modern applications. (2 reviews) - Users find a **steep learning curve** when transitioning from Windows or Ubuntu to CentOS, requiring basic training. (2 reviews) - Slow Performance (2 reviews) ## CentOS Reviews ### 1. Enterprise Reliability at Open-Source Cost **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Warling S. **Reviewed Date:** January 31, 2026 **What do you like best about CentOS?** I appreciate CentOS's ability to eliminate exorbitant proprietary enterprise OS licensing costs without sacrificing RHEL-grade reliability. This cuts our enterprise OS licensing costs by over 80% while maintaining stability, security, and patch management for our mission-critical workloads. I love the rock-solid, predictable enterprise stability that CentOS offers, especially since it results in zero unplanned downtime for production workloads. CentOS being built from RHEL’s stable source code and following a long-term support model with minimal breaking changes is a big strength for us. Additionally, I enjoy the robust, natively integrated security tooling that aligns with global enterprise compliance. The initial setup of CentOS is straightforward and accessible, making it convenient to get started. **What do you dislike about CentOS?** I find the slow adoption of modern cloud-native and DevOps features in CentOS to be a downside. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use CentOS to eliminate expensive enterprise OS licensing costs without losing RHEL-grade reliability. It offers rock-solid stability for mission-critical workloads and robust security tools aligned with global compliance, supporting my hybrid cloud infrastructure effectively. ### 2. CentOS: Rock-Solid Stability and Enterprise-Grade Reliability **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ravin L. | Co-founder, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 19, 2026 **What do you like best about CentOS?** What I like best about CentOS is its stability and reliability. It’s very close to Red Hat Enterprise Linux, so you get enterprise-grade performance without the licensing cost. Once it’s set up, it runs for long periods with minimal issues, which makes it ideal for servers and production environments. It’s also well supported by the community, and most hosting providers and server tools work seamlessly with it. **What do you dislike about CentOS?** What I dislike about CentOS is that updates and newer software versions can be quite slow, which makes it less ideal if you need the latest features or packages. After the shift from CentOS Linux to CentOS Stream, there’s also some uncertainty for users who prefer a strictly stable, long-term production OS. Additionally, troubleshooting can sometimes be challenging for beginners due to limited official documentation compared to some more user-friendly distributions. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** CentOS solves the problem of running a stable, enterprise-grade server environment without high licensing costs. It provides a reliable platform for hosting applications, databases, and services where uptime and consistency matter more than having the latest features. This benefits me by reducing system crashes and maintenance effort, offering predictable performance, and allowing me to run production workloads confidently while keeping infrastructure costs low. ### 3. Rock-Solid Stability and Security for Enterprise Servers **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Georgi D. | Managing Partner, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 22, 2025 **What do you like best about CentOS?** Stability and reliability are key strengths here. This platform offers a consistent, enterprise-grade environment that is ideal for servers. Its extended support cycles, robust security features, and compatibility with RHEL make it a strong option for production systems. **What do you dislike about CentOS?** As a hosting provider, my main concern with CentOS is the uncertainty that arose after the transition to CentOS Stream. Moving away from a stable, fixed-release model to a rolling-release system has made it more difficult to plan for the long term and maintain predictable server management. For production environments that demand consistent stability, this change has forced us to spend extra time evaluating other options and rethinking our infrastructure strategy. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** As a hosting provider, We find that the primary challenges with CentOS stem from its end-of-life versions, the transition to CentOS Stream, and the increased maintenance required to ensure systems remain secure and compatible with current software. While CentOS continues to offer stability, managing it in a production environment now demands more effort than before. ### 4. Stable and Reliable But Now Deprecated **Rating:** 0.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Febin K. | Product Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 29, 2025 **What do you like best about CentOS?** I used to use CentOS to host my servers and found it to be a very stable distribution with very few hiccups. I appreciate its stability and reliability, which I think are absolutely mandatory for a server. Another aspect I liked is that it's basically RHEL, which I know is battle-tested. **What do you dislike about CentOS?** I don't like how CentOS is deprecated. The operating system was discontinued a few years back, and there is no support now, so it ideally shouldn't be used. