--- title: OpenIndiana Reviews meta\_title: 'OpenIndiana Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 10 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how OpenIndiana works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 4.2 review\_count: 10 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-07' parent\_category: name: IT Infrastructure url: https://www.g2.com/categories/it-infrastructure --- ### OpenIndiana Pros and Cons: Top Advantages and Disadvantages #### Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews Generated from real user reviews Users value the **feature-rich platform** of OpenIndiana, enhancing performance for both servers and desktops. [(2 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2312828&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users value the **rich application ecosystem** of OpenIndiana, enhancing productivity across servers and desktops. [(1 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2443826&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users commend the **excellent hardware support** in OpenIndiana, enhancing performance with modern features like ZFS and LXC. [(1 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2312812&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users struggle with the **lack of support** for OpenIndiana, facing outdated packages and complex installation processes. [(2 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2312820&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users report **installation difficulties** with outdated packages and complex processes, leading to significant challenges with OpenIndiana. [(1 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2443831&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users struggle with **outdated technology** in OpenIndiana, dealing with installation issues and a lack of support. [(1 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2443851&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) ### Top Pros or Advantages of OpenIndiana ##### 1. Powerful Features Users value the **feature-rich platform** of OpenIndiana, enhancing performance for both servers and desktops. [ See 2 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2312828&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Jeffrey K.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Jeffrey K.") JK Jeffrey K. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5.0/5 "OPENINDIANA PRINCIPALS" What do you like about OpenIndiana? PROFESSIONAL USERS ARE PROVIDED A FEATURE-RICH PLATFORM FOR SERVERS AND DESKTOPS. PROFESSIONAL USES OFFER A RICH ECOSYSTEM OF PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION ![Scott B.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Scott B.") SB Scott B. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 3.5/5 "Good technology for those who understand unix" What do you like about OpenIndiana? Open Indiana is the evolution of Solaris with many modern changes. It supports ZFS by default, solving some hurdles with using ZFS on Linux. You also ##### 2. App Ecosystem Users value the **rich application ecosystem** of OpenIndiana, enhancing productivity across servers and desktops. [ See 1 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2443826&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Jeffrey K.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Jeffrey K.") JK Jeffrey K. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5.0/5 "OPENINDIANA PRINCIPALS" What do you like about OpenIndiana? PROFESSIONAL USERS ARE PROVIDED A FEATURE-RICH PLATFORM FOR SERVERS AND DESKTOPS. PROFESSIONAL USES OFFER A RICH ECOSYSTEM OF PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION ##### 3. Hardware Support Users commend the **excellent hardware support** in OpenIndiana, enhancing performance with modern features like ZFS and LXC. [ See 1 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2312812&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Scott B.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Scott B.") SB Scott B. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 3.5/5 "Good technology for those who understand unix" What do you like about OpenIndiana? Open Indiana is the evolution of Solaris with many modern changes. It supports ZFS by default, solving some hurdles with using ZFS on Linux. You also ### Top Cons or Disadvantages of OpenIndiana ##### 1. Lack of Support Users struggle with the **lack of support** for OpenIndiana, facing outdated packages and complex installation processes. [ See 2 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2312820&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Jeffrey K.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Jeffrey K.") JK Jeffrey K. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5.0/5 "OPENINDIANA PRINCIPALS" What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? INSTALLATION ISSUES WITH OUTDATED PACKAGES AND COMPLEX MANUAL PROCESSES. OPENINDIANA FACES CHALLENGES DUE TO IT'S LACK OF SUPPORT ![Scott B.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Scott B.") SB Scott B. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 3.5/5 "Good technology for those who understand unix" What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? Find help can be a challenge. Information is not as prevalent as with Linux, but what you can find tents to be better quality. ##### 2. Installation Difficulties Users report **installation difficulties** with outdated packages and complex processes, leading to significant challenges with OpenIndiana. [ See 1 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2443831&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Jeffrey K.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Jeffrey K.") JK Jeffrey K. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5.0/5 "OPENINDIANA PRINCIPALS" What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? INSTALLATION ISSUES WITH OUTDATED PACKAGES AND COMPLEX MANUAL PROCESSES. OPENINDIANA FACES CHALLENGES DUE TO IT'S LACK OF SUPPORT ##### 3. Outdated Technology Users struggle with **outdated technology** in OpenIndiana, dealing with installation issues and a lack of support. [ See 1 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2443851&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Jeffrey K.