Best Photon OS Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from operating systems ranked against Photon OS on the same published basis.
- 1Photon OS vs Kali Linux
- 2Photon OS vs Nix
- 3Photon OS vs AlmaLinux OS
- 4Photon OS vs MX Linux
- 5Photon OS vs OPNsense
- 6Photon OS vs pfSense
- 7Photon OS vs Rocky Linux
- 8Photon OS vs Ubuntu Server
- 9Photon OS vs CentOS Stream
- 10Photon OS vs Debian
- 11Photon OS vs Fedora Linux
- 12Photon OS vs Kubuntu
- 13Photon OS vs Manjaro Linux
- 14Photon OS vs Pop!_OS
- 15Photon OS vs Qubes OS
- 16Photon OS vs SUSE Multi-Linux Manager
- 17Photon OS vs Wind River Conductor
- 18Photon OS vs Alpine Linux
- 19Photon OS vs Amazon Linux
- 20Photon OS vs ChromeOS
Photon OS alternatives compared
| # | App | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kali Linux | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Android, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 2 | Nix | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 3 | AlmaLinux OS | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted, Windows |
| 4 | MX Linux | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux |
| 5 | OPNsense | 6.4 | Free plan | — | API, self-hosted, Web |
| 6 | pfSense | 6.4 | Free plan | — | Linux, self-hosted, Web |
| 7 | Rocky Linux | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted, Windows |
| 8 | Ubuntu Server | 6.4 | Free plan | $2.08/mo | Linux, self-hosted |
| 9 | CentOS Stream | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted |
| 10 | Debian | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted |
| 11 | Fedora Linux | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted |
| 12 | Kubuntu | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux |
| 13 | Manjaro Linux | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux |
| 14 | Pop!_OS | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux |
| 15 | Qubes OS | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux |
| 16 | SUSE Multi-Linux Manager | 5.5 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted, Web |
| 17 | Wind River Conductor | 5.5 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 18 | Alpine Linux | 5.2 | No | — | Linux |
| 19 | Amazon Linux | 5.2 | No | — | Linux |
| 20 | ChromeOS | 5.2 | No | — | Web |
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Questions about Photon OS alternatives
What is the best alternative to Photon OS?
Kali Linux, number 1 in operating systems with a score of 6.5 out of 10. The others here: Nix, AlmaLinux OS, MX Linux and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to Photon OS?
Kali Linux is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 15 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked free-and-open first: a usable free tier and open-source code, then the platforms it runs on and its documentation.