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used CentOS to host my servers because it's a very stable and reliable distribution, which is crucial for servers. ### 5. A solid choice for Linux Operating system **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Praveen K. | Lead Software Engineer, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 01, 2025 **What do you like best about CentOS?** CentOS is stable and reliable. It inherits RHEL's stability which is ideal for enterprise solutions where uptime and consistency is critical. It is an open source OS which is a cost effective option for business. It is easy to use and implement. It has a very good customer support options. It is easy to integrate and run to any systems with ease. **What do you dislike about CentOS?** It has limited commercial support unlike RHEL. It doesn't offer latest features as it prioritizes stability over cutting edge features. Finding latest libraries may be a challenge. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** CentOS provides a free, community supported alternative to RHEL using the same source code. Organizations can use it for free without worrying about the licensing costs. It's a stable environment which is perfect for production servers. It is binary compatible with RHEL. It receives regular security patch and updates which form a secure system. ### 6. Stable and dependable for server use **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Prashant P. | Google Workspace Administrator , Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 18, 2025 **What do you like best about CentOS?** I like that CentOS is stable and reliable for long-term use. It doesn’t break after updates, and it runs smoothly even on older hardware. It’s easy to manage once you get used to it and works well for servers. **What do you dislike about CentOS?** The only downside is that updates and newer packages arrive slower compared to other distros. Sometimes I need to add extra repos to get recent software, which can be a bit inconvenient. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** it helps me run stable and secure server environments without licensing costs. It’s reliable for hosting apps, running backend services, and managing long-term workloads without unexpected issues. ### 7. "CentOS: The Unsung Hero of Stable Enterprise Linux" **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Bhavesh P. | Senior Engineer (CloudOps/DevOps), Computer Software, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 24, 2025 **What do you like best about CentOS?** CentOS provides enterprise-level stability and performance without licensing fees. Its compatibility with Red Hat Enterprise Linux makes it perfect for production environments. I like how predictable and secure it is—once set up, it just works, with minimal maintenance. It’s my go-to OS for servers due to its reliability and strong community support. **What do you dislike about CentOS?** The main downside of CentOS is the sudden shift in its support model with the move to CentOS Stream, which created uncertainty for long-term users. It disrupted the trust many had in its stability for production use. Additionally, software packages are often older compared to other distributions, which can be limiting for newer tech stacks. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** CentOS helps us maintain stable and secure server environments without the cost of commercial licensing. It solves the problem of needing a reliable OS for running production workloads—web servers, databases, CI/CD pipelines—while keeping resource usage low. Its predictable update cycles and strong community support reduce downtime and simplify long-term system maintenance, ultimately saving us time and operational costs. ### 8. Open Source, Highly Stable OS with Great Community Support **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Tej D. | Secretary, Telecommunications, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 20, 2026 **What do you like best about CentOS?** Open source and highly stable product. Resources and packages are properly managed. Fast and great community support for this OS. **What do you dislike about CentOS?** Packages are being OLD and outdated. Upgrading to a newer version is very difficult. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** the os is fast and stable os. great and strong security and high performance. ### 9. Very stable. Free OS but powerfull. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Leo S. | Technical Lead, Information Technology and Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 06, 2025 **What do you like best about CentOS?** It's powerful. Very stable. It's easy to deploy. Very low maintenance required. **What do you dislike about CentOS?** It's similar to Red Hat but different from Ubuntu which we used before. So there is a bit of learning needed. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is replacing our Windows Server OS. We migrated a lot of production server VMs to CentOS. We don't need to worry about the issues that Windows Server had anymore. It's much smaller, more secure, more stable, less efforts need for patching, and less resources is needed for running. ### 10. Unmatched Stability Makes CentOS a Top Choice **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Zafar U. | VP Information Security, Broadcast Media, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 11, 2025 **What do you like best about CentOS?