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Jeffrey K.") JK Jeffrey K. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5.0/5 "OPENINDIANA PRINCIPALS" What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? INSTALLATION ISSUES WITH OUTDATED PACKAGES AND COMPLEX MANUAL PROCESSES. OPENINDIANA FACES CHALLENGES DUE TO IT'S LACK OF SUPPORT ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![Red Hat Enterprise Linux](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_3042cb71cbf8ba9820007715c12aea60/red-hat-enterprise-linux.jpg "Red Hat Enterprise Linux") Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.6/5(977) ](https://www.g2.com/products/red-hat-enterprise-linux/reviews) [ ![Ubuntu](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/4b0cb18835a92aa4bb723c4d488c6400/ubuntu.svg "Ubuntu") Ubuntu 4.5/5(2,399) ](https://www.g2.com/products/ubuntu/reviews) [ ![macOS Sierra](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/1487566982/apple-macos-sierra.svg "macOS Sierra") macOS Sierra 4.5/5(484) ](https://www.g2.com/products/apple-macos-sierra/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/openindiana/competitors/alternatives) ![jamsheed I.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "jamsheed I.") JI jamsheed I. Senior Civil Engineer Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 6/7/2026 "Rock-Solid OpenIndiana with Powerful ZFS and Snapshot Features" 5/5 What do you like best about OpenIndiana? Its stability and enterprise-grade foundation based on the illumos operating system. The software provides advanced features such as ZFS file systems, snapshots, data integrity protection, and efficient resource management while remaining open source. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? Open indiana is ok in all its corrector and configuration. I like it . No dislike from my side. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is OpenIndiana solving and how is that benefiting you? Data protection and reliability through the ZFS file system, which helps prevent data corruption and enables easy backups and snapshots. System stability by providing a robust UNIX-like operating environment suitable for servers and critical workloads. Cost reduction by offering enterprise-class features without expensive proprietary licensing fees. Efficient system administration with built-in tools for monitoring, virtualization, and resource management. 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 ReviewerSource: G2 invite ![Jeffrey K.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Jeffrey K.") JK Jeffrey K. VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 12/28/2025 "OPENINDIANA PRINCIPALS" 5/5 What do you like best about OpenIndiana? PROFESSIONAL USERS ARE PROVIDED A FEATURE-RICH PLATFORM FOR SERVERS AND DESKTOPS. PROFESSIONAL USES OFFER A RICH ECOSYSTEM OF PROFESSIONAL APPLICATIONS WHICH INCLUDE OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? INSTALLATION ISSUES WITH OUTDATED PACKAGES AND COMPLEX MANUAL PROCESSES. OPENINDIANA FACES CHALLENGES DUE TO IT'S LACK OF SUPPORT Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is OpenIndiana solving and how is that benefiting you? PROFESSIONAL USES OFFER AN ADVANCED OBSERVABILITY TOOLS IN A CENTRALIZED SERVICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. PROFESSIONAL USES OFFER RESOURCES LIKE THE OPEN INDIANA DOCUMENTATION GUIDE. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 1/2/2026 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Jose Alfredo A.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Jose Alfredo A.") JA Jose Alfredo A. Docente Postgrado (Cursos de Actualización) Information Technology and Services Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 8/29/2025 "Experience with OpenIndiana" 4/5 What do you like best about OpenIndiana? Free access to technologies based on ZFS, DTrace, and SMF, in addition to maintaining binary and conceptual compatibility with OpenSolaris Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? At the beginning, it is usually confusing or incomplete for new users due to its limited documentation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is OpenIndiana solving and how is that benefiting you? It helps me in system debugging and especially in the configuration of my local networks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 inviteAI Translated ![Scott B.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Scott B.") SB Scott B. Unix Linux System Administrator III Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 10/2/2025 "Good technology for those who understand unix" 3.5/5 What do you like best about OpenIndiana? Open Indiana is the evolution of Solaris with many modern changes. It supports ZFS by default, solving some hurdles with using ZFS on Linux. You also get LXC containers, which is preferred by some. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? Find help can be a challenge. Information is not as prevalent as with Linux, but what you can find tents to be better quality. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is OpenIndiana solving and how is that benefiting you? Good stable foundation to build my infrastructure with. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite MS Mohamed S. Senior Sales Associate Hospitality Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 8/21/2024 "Open source server for advanced users" 4.5/5 What do you like best about OpenIndiana? OpenIndiana really soars at its highest. It provided me with confidence about my server and weeks of running with no issues. The number of freely available OSSs is enormous, which makes it just great. It is like having a giant toolbox in terms of customization that is waiting at your beck and call. