Oracle Linux vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Oracle Linux
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Oracle Linux, which is application binary compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, is free to download, use, and share. There is no license cost, no need for a contract, and no usage audits. 24/7 enterprise-grade support is available for business critical environments. A single support offering includes virtualization, management, HA, and cloud native computing tools such as Kubernetes and Kata Containers, along with the Linux operating system. The vendor states that as the only Linux…
$0
per month
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux distribution mainly used in commercial data centers.N/A
Pricing
Oracle LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Oracle LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Oracle LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Considered Both Products
Oracle Linux
Chose Oracle Linux
Performance frequently updates patches and security.
Chose Oracle Linux
Both of the alternatives provided a strong competition but Oracle Linux emerged as the absolute winner as the feature to update the kernel without downtime is a game-changer and the level of support provided is at par the market standards. Also, stability was a key decisive …
Chose Oracle Linux
Oracle Linux is better suited for Oracle eccentric environments, while RHEL is better for open source projects.
Chose Oracle Linux
The best thing about Oracle is that it is free. Support is also at a reasonable cost. It works well for all Oracle products. Our company product is based on Oracle database. It provides an edge there. It works well in a cloud environment that is compatible with other standard …
Chose Oracle Linux
As DBA I manage Oracle databases, Oracle Linux is the easiest to manage to compare other vendors. Support from the same OS and DB vendor saves a lot of time.
Chose Oracle Linux
Easy to install and maintain the database and also the high availability, as DBA we prefer to use Oracle Linux because its performance together with the DB, with RHEL we could face many issues installing and maintaining the database things that definitely doesn't happen with …
Chose Oracle Linux
Oracle Linux is very similar to RHEL, we selected Oracle Linux because Oracle provided us with a great support plan.
Chose Oracle Linux
I did not select oracle linux, it selected me :)
As long as its Linux, any of these distributions will work, it just depends where your job will land you.
Chose Oracle Linux
We opted for Oracle Linux due to the support from Single Vendor for Virtualization Platform, Operating System, Databases, and Applications. The cost of support offered by Oracle Corporation was lower compared to the support cost of another vendor. Better access to the Oracle …
Chose Oracle Linux
Oracle Linux stacks up from Linux as it provides good solutions with better performance and reliability. It also works and supports large systems.
Chose Oracle Linux
Oracle is a good competitor for RHEL, SUSE, and other Linux OS. I personally feel that Oracle Linux has a great chance to stand at the pinnacle of Linux OS.
Chose Oracle Linux
To run the Oracle database server smoothly and to get better support from the community. The OS comes with an already pre-configured database system which is easier and more efficient for the user and IT members who are familiar with the Oracle Products. Support cost is much …
Chose Oracle Linux
All the other three have a large user base already by now and Oracle Linux is still unheard of with many Linux communities. Even though it has most of the features like others, it still is not as widespread as others. It may be Oracle Linux needs to push this into the market …
Chose Oracle Linux
Distribution designed and optimized for Oracle Database software - or been you won't spend a lot of time in order to bring them up. Ease to do troubleshooting 'cause we're working with the same vendor and we have sure there will no ping-pong issues which often happens between …
Chose Oracle Linux
Though all of these distributives are RPM-based, only CentOS and Oracle Linux have opportunities to use them free of charge on a daily basis. In a difference of CentOS, Oracle Linux have better update support of DBS as well as the RHEL repos and the applications of the Oracle …
Chose Oracle Linux
Oracle Linux is the OS that our monitoring platform lives on. The stability that it provides makes it a great choice for any production environment. The ability to provide a scalable, secure, supported environment has been welcomed by many.
Chose Oracle Linux
Oracle Linux and Red Hat Linux are very similar, and the both are great choices. Anyway, the out of the box enhancements that come with Oracle Linux is an aspect to consider if you are using Oracle products.
Chose Oracle Linux
RHEL is the closest contender and it does better in some of the areas (bug fixes, support for VMware) compared to Oracle Linux. Oracle Linux is much better than SUSE and Ubuntu.
Chose Oracle Linux
We have benefited with the stability of Oracle Linux and cost compared to that of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Windows Server, CentOS, and Ubuntu Linux. As far as combinations of cost, stability, security, support, Oracle Linux is the best overall choice.
Chose Oracle Linux
Oracle Linux has greater integration with Oracle applications, specifically with the VM and database manager.
Chose Oracle Linux
Oracle Linux still fairly similar in some aspects to Red Hat Linux, which it was based originally. However, it has a number of enhancements that work well with Oracle software products. It also is a bit easier to install, especially for users with limited technical knowledge or …
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
RHEL is much more flexible in configuration than any Unix system like IBM AIX or Oracle Solaris. At the same time has the excellent release of updates and support that Oracle Linux or CentOS Linux doesn't have. RHEL has also companion tools in the Red Hat products which help …
Chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Each of the different flavors of Linux have their positives and negatives but ultimately for the projects that I chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux was due for the need of online and phone support just in case something came up and we could not solve it on our own. This happens …
Top Pros
Top Cons
TrustRadius Insights
Oracle LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

Oracle Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are both distributions of the Linux open-source operating system. Oracle Linux is a free distribution used mainly by small to mid level outfits with existing Oracle databases, while RHEL is favored by enterprise-level businesses that prioritize stability and uptime. 

