secureblue
Depends
Confidence: Medium
It's free, so the only cost is migration time . worth it for Linux-comfortable users with a real privacy or security threat model.
New check
Comparison
secureblue vs Kicksecure
secureblue and Kicksecure both land on Depends.
Kicksecure
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Worth adopting for Linux users with a genuine hardening threat model who accept self-support and rough edges.
| Compare | secureblue | Kicksecure |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Privacy-focused daily Linux users | Privacy-focused Linux hobbyists |
| Who it's not for | Anyone wanting vendor SLAs or support contracts | Non-technical everyday users |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. | No Kicksecure-specific public CVEs found; it inherits Debian kernel issues like CVE-2026-31431 like any Debian-based distro. |
| Support quality | Volunteer community support only | Community-first; some requests deemed too difficult |
| Public sentiment | Community chatter is largely positive about the hardening approach, with recurring debates over usability tradeoffs and comparisons to Qubes and Kicksecure.⁵ | Opinions are polarized: multi-year users praise its stability, while GrapheneOS community members harshly dispute its security claims.15 |
| Biggest gotcha | No vendor support . volunteer maintainers only; expect forum-based troubleshooting² | Some feature requests are flagged 'too difficult' and may never get resolved14 |
Pick secureblue when
- Privacy-focused daily Linux users
- Fedora users wanting default hardening
- Threat-model-conscious individuals
- Developers comfortable with immutable OS
When secureblue is not a fit
- Anyone wanting vendor SLAs or support contracts
- Casual users unwilling to troubleshoot
- Gamers needing NVIDIA/anti-cheat without friction
- Anonymity-critical users (use Tails or Qubes instead)
Pick Kicksecure when
- Privacy-focused Linux hobbyists
- Whonix/Qubes ecosystem users
- Home users with a hardening threat model
When Kicksecure is not a fit
- Non-technical everyday users
- Businesses needing vendor-backed OS support
- Anonymity seekers . use Whonix instead
- Anyone wanting Windows/macOS simplicity
Sources
- secureblue . official sitesecureblue.devofficial
- secureblue . GitHubgithub.comofficial
- Features . securebluesecureblue.devofficial
- secureblue . DistroWatchdistrowatch.comreview
- Secureblue: Is This the Most Secure Linux Distro? . Privacy Guidesdiscuss.privacyguides.netreview
- Comparison of secureblue with Kicksecurekicksecure.comreview
- Secureblue? . Qubes OS forumforum.qubes-os.orgreview
- Is secureblue also vulnerable to three recent Linux vulnerabilities?discuss.privacyguides.netsecurity
- Kicksecure . Secure by Default Operating Systemkicksecure.comofficial
- Self Support First Policy for Kicksecurekicksecure.comofficial
- Reasons for Freedom Software / Open Sourcekicksecure.comofficial
- Kicksecure Limitationskicksecure.comofficial
- Free Support for Kicksecurekicksecure.comofficial
- Too Difficultkicksecure.comofficial
- Kicksecure on DistroWatchdistrowatch.comreview
- Thoughts on security of Kicksecurediscuss.grapheneos.orgreview