Amazon Linux is lightweight, secure, and optimized for AWS out of the box. No more tweaking generic distros—everything just works. Updates come fast, and the integration with Systems Manager and CloudWatch is seamless. We cut our deployment times in half. If you run on EC2, this is the only choice. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazon Linux prioritizes stability over currency, which means you’ll spend hours fighting ancient versions of Python, Node, or Git. Even with amazon-linux-extras, you often get minor releases that are years behind. For modern development, I end up installing everything from source or switching to Fedora / Ubuntu. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazon Linux 2 has been rock solid for our EC2 workloads. The tight integration with AWS services like CloudWatch agent, SSM, and IAM roles makes provisioning servers really painless. Long-term support and regular security patches give us peace of mind, and the kernel live patching feature has saved us multiple maintenance windows. Performance on Graviton instances is excellent and yum/extras repos make installing the right versions of Python, Docker, and nginx straightforward. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The biggest downside is the end-of-life timeline since AL2 standard support ends in June 2025, which pushed us into a migration planning effort to AL2023. Package versions in the default repos can also feel dated compared to upstream distros, so we sometimes need amazon-linux-extras or third-party repos to get newer software. Documentation around extras topics could be clearer, and using it outside of AWS feels awkward. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazon Linux 2 is excellent for applications on AWS EC2. Optimized performance, fast security updates, and full compatibility with the AWS ecosystem. Low overhead, based on CentOS but with better integration. Extended support until 2025 is very valuable. Ideal for containers, microservices, and automation in cloud infrastructure. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Limited documentation compared to Ubuntu/CentOS. Some packages are not in official repositories. Smaller community, less third-party support. Rapid changes between versions can break dependencies. Does not have 10-year support like Enterprise Linux. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like its stability and long-term support the most. Amazon Linux 2 is optimized for AWS, has regular security updates, and integrates well with cloud services, making deployments reliable and efficient. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Its main drawbacks are limited software availability compared to other Linux distributions and slower updates for some packages. This can make it less flexible for certain development needs outside the AWS ecosystem. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Extremely well optimized for AWS Environments. It's lightweight and comes with long term support which is very helpful for production workloads. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazon Linux 2 has limited usage outside AWS. Some packages are outdated or not available so it becomes necessary to install manually. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Stands out for its tight AWS integration , long-term support, and strong security defaults. it delivers stable performance with an EC2 - optimized kernel while still offering access to newer software through the extras repository, making it ideal for production workloads on AWS Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

limiting on-prem or multi-cloud environments. package availability lag behind, often requiring extrac configuration or workarounds and the smaller community means fewer thrid party resources and tutorials Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Stable, secure, AWS-optimized OS with long-term support and excellent performance. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Outdated packages, slower updates, limited repos, and weaker community support vs mainstream distros. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It’s lightweight, stable, and works really well on AWS. Setup is simple, it gets regular security updates, and it integrates smoothly with other AWS services, which makes managing servers much easier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Package versions can feel outdated sometimes, and compared to Ubuntu, there’s less community support and fewer ready-made guides. Also, some tools/libraries aren’t available by default, so setup can take extra effort. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazon Linux 2 is built and tuned specifically for AWS services and infrastructure.

It boots fast, runs efficiently on EC2, and comes preconfigured for common AWS use cases — making it ideal for cloud-native workloads. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The default repositories often lag behind current versions for tools like Python, Node.js, Git, etc.

Sometimes you have to manually build or use external repos (e.g., EPEL or source builds), which adds complexity. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

like best about Amazon Linux 2 is its tight integration with AWS services combined with its lightweight, stable, and secure-by-default design. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Far fewer tutorials, guides, and community resources compared to Ubuntu or RHEL Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.