Features

Though Oracle Linux and RHEL have similar uses, there are standout features of each. 

Oracle Linux comes pre-configured for Oracle database systems, so businesses who already use Oracle products will be happy with how well Oracle Linux integrates with their existing system. Users cite support as Oracle Linux’s biggest strength, as support is readily available and can help even with complicated issues. For those using multiple Oracle products, different support departments from each product can work together to solve difficult problems quickly. Security and bug fixes are another strength of the distribution, and installation is relatively simple. Oracle Linux is also compatible with many types of hardware.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a lighting-fast Linux distribution used mostly at the enterprise level. Users report replacing their entire Windows systems with RHEL and cutting their tech support requirements considerably, due to RHEL’s near-complete stability and unprecedented uptime. For those running servers that absolutely must stay up and running at all costs, RHEL is second to none. Security is top-notch as well, and security patches are released regularly. 

Limitations

Each of these products has its own set of limitations that may be considered when choosing between them.

Though Oracle Linux is stable and well supported, users report that the graphical interface for desktop users is lacking and could be improved. While it works well in an Oracle database environment, it can be difficult to configure and use alongside competing brands of software. Bug fixes and feature upgrades can take a long time to arrive, and Oracle Linux for cloud environments needs work 

In prioritizing its rock-hard stability, RHEL has acquired a reputation for sacrificing innovation. New features and upgrades that would keep it competitive with other Linux distributions are not a priority for RHEL, and it shows. It’s designed mostly for high-level systems, so it’s not very user friendly for the layperson or newbie. The cost of RHEL can add up over the years, especially at the higher pricing tiers with more robust support. And if you want to switch between RHEL products or pricing tiers, upgrade/downgrade policies can be overly complex. 

Pricing

Oracle Linux is free to download, use and share. Support can be purchased at various tiers: $1200 per year for basic support, and $2300 for premier support. Contact Oracle for lifetime support pricing. 

RHEL offers yearly pricing for the different versions of its operating systems. Prices range from $99 per year for a barebones, no-support dev environment to $10,000 per year for a fully-featured version with four-hour support response times. 

