--- 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 & Product Details 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. * * * Seller [CentOS](https://www.g2.com/sellers/centos) Discussions [CentOS Community](https://www.g2.com/products/centos/discuss) Solution Type Best-of-Breed Overview by Benn Solomon Show More ## Value at a Glance Averages based on real user reviews. ### Time to Implement 2 months ### Return on Investment 12 months [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/centos/pricing) ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![Ubuntu](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Ubuntu") Ubuntu 4.5/5(2,399) ](https://www.g2.com/products/ubuntu/reviews) [ ![Red Hat Enterprise Linux](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Red Hat Enterprise Linux") Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.6/5(977) ](https://www.g2.com/products/red-hat-enterprise-linux/reviews) [ ![Windows 7](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Windows 7") Windows 7 4.2/5(903) ](https://www.g2.com/products/windows-7/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/centos/competitors/alternatives) ## User Insights Average based on 425 real user reviews. Implementation Time 2 months Perceived Cost $$$$$ [Log in to unlock pricing and user insights](/login) ## CentOS Integrations (13) What do users say about integrations? Integration information sourced from real user reviews. [ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") ActiveDirectory Domain Controller for Windows 2016 ](https://www.g2.com/products/activedirectory-domain-controller-for-windows-2016/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") Apache Maven ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-maven/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") Chrome OS ](https://www.g2.com/products/chrome-os/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") cPanel ](https://www.g2.com/products/cpanel/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") Fortinet IPS Rules for AWS Network Firewall ](https://www.g2.com/products/fortinet-ips-rules-for-aws-network-firewall/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") Kubernetes ](https://www.g2.com/products/kubernetes/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") Magento Open Source ](https://www.g2.com/products/magento-open-source/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") Make ](https://www.g2.com/products/integromat-by-celonis-make/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") MySQL ](https://www.g2.com/products/mysql/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") ownCloud ](https://www.g2.com/products/owncloud/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") Splunk Enterprise ](https://www.g2.com/products/splunk-enterprise/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") WordPress.org ](https://www.g2.com/products/wordpress-org/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Product Avatar Image") Zammad ](https://www.g2.com/products/zammad/reviews) Show More ![Samshitha V.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Samshitha V.") SV Samshitha V. Quality Engineering Enabler Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 10/9/2024 "My Experience with CentOS as Operating system" 5/5 What do you like best about CentOS? Best part about centos is its stable nature, whihc avoid crashes and don't block the system. As it is linux based red hat os , the computing becomes fast and easy. We also have constant security updates, making it more secure. This is opted as computing os to run our kubernetes applications Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about CentOS? As said this is only used for computing at smaller application levels as its functionality is smaller compared to other linux systems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you? Centos is used in our devops area to run applications related to kubernetes Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Sachidanand P.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Sachidanand P.") SP Sachidanand P. Technical Specialist Information Technology and Services Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 10/29/2024 "CentOS Experience" 4.5/5 What do you like best about CentOS? It is an Open Source OS. I can use based on custimizes scprit with the help BASH shell. It is easing to integerate with other application. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about CentOS? I am not getting any annoucemtnt new version after Cent OS 9 starem. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you? Mostly using for budget purpose in a web server. Insted windows I need to pay some short of amount infra level and cloud plateform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Our network of Icons are G2 members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions and commitment to helping others through their expertise.G2 IconValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite AM Azhar M. Support engineer Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 7/16/2024 "Centos: An honest review" 5/5 What do you like best about CentOS? It is very stable and reliable OS with a very good community support. Dependancy management using yum is really good. Easy to do patching and installation of packages. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about CentOS? It will not support all the linux compatible applications compared to ubuntu. I personally had an issue with Reminna installation where the application didn't run in my Centos 7 version. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you? Freely available since it is open source OS. Works well on older hardwares as well as newer ones. Booting time is also really great. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Sharin S.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Sharin S.") SS Sharin S. Team Lead - Azure and Windows server Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 4/25/2024 "CentOS is an excellent choice for mission-critical servers with high security." 4.5/5 What do you like best about CentOS? CentOS enables us to utilize software that has been tested and developed without any licensing fees. It simplifies dependency management through YUM. Easily integrate with other endpoint solutions like Sophos Intercept X. Good community support. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about CentOS? Packages may not be up to date compared with other distributions like Ubuntu. CentOS recent changes bring some uncertainty in the community. Regular security patches are not available as of now so we require another third-party software for security. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you? In my organization, CentOS addresses the issues of licensing cost and security. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 4/30/2024 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite SB Shiva B. Data Engineer Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 3/27/2024 "My Experience on Centos" 5/5 What do you like best about CentOS? One of best linux servers avialble in the market. Especially in organizations like us we need stable and consistent platform over period which is offered by Centos. It has user friendly Interface and can implement various integrations with ease. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about CentOS? Main dis advantage is that there are other OS in market with better updates , which needs to be taken care of, but performance wise Centos beats them. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you? Firstly it is free and can build scalable servers . My concern about security issues is gone with Centos in place. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 4/11/2024 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Vikasteja V.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Vikasteja V.") VV Vikasteja V. Data Analyst Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 3/27/2024 "Robust and widely used with free of charge" 4/5 What do you like best about CentOS? It offers built-in security features, including firewalls, encryption, and SELinux. CentOS versions are supported for up to ten years.It requires less initial configuration than other operating systems due to its out-of-the-box security features. