Rocky Linux vs Solus
| Rocky Linux | Solus | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Paid from | Free | — |
| Open source | No | No |
| Platforms | Linux, self-hosted, Windows | Linux |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Device types | Servers, workstations/desktops, Raspberry Pi, virtual machines, cloud instances, containers | Personal computers (desktop and laptop hardware) |
| CPU architectures | x86-64-v3, riscv64, aarch64, ppc64le, s390x (Rocky Linux 10); support varies by release | x86-64 (64-bit) |
| Support lifecycle | Major releases: 10 years total, with 5 years active support and 5 years security support; only the latest minor release is supported | Rolling release; homepage describes weekly tested updates. No fixed support duration specified. |
| Built-in management | DNF package management and upgrade commands | Software Center; eopkg command-line package manager supports package operations and rollback |
| App compatibility | RHEL-compatible software environment; RPM packages and DNF package manager | Solus package repository; Flatpak preferred for third-party applications; Snap and AppImage also work |
| Deployment models | Physical installation media, generic cloud images, AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Docker OCI, WSL | Installable ISO images for physical computers; can be installed alongside another operating system |
Both are listed in Best Operating Systems. On Inferse, Rocky Linux scores higher on our published basis.