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? The availability of the software becomes a two-edged weapon. Quite often one gets older versions of packages or if one is lucky has to compile them manually, which transforms simple installations into wild hunts. It is like searching for the right tool in an old dusty attic full of clutter and stuff. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is OpenIndiana solving and how is that benefiting you? I was struggling to find tools to create I was having a very smooth and stable creation. OpenIndiana project offers a very stable platform for my server. It is best suited for those who value availability and customization over accessibility. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Rishu T.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Rishu T.") RT Rishu T. Associate Manager Strategy Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 8/17/2023 "Old content in new cover" 3.5/5 What do you like best about OpenIndiana? Its compatibility with other solaris applications,parellel processing where the user can select multiple commands from shell conf. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? The Boot time,As mentioned in the title it is bit outdated system with very poort documentation and on top of that , the aesthetics are not appealing Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is OpenIndiana solving and how is that benefiting you? It is very helpfule for ebugging the system & provides various networking, and virtualization options. It makes certain the availability of openly developed distribution based on OpenSolaris. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Srishti G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Srishti G.") SG Srishti G. SDET Computer Software Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 6/13/2023 "OpenIndiana used by organisations for [free] security updates and bug fixes." 4.5/5 What do you like best about OpenIndiana? 1- It handles various users at one time. 2-Freely users can use server . 3-It has initial support for mount install media via NFS. 4-From shell configuration user can select different commands. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? 1- The timestamp is a little bit Outdated. 2- Documentation is poor. 3- It is not primitive compare to GNU/Linux. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is OpenIndiana solving and how is that benefiting you? 1- Used for Datalink Multipathing. 2- It is used for debugging systems. 3- It is used for network configuration. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic Review from User Profile ![Verified User in Information Technology and Services](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Information Technology and Services") CI Verified User in Information Technology and Services Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 9/22/2021 "Easy to use OS for the people who have worked with opensolaris" 3.5/5 What do you like best about OpenIndiana? It supports a windowing GUI system along with a Command Line Interface shell. It provides the user to select different commands from shell configuration. It supports so many powerful open-source software. It provides next-generation features for downstream distributions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? Poor Documentation. The setup is outdated. The system takes much time to boot. The themes could have been better Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is OpenIndiana solving and how is that benefiting you? It helps in debugging the system, networking, and virtualization options. It ensures the availability of openly developed distribution based on OpenSolaris and allows us to work on all the recently developed distribution. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 6/5/2023 Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Computer & Network Security](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Computer & Network Security") UC Verified User in Computer & Network Security Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 6/6/2023 "" A Stable and Reliable Open-Source OS"" 4.5/5 What do you like best about OpenIndiana? 1)Supports open source softwares 2) Provides variety of desktop environment option 3) User can select multiple commands from shell conf. 4)It is more compatible with solaris applications Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? 1) Insufficient documentation 2) should provide options to change theme, layouts Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is OpenIndiana solving and how is that benefiting you? It focuses on providing a stable and reliable operating system. It helps in debugging the system. Its an opensource alternative to Oracle Solaris Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite RM Roger M. Sole Proprietor Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 11/26/2018 "Looking for an Open Source continuation of OpenSolaris?" 4/5 What do you like best about OpenIndiana? I appreciate the timely software updates to ensure the OS is securely patched. It has all of the features of OpenSolaris (ZFS/Zones/DTrace/etc) along with new features that rival those of Oracle's Solaris 11 offering. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about OpenIndiana? Sometimes new releases of the system aren't on a regular schedule but that can work itself out if more admins were to adopt this software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering OpenIndiana: Great Open Source alternative to closed source binaries from Oracle. The community is responsive although not as widespread as Linux distributions. Rock solid architecture make this the smart choice for basing your backend storage platforms on. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is OpenIndiana solving and how is that benefiting you? Providing ZFS-backed storage without the expense of support contracts/other fees from Oracle. Also benefiting from the binary application compatibility that Solaris is historically known for. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ## Work at OpenIndiana? Claim this profile to respond to reviews, update product info, and reach in-market buyers. 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