Side by side

Bottlerocket vs Rocky Linux

Both stand on server operating system. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Rocky Linux offers a free RHEL-compatible system with broad deployment formats and a long major-release lifecycle. Check architecture requirements and plan a fresh installation for major-version moves.

Visit Rocky Linux

The facts

	Bottlerocket	Rocky Linux
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Linux	Linux, Self-hosted, Windows
Lowest paid plan	Not published	Free or on request
Plans published	None	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	aws.amazon.com	rockylinux.org
On server operating system	#16 of 29	#12 of 29

Bottlerocket: what it does well

Rocky Linux: what it does well

Free, open-source operating system.
Ten-year lifecycle for major releases.
Migrates from other Enterprise Linux distributions.
Images cover cloud, containers, and WSL.
Supports five listed architectures in version 10.

What to know first

Major-version upgrades require a fresh installation.
Rocky Linux 10 requires x86-64-v3 on x86_64.
No 32-bit compatibility packages in version 10.
Only the latest minor release is supported.

Alternatives to Bottlerocket Alternatives to Rocky Linux The whole list