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about CentOS? It’s best suited for users who don’t require a powerful processor, as it may not fully utilize high-end capabilities.Update support extends up to five years, which is longer than the typical term for other Linux-based operating systems Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you? CentOS strikes a balance between reliability, security, and cost-effectiveness, making it a solid choice for web hosting, development, and server environments. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite NG Neeraj G. Data Engineer Computer Software Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 4/1/2024 "Review CentOS" 5/5 What do you like best about CentOS? I like the interface provided by the CentOS and the YUM (or DNF) package manager is very helpful for software installation, removal, and management. These features in CentOS is very helpful for my workflow. The implementation of new featurs are very useful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about CentOS? There is nothing to dislike about CentOS but sometimes the customer support is not that much responsive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you? It provides a stable and relevant enviornment to run the applications. Also the navigation through the commands are very useful for my work it saves a lot of time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite DD Dhaanish Sahal D. Software Development Engineer Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 3/26/2024 "CentOS: The Ultimate Operating System" 5/5 What do you like best about CentOS? CentOS offers exceptional features in an operating system, such as seamless team account creation for shared login across multiple users and customizable snap GPT settingds. These features have significantly enhanced my workflow. The platforms user friendly interface and smooth implementation of features make it a standout choice for many users. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about CentOS? Slower pace of updates comapred to some other operating system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you? CentOS benefits me by providing a dependable platform for running applications, managing data and conducting various computing tasks efficiently and securely. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Dhaanish S.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Dhaanish S.") DS Dhaanish S. Software Development Engineer Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 3/20/2024 "CentOS: Review" 4/5 What do you like best about CentOS? CentOS is reliable and easy to use. It has many useful features which are related to my work. Customer support is very responsive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about CentOS? Slower updates and some times feels lag while executing long commands. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you? CentOS solves the problem of expensive licesing fees associated with proprietary operating systems by providing a robust, open source alternative. This benefits me by reducing operating costs without sacrificing reliability and functionality. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 4/12/2024 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Jimmy L.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Jimmy L.") JL Jimmy L. Dev ops Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 12/28/2023 "CentOS free and log term support operating systems." 5/5 What do you like best about CentOS? CentOS versions typically have a long support cycle, which is beneficial for enterprises and organizations that require a stable and consistent platform over an extended period. CentOS is free and open-source, which is advantageous for users and organizations that prefer to avoid the costs associated with proprietary operating systems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about CentOS? The most significant source of dissatisfaction was the decision to transform CentOS from a downstream rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to CentOS Stream, a rolling-release distribution closely tied to the RHEL development process. This change meant that CentOS would receive updates and features ahead of RHEL, making it more of a development preview rather than a stable, production-ready distribution. Some users preferred the traditional CentOS model, which provided a stable and predictable platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is CentOS solving and how is that benefiting you? Like RHEL, CentOS emphasizes security, and the distribution provides regular security updates and patches. This is crucial for maintaining the integrity and security of servers and systems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ## Questions about CentOS? Ask real users or explore answers from the community Get practical answers, real workflows, and honest pros and cons from the G2 community or share your insights. [ Ask about CentOS ](https://www.g2.com/products/centos/discussions/new) ![Aditya J.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Aditya J.") AJ Aditya Joshi • Last activity over 4 years ago how can I install and use CentOS 1 Upvote 1 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-can-i-install-and-use-centos) ![Ahmed S.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Ahmed S.") AS Ahmed Shehata • Last activity over 4 years ago How to install package? 1 Upvote 1 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-to-install-package) [ View all Discussions ](https://www.g2.com/products/centos/discuss) ## Pricing Insights Averages based on real user reviews. ### Time to Implement 2 months ### Return on Investment 12 months ### Average Discount 12% [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/centos/pricing) CentOS Comparisons ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_3f5575e82b67a95d23834e8db8dabb67/oracle-linux.png "Product Avatar Image") Oracle Linux 4.4/5(349) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/centos-vs-oracle-linux) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_46bd9233d89c58c6dbdf99f99bd301dc/ubuntu.png "Product Avatar Image") Ubuntu 4.5/5(2,399) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/centos-vs-ubuntu) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_3146bdd0defa39278b58727400f0a807/linux-mint.jpg "Product Avatar Image") Linux Mint 4.5/5(190) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/centos-vs-linux-mint) ##### ##### CentOS Features Memory Management - Operating System RAM management Device Management - Operating System I/O management Backup and Recovery - Operating System Data backup Error Detection - Operating System System operations monitoring [ View More Features ](https://www.g2.com/products/centos/features) ##### Categories on G2 [AWS Marketplace](https://www.g2.com/categories/aws-marketplace)[Operating System](https://www.g2.com/categories/operating-system) ##### Explore More [Best ERP solution for growing software firm](https://www.g2.com/discussions/best-erp-solution-for-growing-software-firm)[Top tools for identifying and securing digital assets](https://www.g2.com/discussions/top-tools-for-identifying-and-securing-digital-assets)[Where to find the best VoIP service for ecommerce business](https://www.g2.com/discussions/where-to-find-the-best-voip-service-for-ecommerce-business) [Which Quote-to-Cash software enables accurate revenue recognition and ASC 606 compliance for a finance team that cannot afford to get deferred revenue reporting wrong?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-quote-to-cash-software-enables-accurate-revenue-recognition-and-asc-606-compliance-for-a-finance-team-that-cannot-afford-to-get-deferred-revenue-reporting-wrong)[Top-rated ASM tools for continuous security scanning](https://www.g2.com/discussions/top-rated-asm-tools-for-continuous-security-scanning)[Pros and Cons Details](https://www.g2.com/products/centos/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [Show MoreShow Less](javascript:void(0);)