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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Reviews & Product Details

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Value at a Glance

Averages based on real user reviews.

Time to Implement

3 months

Return on Investment

13 months

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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Reviews (971)

View 4 Video Reviews
Reviews

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Reviews (971)

View 4 Video Reviews
4.6
971 reviews

Review Summary

Generated using AI from real user reviews
Users consistently praise the stability and security of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, highlighting its reliability for enterprise environments and long-term support. Many appreciate the excellent support and documentation provided, which enhances their confidence in managing critical workloads. However, the high subscription costs are a common concern, particularly for smaller teams.

Pros & Cons

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AK
Professional Service Engineer
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Business partner of the seller or seller's competitor, not included in G2 scores.
"Evaluating Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Pros, Cons, and Suitability for Businesses"
What do you like best about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

It is helpful because:

1.RHEL is known for rock-solid stability, making it ideal for critical production environments. It goes through rigorous testing to ensure minimal downtime.

2.RHEL is certified on a wide range of hardware platforms and supported by major software vendors, ensuring compatibility and smooth integration.

3.RHEL includes advanced security features like SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux), integrated auditing, and regular security updates to protect enterprise systems.

4.Red Hat provides extensive support cycles (up to 10 years for some releases), including security patches, bug fixes, and updates perfect for businesses that need long-term stability.

Upsides of Using Red Hat Enterprise Linux

1.Wide adoption in the enterprise world, which means a large community and ecosystem.

2.Seamless integration with cloud platforms (like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and hybrid cloud environments.

3.Access to advanced tools for containerization, virtualization, and automation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

1.RHEL is not free — you need a paid subscription for official updates, patches, and support.

For small businesses or personal use, this cost can feel high compared to free RHEL-compatible alternatives like Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux.

2.Without a subscription, you can’t get updates directly from Red Hat’s repositories.

This creates a dependency on their paid support model.

3.The subscription model can be confusing for new users, especially when calculating costs for large deployments. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Koppula S.
KS
Data Engineer
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Security and Stability for Financial Systems"
What do you like best about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

I appreciate Red Hat Enterprise Linux for its security features, including security patches and SELinux access controls, which are crucial in the financial sector to prevent data exposure. I also find its stability for long-term use very reassuring, especially for critical financial systems, and it helps ensure compliance with standard regulations. The predictable updates and scheduled maintenance contribute to its reliability, preventing downtime in essential services like online banking and payment processing. Additionally, Ansible Automation is a valuable tool for ensuring server configurations are correct, minimizing operational risks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Troubleshooting sometimes becomes very complex because of its strong security software. Providing more on-point error messages or including more troubleshooting tools could help solve this. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

mayuresh p.
MP
Software Engineer - II
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Reliable and Stable, Perfect for Production"
What do you like best about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

I appreciate how stable and predictable Red Hat Enterprise Linux is. Once everything is set up, it just runs without surprises, which is exactly what we want. I also like the long-term support and structured updates they provide. Consistency across different environments, whether production or testing, is almost identical. The system fits smoothly into a production-focused ecosystem, and package management with yum/dnf is straightforward. I love the documentation provided as well. The installation process is smooth and well-documented, making it quick to get a system up and running. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

There are a few things that could be improved with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It's conservative with the packages, so sometimes the default repositories don't have the latest versions of tools and libraries. Also, the subscription management and licensing can feel heavy occasionally. The main friction comes when installing any dependency because the system needs to be properly registered and attached to a subscription, which becomes a bit of overhead when provisioning new servers or spinning up short-lived environments. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Mallik c.
MC
Sr. Enterprise Cloud Architect
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Stable and Reliable, But Can Be Costly"
What do you like best about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

I really value the stability and reliability that Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers, which is part of its proven track record. It's reinforced by Red Hat Enterprise support, which strictly follows their SLAs and SLOs, ensuring they're always there for us in case of any issues, especially with critical production workloads. Also, Red Hat Enterprise Linux's support at hyperscalers, private cloud, and the edge is noteworthy, being hyperscale agnostic and hybrid cloud ready. It provides seamless performance across any hosting location, which I find incredibly beneficial. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Yeah. The cost involves an additional 20 to 25% just due to the fact that Red Hat Enterprise Linux is supported. The second issue is that the initial setup can get complex for large enterprises, with a pretty strict learning curve. Another one is subscription management, which requires complex licenses. We have to perform a lot of administrative tasks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Raquib .
R
Student
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Fantastic Community Support with Easy Setup"
What do you like best about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for my college subjects and recently for my website backend. It helps me manage my backend infrastructure and makes administrative tasks easier. I like that it offers great community support and is a widely adopted system, making it compatible with various services and sites. Starting with it as a student, the community and easy setup helped me get familiar with it and later when I moved it onto my website, the community was instrumental in solving challenges I faced with my backend. Also, the initial setup is very easy and the detailed installation setup helped me a lot. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

In my opinion, one disadvantage is that Red Hat Enterprise Linux can be slow on newer features as they focus on stable distros rather than faster updates and unstable versions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Aditya J.
AJ
Software Engineer
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Perfect OS for Developers and Cloud Integration"
What do you like best about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

