Fedora CoreOS vs Fedora Linux
| Fedora CoreOS | Fedora Linux | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Paid from | — | Free |
| Open source | No | No |
| Platforms | Linux | Linux, self-hosted |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Device types | servers; bare-metal systems; virtual machines; cloud instances | Desktop computers, laptops, servers, cloud virtual machines, IoT devices |
| CPU architectures | x86_64; aarch64; s390x; ppc64le | x86_64, aarch64; Fedora CoreOS also supports s390x |
| Built-in management | automatic operating system updates; Ignition configuration | DNF package management; PackageKit update notifications; automatic update capability |
| App compatibility | containerized applications; container images | Install applications from Fedora repositories, Flathub, or other sources; RPM package management |
| Deployment models | bare metal; cloud images; virtual machines | Physical device installation, live USB testing, cloud images, and container base images |
| Support lifecycle | — | Fedora Workstation versions are updated for approximately 13 months; each release is maintained until one month after two subsequent releases. |
Both are listed in Best Operating Systems. On Samsung Mobile US Press, Fedora Linux scores higher on our published basis.