Fedora CoreOS vs Photon OS
| Fedora CoreOS | Photon OS | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Paid from | — | — |
| Open source | No | No |
| Platforms | Linux | Linux |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Device types | servers; bare-metal systems; virtual machines; cloud instances | Bare-metal systems, virtual machines, Raspberry Pi, cloud instances |
| CPU architectures | x86_64; aarch64; s390x; ppc64le | x86_64, ARM64/aarch64 |
| Built-in management | automatic operating system updates; Ignition configuration | tdnf package manager; Photon Management Daemon; RPM OSTree; Network Configuration Manager |
| App compatibility | containerized applications; container images | Docker and other container formats; Kubernetes; RPM packages via tdnf; RPM OSTree |
| Deployment models | bare metal; cloud images; virtual machines | Bare metal; VMware hypervisors; ISO installation; OVA appliance; AWS AMI; Google GCE image; Azure VHD; Raspberry Pi image |
| Support lifecycle | — | Security updates as needed; non-security package updates described in legacy FAQ as quarterly; no fixed duration verified |
Both are listed in Best Operating Systems. On Inferse, Fedora CoreOS scores higher on our published basis.