** CentOS has always stood out for its rock-solid stability **What do you dislike about CentOS?** When Red Hat transitioned from CentOS 8 to CentOS Stream, it encouraged teams to rethink their platform strategy and explore newer, more future-focused options. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Removes the burden of licensing costs in enterprise setups ### 11. Great for Stability in Production Environments **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Utkarsh D. | Sr. SDR, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 16, 2025 **What do you like best about CentOS?** It focuses on stability, not bleeding-edge features, which makes it perfect for production environments. **What do you dislike about CentOS?** Not ideal for production servers where you need guaranteed stability. **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** CentOS inherits SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux) from RHEL, offering mandatory access controls for processes and users. Regular security patches and updates make it resistant to vulnerabilities. Stable repositories ensure verified and safe packages — reducing malware or dependency risks. ### 12. Stable and Reliable for Long-Running Servers **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Varun P. | Deputy General Manager - IT, Real Estate, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 10, 2025 **What do you like best about CentOS?** Stable, secure and reliable for long running servers **What do you dislike about CentOS?** slow updates and support ending made planning harder **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** it helps run apps reliablywith fewer crashes and simple maintenance ### 13. Minimal and simple **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Chamod Malshan M. | Engineer - System and Security, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 11, 2025 **What do you like best about CentOS?** I can customize almost anything when I use Cent OS and can utilize in most use cases related to implement services **What do you dislike about CentOS?** High customizability lead to misconfigurations sometimes **What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Cent OS as a Zimbra mail server ## CentOS Discussions - [how can I install and use CentOS](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-can-i-install-and-use-centos) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [How to install package?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-to-install-package) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [Bolehkah ini digunakan untuk acara pembelajaran?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/can-this-be-used-for-learning-events) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [Where did you go to learn how to use CentOS?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/51381-where-did-you-go-to-learn-how-to-use-centos) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [How can I acheive client isolation ?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-can-i-acheive-client-isolation) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [View CentOS pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/centos/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1466522&qs=pros-and-cons§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-14+17%3A49%3A12+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=8c17d1e9-2446-4ce1-a7ff-0d83ccc7098f&secure%5Btoken%5D=17548cb8769f3127361701e2caadbc3ccdcdde972c4a7bc34fe46927e18f2743&format=llm_user) ## CentOS Integrations - [ActiveDirectory Domain Controller for Windows 2016](https://www.g2.com/products/activedirectory-domain-controller-for-windows-2016/reviews) - [Apache Maven](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-maven/reviews) - [Chrome OS](https://www.g2.com/products/chrome-os/reviews) - [cPanel](https://www.g2.com/products/cpanel/reviews) - [Fortinet IPS Rules for AWS Network Firewall](https://www.g2.com/products/fortinet-ips-rules-for-aws-network-firewall/reviews) - [Kubernetes](https://www.g2.com/products/kubernetes/reviews) - [Magento Open Source](https://www.g2.com/products/magento-open-source/reviews) - [Make](https://www.g2.com/products/integromat-by-celonis-make/reviews) - [MySQL](https://www.g2.com/products/mysql/reviews) - [ownCloud](https://www.g2.com/products/owncloud/reviews) - [Splunk Enterprise](https://www.g2.com/products/splunk-enterprise/reviews) - [WordPress.org](https://www.g2.com/products/wordpress-org/reviews) - [Zammad](https://www.g2.com/products/zammad/reviews) ## CentOS Features **Memory Management - Operating System** - RAM management - App Management - File Management **Agentic AI - AWS Marketplace** - Autonomous Task Execution - Multi-step Planning - Cross-system Integration **Device Management - Operating System** - I/O management **Backup and Recovery - Operating System** - Data backup **Error Detection - Operating System** - System operations monitoring **Additional Functionality** - Generative AI - Data Security - User Interface - Resource Allocation - System Updates - For Developers - AI Copilot - Desktop Interface ## Top CentOS Alternatives - [Ubuntu](https://www.g2.com/products/ubuntu/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (2,347 reviews) - [Red Hat Enterprise Linux](https://www.g2.com/products/red-hat-enterprise-linux/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (933 reviews) - [Windows 7](https://www.g2.com/products/windows-7/reviews) - 4.2/5.0 (873 reviews)