Best Alternatives
Oracle LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Small Businesses
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 9.0 out of 10
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.2 out of 10
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.2 out of 10
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Oracle LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(90 ratings)
9.6
(52 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(81 ratings)
8.5
(7 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Oracle LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Likelihood to Recommend
Oracle
Oracle Linux is a very good and useful combination of the stability of Rhel and support for Oracle Databases. Our organisation uses an application and a database combo that we offer to the client but after the inclusion of Oracle Linux into our infrastructure, the provision and the operation cost are reduced significantly. So I would recommend using Oracle Linux when you are using multiple on-premises DB servers and want to move to a more secure, organised, and fast operating system.
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Red Hat
I guess to give it more context, my first job in the Linux ecosystem was in web hosting. And that was basically a Cintas shop and it was all run extremely lean and very bootstrappy do it on your own. You don't get any support. And for that environment, it was kind of just the way it is. It's very cutthroat. You have to move super fast. Once I moved over to the corporate side, every company I've worked with has been on rail. And the thing that really kind of makes it the best choice compared to using another operating system, another flavor of Linux and just kind of figuring out your own is the amount of support that Red Hat gives rail as far as extra tools like Satellite Insights and what's coming up now with Ansible and especially Ansible. Lightspeed, but also SLAs and stuff like that. Because yeah, I mean it was good learning in that first environment because there were no tickets, there was no support. It was figured out. But nowadays it's just nice to have an SLA agreement. I can just open a ticket. I say that that's something that does really well, but I also want to see it expanded, just more like vendor support at an enterprise level. I'm not sure yet what that would mean. I just have that every time we come up for renewal, I look at the price tag and it's like, what else can we do here? I like what Red Hat is doing just more.
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Pros
Oracle
  • We use Oracle Linux distro for every customer. The OS is very easy and absolutely free to develop/host and update our customers' apps and data across the globe. I personally use it in my lab to practice and test some personal stuff
  • We have Oracle Linux database, WebLogic, and e-business suite hosted on Oracle Linux. It is used across our whole organization in running critical applications. It is robust, easy to manage and administer, with rock-solid stability and very minimal server reboots or performance issues. I would highly recommend Oracle Linux over other operating systems.
  • Oracle Linux is trusted in high-volume, transactional, mission-critical production IT environments.
  • Oracle’s Linux support is relied upon for applications that require continuous or near-continuous availability
  • Application performance in general was enhanced as a result of the migration to Oracle Linux from Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
  • Oracle Linux-based VMs are used in our case for hosting a spark-based cluster for processing big data-based workloads. Those VMs have better security configurations and are patched. It has built-in installed packages which come in handy for a developer to start the development activity for the project.
  • We are using Oracle Linux as our primary Linux distribution deployed for our customers, but also for testing purposes on multiple test and UAT environments. Currently, it is used mainly by our department. We aim to provide commercial technical support for customers for our products, and thanks to the Oracle Linux Support program which covers Oracle Linux, we are getting assistance if needed.
  • I work across many different types of organizations. In some cases, Oracle Linux is being used for all database servers across the entire organization. In some cases, it is being selectively rolled out to replace legacy Unix systems. Plus in a few isolated cases, I've helped to replace Windows database servers with Oracle Linux. The common theme across all these different types of organizations is that they want the best Linux for running Oracle, which is pre-tuned and optimized as well as well supported by the database vendor. Oracle Linux wins hands down on these points.
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Red Hat
  • For us, it's going to be the deployment and the patching. It does a good job because you can put your no reboot tags and things like that because working with production systems and so we don't want them just rebooting suddenly because they were patched in the Linux world. So the non-reboot tags and the operating system deployment is the biggest thing we find that saves time and that's the biggest thing that we like. The tools. The tools that save time.
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Cons
Oracle
  • TigerVNC needs some fine tuning in Oracle Linux 8.4.
  • AutoTuning of Kernal Parameters for Oracle Databases based on the available hardware resources.
  • Embedded IPA Solutions to manage large number of Oracle Linux Systems.
  • Simple commands for LUN management.
  • Proactive SELinux policy violation message to administrator's mailbox.
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Red Hat
  • From an automation perspective. RHEL is really moving forward, but some of their ideas are still not ideas, but their implementations of it still feel half-baked, like the functionality's there, but it's not the kind of functionality that to me makes it a full-on solution with OpenShift in particular as we're bringing this in and we're getting more into containers because it's more important for the banking industry and other industries. Justice General, well you can do this by script and we don't have an interface for this and sort of things sort of like that. I'm trying to think if there's anything else that RHEL does that bothers me as a general rule.
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Likelihood to Renew
Oracle
No answers on this topic
Red Hat
We find RHEL to be a superior OS with stable operations and long life. It is also easier to use and fix then most other OS's.
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Usability
Oracle
No answers on this topic
Red Hat
RHEL has most of the features that are required by an ERP solution. If you need any additional packages, RHEL has a great repository and a very easy package installation/upgrade process.
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Support Rating
Oracle
One of the most robust Linux distributions is Redhat, its forks have given rise to infinite business models and distributions that have defined the market. Oracle Linux, obviously developed by the tech giant Oracle, is constantly releasing a flexible and incredibly stable product while adding its own bunch of new features. Among the most notable is the "Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel" (UEK).
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Red Hat
Red Hat support has really come a long way in the last 10 years, The general support is great, and the specialized product support teams are extremely knowledgeable about their specific products. Response time is good and you never need to escalate.
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Implementation Rating
Oracle
No answers on this topic
Red Hat
Don't be afraid of it, its easy to install and configure for the tasks needed.
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Alternatives Considered
Oracle
The Oracle Linux definitely comes on the top when it comes down to being easily available as its platform-independent. This is where the masses lie as we have moved to a hybrid work environment where keeping everyone on the same devices is no more required. Linux stands out as it allows the industry workers to implement BYOD in all environments. Software as a service is truly done by Linux. I don’t want to switch to other platforms anymore.
Read full review
Red Hat
The biggest thing about RHEL that makes it stand out for enterprise users is the support that we get from the vendor. Whereas with the other ones, you're basically left on your own. There's no official repo, there's no satellite for patching. You're very left on your own with the community.
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Return on Investment
Oracle
  • Oracle Linux provides technical advances that Solaris UNIX does not while saving millions of dollars.
  • Oracle Linux supports automated patching and easy maintenance, allowing less downtime for users and developers.
  • Oracle Linux is recommended for applications already on Oracle Database and using other Oracle products and software.
  • Oracle Linux is a secure, stable, and high-performance operating system that allows hybrid or cloud platforms.
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Red Hat
  • Auditors are happy that we use an enterprise class distribution
  • Patch process is easy and fairly predictable
  • Information Security is fully satisfied with the speed of the fixing the errata and general state of the security patches, including the backporting process
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