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CentOS Linux Logo

Linux-based operating system

Table of Contents

CentOS Linux - 2026 Pricing, Features, Reviews & Alternatives

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All user reviews are verified by in-house moderators and provider data by our software research team.  Learn more

CentOS Linux overview

What is CentOS Linux?

CentOS Linux is an open-source operating system (OS) that helps individuals and businesses manage backups, data migration, storage, and more, whilst ensuring compatibility with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It enables professionals to utilize dm-crypt to manage filesystem encryptions, handle multiple user passwords, and store met-data in partition headers, protecting hard drives against bare-metal attacks.

CentOS allows users to manage full-virtualization and paravirtualization operations Xen and KVM technologies. It enables employees to conduct PC backups, manage archiving, create tar files, and handle rsync backups from within a centralized platform. The built-in vpopmail provides a virtual mail backend system to store user and domain configurations, such as PostgreSQL, LDAP, and MySQL.

CentOS's migration module lets businesses migrate to the latest CentOS versions from older CentOS versions and other Enterprise Linux distributions, such as WhiteBox, Scientific Linux, and TaoLinux. It also enables staff members to set up secure webservers with SSL-based encryption.

Starting price

CentOS Linux’s user interface

Ease of use rating:

CentOS Linux reviews

Overall rating

4.7

/5

34

Positive reviews

94

%

Rating breakdown
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend8.18/10
Rating distribution

5

4

3

2

1

24

8

2

0

0

Pros
“My favourite thing about CentOS is how great the security is. There is barely ever any exploits for CentOS compared to other operating systems, the firewall is great and new patches are always secure.”
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Angus M.

Company Director

“What I like the most about this distribution is that it is easy to configure and put into operation, it is very stable for managing databases and applications.”
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Jonathan A.

IT infrastructure analyst

“CentOS is a very stable and reliable Linux distribution that I have used in various organisations as a server OS. It works well, has good package management and can be quite easily secured.”

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Anonymity request

Cons
“One of the things I don't like is that to scale you have to add servers, we have limitations for synchronized audio and video and if the server fails everything fails.”
RM

Ricardo M.

Analyst Network

“RedHat/IBM acquired CentOS and killed the project.”
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Ali L.

Server Administrator

“I don't like the recent changes and discontinuity of CentOS 7 and 8. It's confusing how to upgrade to CentOS RHEL version without affecting our actual server functions.”
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Jose J.

CTO

Who uses CentOS Linux?

Based on 34 verified user reviews.

Company size

Small Businesses

Enterprises

Midsize Businesses

Top industries

Information Technology and Services
Computer Software
Hospital & Health Care
Media Production
Others

Use cases

Operating Systems

CentOS Linux's key features

Most critical features, based on insights from CentOS Linux users:

System updates
User interface
Kernels
Data security
App management

All CentOS Linux features

Features rating:

CentOS Linux alternatives

CentOS Linux logo

Starting from

Free

Free trial
Free version
Ease of Use
Features
Value for Money
Customer Support

Starting from

Empty state illustration for "No pricing info"

No pricing info

Free trial
Free version
Ease of Use
Features
Value for Money
Customer Support
Android 11 logo

Starting from

Free

Free trial
Free version
Ease of Use
Features
Value for Money
Customer Support
Ubuntu logo

Starting from

225

Per year

Free trial
Free version
Ease of Use
Features
Value for Money
Customer Support

CentOS Linux pricing

Value for money rating:

Starting from

Free

Pricing details
Subscription
Free trial
Free plan
Pricing range

User opinions about CentOS Linux price and value

Value for money rating:

To see what individual users think of CentOS Linux's price and value, check out the review snippets below.

“My favourite thing about CentOS is how great the security is. There is barely ever any exploits for CentOS compared to other operating systems, the firewall is great and new patches are always secure.”
Verified reviewer profile picture

Angus M.

Company Director

“What I like the most about this distribution is that it is easy to configure and put into operation, it is very stable for managing databases and applications.”
Verified reviewer profile picture

Jonathan A.

IT infrastructure analyst

CentOS Linux support options

Typical customers

Freelancers
Small businesses
Mid size businesses
Large enterprises

Platforms supported

Web
Android
iPhone/iPad

Support options

Knowledge Base
FAQs/Forum

Training options

Documentation

CentOS Linux FAQs

Q. What type of pricing plans does CentOS Linux offer?

CentOS Linux has the following pricing plans:
Pricing model: Free, Open Source


Q. Who are the typical users of CentOS Linux?

CentOS Linux has the following typical customers:
Freelancers, Large Enterprises, Small Business


Q. What languages does CentOS Linux support?

CentOS Linux supports the following languages:
English


Q. Does CentOS Linux offer an API?

No, CentOS Linux does not have an API available.


Q. What level of support does CentOS Linux offer?

CentOS Linux offers the following support options:
Knowledge Base, FAQs/Forum

Related categories