elementary OS vs Kali Linux
elementary OS
elementary.ioKali Linux
kali.orgSide by side
| Figure | elementary OS | Kali Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Linux Distributions | 7.1 (#11) | 8.8 (#2) |
| Spec score · Operating Systems | 7.2 (#35) | 8.8 (#4) |
| Support | Support is community-powered, with discussion links by app and component plus installation and getting-started guides. | Official support covers Kali operating system and packaging issues, not penetration testing or tool usage support. |
| System requirements | Recommended specifications include a recent Intel Core i3 or comparable processor, 4 GB RAM, and an SSD with at least 32 GB free space. | A headless SSH installation can use 128 MB RAM and 2 GB disk, while the default Xfce desktop target is at least 2 GB RAM and 20 GB disk. |
Plans
In their own words
elementary OS
elementary OS has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Kali Linux
Kali Linux is a Debian-based distribution for advanced penetration testing and security auditing. It includes tools and configurations for computer forensics, reverse engineering, vulnerability detection, and other information security work. Its listed tools include Aircrack-ng, Burp Suite, Hydra, John the Ripper, Metasploit Framework, Nmap, sqlmap, and Wireshark. Kali is intended for experienced penetration testers and security specialists; its documentation assumes Linux familiarity. It supports bare-metal installs, virtual machines, cloud, containers, ARM devices, USB or DVD live environments, and Windows Subsystem for Linux. A Live USB can run without changing the host operating system, and persistence volumes can be encrypted. Users can build custom ISO images with metapackages and live-build. Network services are disabled by default, Bluetooth is blocklisted, and packages and repositories are signed. Kali is free of charge, though its non-free section includes some tools that are not open source. It follows a rolling release model, with fresh official point-release images generated quarterly. Kali NetHunter is a free and open-source Android penetration testing platform with a Kali container, desktop experience, app, and app store.