The Best Open Source Docker AlternativesTop Virtualization Tools and other similar apps like Docker

The best open source alternative to Docker is Podman. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to Docker and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Docker are Linux Containers (LXC), Distrobox, BitNami Application Stacks and rkt.

filter to find the best alternatives

Docker alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools, but if you're looking for Server Management Tools or Operating Systems you can filter on that. Other popular filters include FreeBSD, Free, Mac, Windows and Open Source. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Docker.
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Alternatives list

  1. Podman icon

    Podman

     57 likes
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    Podman is a daemon-less container runtime for managing containers, pods, and container images. It is intended as a counterpart to CRI-O, to provide low-level debugging not available through the CRI interface used by Kubernetes.

    11 Podman alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Red Hat
    Manage containers. Part 1 of 3. Supported engines and orchestrators include Podman, Docker, Lima, kind, Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat OpenShift Developer Sandbox.
     
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    32
    Comments about Podman as an Alternative to Docker
    Guest
    Positive
    6

    Same syntax, runs without socket, more secure

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    rabbit5
    Positive
    0

    Drop-in replacement without the license restrictions of Docker

    Docker Icon
    Podman icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Podman is a great Docker alternative.

    • Podman is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Docker.

    • Podman is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Docker.

    • Podman is Free and Open SourceDocker is Freemium and Open Source
  2. Linux Containers (LXC) icon

    Linux Containers (LXC)

     19 likes
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    Containers which offer an environment as close as possible as the one you'd get from a VM but without the overhead that comes with running a separate kernel and simulating all the hardware.

    9 Linux Containers (LXC) alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Linux Containers (LXC) screenshot 1
     
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    13
  4. Distrobox icon

    Distrobox

     22 likes
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    Use any Linux distribution inside your terminal. Enable both backward and forward compatibility with software and freedom to use whatever distribution you’re more comfortable with. Distrobox uses podman or docker to create containers using the Linux distribution of your choice.

    9 Distrobox alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Distrobox screenshot 1
     
  5. BitNami Application Stacks icon

    BitNami Application Stacks

     84 likes
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    BitNami Stacks make it incredibly easy to deploy your favorite open source software. BitNami Stacks include an open source application and all of the other software necessary to run it, such as Apache, MySQL, PHP or Ruby.

    44 BitNami Application Stacks alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    BitNami Application Stacks screenshot 1
     

    • BitNami Application Stacks is the most popular Web-based alternative to Docker.

    • BitNami Application Stacks is Free and Open SourceDocker is Freemium and Open Source
  6. rkt icon

    rkt

     7 likes
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    rkt is the next-generation container manager for Linux clusters. Designed for security, simplicity, and composability within modern cluster architectures, rkt discovers, verifies, fetches, and executes application containers with pluggable isolation.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
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    14
  7. containerd icon

    containerd

     6 likes
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    An industry-standard container runtime with an emphasis on simplicity, robustness and portability

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
     

    • containerd is the most popular Self-Hosted alternative to Docker.

    • containerd is Free and Open SourceDocker is Freemium and Open Source
  9. BoxBuddy icon

    BoxBuddy

     6 likes
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    An unofficial GUI for managing your Distroboxes. Written with GTK4 + Libadwaita.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Rust
    BoxBuddy screenshot 1
     
  10. CRI-O icon

    CRI-O

     2 likes
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    CRI-O is an implementation of the Kubernetes CRI (Container Runtime Interface) to enable using OCI (Open Container Initiative) compatible runtimes. It is a lightweight alternative to using Docker as the runtime for kubernetes.

    7 CRI-O alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
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    1
    Comments about CRI-O as an Alternative to Docker
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    It is supported by Red Hat

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Docker Icon
    CRI-O icon
    • CRI-O is Free and Open SourceDocker is Freemium and Open Source
  11. Colima icon

    Colima

     3 likes
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    Container runtimes on macOS (and Linux) with minimal setup.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Colima screenshot 1
     

  13. FreeBSD Jails

     4 likes
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    The FreeBSD jail mechanism is an implementation of operating system-level virtualization that allows system administrators to partition a FreeBSD-based computer system into several independent mini-systems called jails.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • BSD
    • FreeBSD
    • DragonFly BSD
     
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    1
    8
    Comments about FreeBSD Jails as an Alternative to Docker
    Guest
    Positive
    2

    Great tools and documentation, they have been around for much longer than docker and are a more mature solution.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Docker Icon

    • Most users think FreeBSD Jails is a great Docker alternative.

    • FreeBSD Jails is Free and Open SourceDocker is Freemium and Open Source
  14. Singularity icon

    Singularity

     10 likes
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    Singularity is a container solution with a focus on building reproducible software stacks and running them most efficiently on existing HPC, scientific, compute farm and even enterprise architectures.

    9 Singularity alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Screenshot of singularity building an hello-world container
     
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    1
    11
    Comments about Singularity as an Alternative to Docker
    Luca Gibelli
    Positive
    0

    Lightweight, very easy to setup. Moving containers between servers is as easy as copying a file.

    Docker Icon
    Singularity icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Singularity is a great Docker alternative.

    • Singularity is Free and Open SourceDocker is Freemium and Open Source
12 of 24 Docker alternatives