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Kali Linux vs openSUSE Leap comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Kali Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
openSUSE Leap
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
26th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Kali Linux is 4.1%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 4.4%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Kali Linux4.1%
openSUSE Leap4.4%
Other91.5%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Ciyagi Ciyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Runs efficiently across devices and streamlines penetration testing workflows
Kali Linux could be improved by including more tools. I would personally like to see improvements in Kali Linux, particularly regarding Grub issues that sometimes occur when installing the VM. Additionally, I have experienced problems when updating Kali Linux from a higher version to a lower version, which resulted in crashes. These Grub issues should be resolved. I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data.
NK
Senior Manager at Cognizant
Provides BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots
I only use the tool for testing purposes on my team, but multiple people use it. We don't make a team effort to install the solution. When it comes to maintenance, we ask our company to buy SUSE Linux Enterprise. My team consists of 13 people. We are currently integrating the solution with Ansible to do some coding. Although not a full-fledged automation, we are integrating the solution with Ansible and executing a couple of playbooks connected to openSUSE Leap. I would recommend the solution to other users looking for an open-source solution. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Kali Linux stands out compared to other operating systems I have used for security work because it is a specific distribution of Linux that has all the required tools pre-loaded and configured."
"It helped by having a single instance with many security tools already available to test and investigate security concerns."
"Kali Linux offers excellent features including being lightweight with low memory usage, easy installation, portability, and multiple architectures such as ARM architecture and server architecture."
"Kali Linux has impacted my organization positively because it has allowed for the better security of my applications."
"Kali Linux has helped me significantly in simulating penetration testing and other activities, and since all the tools are open source, I can easily modify and customize them based on my needs."
"The interface is good and straightforward to use."
"Kali Linux is much better than other OS because it gives you a good set of tools. It is preferred for vulnerability assessments and cybersecurity."
"The most effective features of Kali Linux include its stability as a Linux operating system, its flexibility in configuring resources such as partitions, its powerful and stable file system, and its multi-user capability, which allows for setting user privileges and rights. Additionally, Kali Linux provides access to a wide range of free and open-source applications for testing and development purposes."
"The solution is easy for me to use because the backend is derived from FreeBSD and this is something I have been using for over 20 years."
"The solution is very stable after it is configured. It is hard to have a panel slow, a problem, misconfiguration, or any kind of loss function."
"This solution has helped my organization's security from the use of its firewall, and the features for blocking or allowing traffic are very effective and have worked well for us."
"The most valuable feature by far has been the virtualization capabilities of the operating system."
"openSUSE Leap has helped me with using containers in Podman."
"Stable - it just runs without the necessity to reboot."
"Leap has provided me with the ability to offer what I consider Enterprise class server O/S platforms to my smaller customers who are looking to improve their competitive stances without breaking the bank."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots."
 

Cons

"The only real limitation I can see with Kali Linux is the steep learning curve of using it."
"The tool is slightly difficult to learn."
"Increasing the tutorials and the help inside Kali Linux would make it more useful."
"Kali Linux can be improved, as I have encountered challenges with dependencies that can be overwhelming."
"Some tools in Kali Linux lack documentation and details on how to use them, which is one area where it can be improved."
"I would like for them to offer more features for the free version in order for users to test them in their internal environment before purchasing."
"The only point that I didn't find on Kali Linux for now is the ability to customize port scanning."
"From an improvement perspective, Kali Linux could include more ML to help with academic literature, as it is one of the areas where there are shortcomings in the solution."
"It would be helpful if we could easily switch from openSUSE Leap for testing to SUSE Linux Enterprise for production."
"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."
"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."
"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is open-source."
"Kali Linux is a free product, and you don't have to pay for a license."
"The licensing fee is expensive compared to other products."
"It is an open-source tool."
"The price is good because Kali Linux already provides a good bundle of tools."
"Kali Linux offers a perpetual license, meaning you pay for it once and can use it. While free versions of Linux are available, Kali Linux, being an enterprise edition, usually comes with a perpetual license. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."
"I have used the free version."
"There is no need to make any payments towards the licensing costs since it is a solution that is available for free."
"This is an open-source operating system that can be used free of charge."
"The solution is open-source."
"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."
"openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
11%
University
10%
Educational Organization
7%
Comms Service Provider
23%
University
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kali Linux?
It is open source. We do not need to pay anything. Most of the tools are open source, so we do not need to pay for licensing. There is minimum cost we have to pay, and based on our expertise, we ca...
What needs improvement with Kali Linux?
Kali Linux is an operating system plus tool, and it is a Linux-based product, so if we need to do anything for Windows, we do not have an option to use the same type of tool. If Kali could provide ...
What is your primary use case for Kali Linux?
I use Kali Linux for vulnerability testing, sandbox analysis, red team penetration testing, and checking vulnerabilities in the network, checking vulnerabilities with users, and red teaming proacti...
Ask a question
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Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Kali Linux vs. openSUSE Leap and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.