I like Red Hat Enterprise Linux because it's a lightweight and easily available OS with a wide variety of features. It's perfect for programming, DevOps, virtual machines, and especially Linux and Shell programming. I appreciate that it's a good beginner-friendly OS, which makes it suitable for both newcomers and professionals in Linux programming. It's very useful for reducing the load on BIOS. I also find its collaboration capabilities with cloud services and virtual machines to be great features. It's more secure and resilient, and I haven't encountered any problems with it. The setup is easy with guidance from knowledgeable authorities, and I've used it successfully with AWS Cloud and Azure Cloud. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

The only thing I didn't like that it needs a knowledgeable person for installation. Rest is good in the RHEL OS. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

TB
CU Distingushed Professor Emeritus at U. Colorado at Colorado Springs
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"The Perfectly Supported OS for Academic and Professional Use"
What do you like best about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

I really appreciate that Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a well-supported and very secure operating system, which is used for our machine learning experiments and teaching classes on Unix. It helps our students gain a deeper understanding of Linux. Also, it's great for production efforts using Linux-based software packages. The decent package manager makes it easy for administrators to install packages quickly, and we don't have to manage everything ourselves. There's also a good selection of packages that support a wide range of hardware and software projects. The initial setup process was straightforward, it detected all the hardware in our systems, and there were no problems with installation or learning for those new to Linux. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Sometimes the differences between Red Hat and free linux versions students run at home or on laptops can be challenging for students. They often don't recognize the differences in package managers, such as RPM versus Ubuntu,'s apt which can add to the confusion. It would be nice if there was an automated facility that could help by suggesting the correct command and packages for the operating system in use. This would reduce the need for students to Google things so much, especially when they're debugging or dealing with package issues without full internet access. It would also be good if there was a package recommender using an LLM where you describe what you want and it suggests the packages to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Pal M.
PM
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Rock-Solid Stability with Premium Support"
What do you like best about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux because of its reliability and long-term stability, which ensures that my systems run smoothly without unexpected issues. I appreciate the strong security features like SELinux and the consistent stream of security updates that protect systems while minimizing the need for manual intervention. The excellent documentation and enterprise-level support provided by Red Hat are invaluable whenever there's an issue or a need for guidance, as the resources are clear and dependable. Additionally, RHEL's compatibility with modern tools like Docker and Kubernetes, along with efficient package management using YUM/DNF, makes development and deployment more straightforward and streamlined. I also value the strong support and integration within Red Hat's ecosystem. Overall, RHEL is a dependable choice with a great combination of stability, security, and support. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

While Red Hat Enterprise Linux is very reliable and secure, there are a few areas where it could be improved. One aspect is the subscription cost, which can be relatively high compared to other Linux distributions. For smaller teams or individual developers, this can sometimes be a barrier. Another point is that RHEL tends to prioritize stability over having the latest software versions. While this is great for production environments, it can feel limiting when you need access to newer features or more up-to-date packages. Additionally, setting up and managing certain features like SELinux can be complex for beginners. It often requires a deeper understanding to configure properly without unintentionally blocking legitimate processes. Lastly, some development tools and libraries may not be as readily available in the default repositories, which means extra effort is needed to configure additional sources. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Murali R.
MR
Senior Information Technology Analyst
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Excellent Support and On-Time Patches Make Red Hat Enterprise Linux Stand Out"
What do you like best about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Redhat enterprise linux has user support , technical support very good , patches are released on time , version upgrades , os upgrades , os security patches for oshardening and everything , each version of redhat tehy fix bugs and release a new feature which is interesting Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Redhat linux has disadvantages like devel fix during patching , leap preupgrade pata file problem during os upgrade , yum upgrade will not fix kernel if its having bug as default install previous version is not there Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Anwer J.
AJ
Azure Cloud Network Engineer
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
Business partner of the seller or seller's competitor, not included in G2 scores.
"Exceptional Reliability and Support for Enterprise Workloads"
What do you like best about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

This is one of the best Linux distributions, offering regular updates and security patches that make it highly reliable. The support from the Linux team is excellent, and the Redhat community consistently provides outstanding assistance. In our experience, this system has managed our production workloads smoothly, with very few outages resulting from the regular upgrades performed by Redhat. This reliability has increased our confidence in using it within our enterprise environment, where we run important enterprise applications such as open source databases and Kubernetes services. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

Overall, migrating users from different operating systems, such as Windows servers or various Linux distributions like Ubuntu and OpenSuse, can be quite challenging. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Questions about Red Hat Enterprise Linux? 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.

Abhishek D.
AD
Abhishek Dubey
Last activity 3 months ago

What in RHEL you guys love?

zabihullah D.
ZD
zabihullah Dilawari
Last activity over 3 years ago

How do i tourn on firewall using RHEL

Pricing Insights

Averages based on real user reviews.

Time to Implement

3 months

Return on Investment

13 months

Average Discount

12%

Perceived Cost

$$$$$

How much does Red Hat Enterprise Linux cost?

Data powered by BetterCloud.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Comparisons
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Features
Security updates
Scalability
Portability
Data Recovery
OS Integration
Resource Saving
Performance Management
Deployment
Interface support
Processor support
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux