We performed a comparison between Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: RHEL excels in setup, integration, security updates, and application support. However, it falls short in terms of documentation, pricing, and customer support. SUSE Linux Enterprise is praised for its simplicity, flexibility, user-friendliness, and customer support. It needs improvement in GUI, pricing competitiveness, and integration.
"The most valuable features are stability and supportability... You want to have something that's up and running and stable, something that's not going to crash. But if we do have an issue, we can get somebody for technical support who can help us work through the problems."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is how easy it is to use."
"The number one thing we like is that it is a very reliable platform. It is a very consistent platform. There is very little that we cannot do with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and there is very little that we worry about when we are running a Red Hat distribution."
"Resiliency-wise, the solution is very good."
"Copious documentation is probably the best feature of the solution."
"It is compatible with most Java microservices applications."
"The robust networking capabilities offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux were highly valuable. They have numerous partnerships and dedicated efforts in low-latency technologies, which are particularly beneficial for trading firms. They possess extensive expertise in external tuning and similar aspects."
"The solution has features that simplify adoption for non-Linux users. There is an interface that you can activate on RHEL systems, and on other Linux systems as well, so that you will get a graphical user interface instead of just a shell. It's easier for an administrator who is used to only working on Windows."
"It also was very easy to setup, and offered an easy to use advanced setup option as well. This helped to create special configurations for different use cases."
"The initial setup is very straightforward."
"SUSE Linux Enterprise is scalable."
"From a functionality perspective, the suite is quite rich. We like that."
"The most valuable feature is that there is an inbuilt HANA firewall."
"Out-of-the-box SLES supported all of our HBAs and hardware specific components."
"SUSE Linux Enterprise is stable."
"YaST simplifies the server management of SUSE allowing for a centralized utility to control most of the server functions."
"From a cloud perspective, I'm looking for more integrations with native cloud services. For example, the ability to use native Azure Key Vault instead of Ansible Key Vault or Red Hat Key Vault."
"I would like to see additional features, including automation and the introduction of AI/ML-based tools within Red Hat to handle manual tasks that humans are required to do."
"The biggest thing that is crushing RHEL is documentation. Their documentation is haphazard at best. The man pages that you can use locally are pretty good, they've been fleshed out pretty well, but the documentation from Red Hat itself really needs somebody to go through it and review it."
"I am still trying to figure out the features it has. There is so much that it can do."
"The price is something that can be improved, as they are still being undercut."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux should modernize its UI to make navigating the screens easier."
"The product lags a bit behind in the market."
"It is a bit on the pricier side. However, due to the stability and support that they provide to my management and me, we really don't see a reason to choose another way to go. It is hard to get good support."
"They should provide chatbot support for customers to open the troubleshooting cases directly."
"The platform doesn't support certain APMs."
"We previously had trouble integrating Autodesk with the SUSE Manager, but the issue was resolved."
"SUSE could make more APIs available."
"I don't like the frequency of updates, especially if they're only from the vendor."
"The only stability issues that I can recall encountering with SUSE would be with KDE. However, that is limited to just the desktop environment as I have not had stability issues with most server functions."
"The solution could be more stable."
"The price of SUSE Linux Enterprise could improve, it is too expensive."
More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Pricing and Cost Advice →
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is ranked 1st in Operating Systems (OS) for Business with 179 reviews while SUSE Linux Enterprise is ranked 6th in Operating Systems (OS) for Business with 26 reviews. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is rated 8.8, while SUSE Linux Enterprise is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) writes "Highly stable, good knowledge base, and reasonable price". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SUSE Linux Enterprise writes "Stable product compatible with multiple cloud service providers ". Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is most compared with Windows Server, Ubuntu Linux, Windows 10, Oracle Linux and CentOS, whereas SUSE Linux Enterprise is most compared with Ubuntu Linux, openSUSE Leap, Oracle Linux, CentOS and Rocky Linux. See our Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. SUSE Linux Enterprise report.
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We monitor all Operating Systems (OS) for Business reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.