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. 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.- Virtualization Tool
- Freemium • Open Source
- 11 Podman alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Red Hat
Podman Features
Comments about Podman as an Alternative to Docker
rabbit5Drop-in replacement without the license restrictions of Docker
- 8 Linux Containers (LXC) alternatives
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.
- 8 Distrobox alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Country of Origin
Italy
EU
Platforms
- Linux
Distrobox Features
- 43 BitNami Application Stacks alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
BitNami Application Stacks Features
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.
DiscontinuedAccording to their Github page at https://github.com/rkt/rkt, the project has been discontinued. The repository has been archived.
An industry-standard container runtime with an emphasis on simplicity, robustness and portability
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Linux
- Self-Hosted
containerd Features
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Platforms
- Linux
CRI-O Features
Comments about CRI-O as an Alternative to Docker
It is supported by Red Hat
License model
- Free • Open Source
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Linux
Colima Features
Apache Mesos is a cluster manager that simplifies the complexity of running applications on a shared pool of servers.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Linux
Apache Mesos Features
- 10 Pods alternatives
Pods is a frontend for podman. It uses libadwaita for its user interface and strives to meet the design principles of GNOME.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Country of Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
- Linux
- Flathub
Pods Features
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Singularity Features
Comments about Singularity as an Alternative to Docker
Luca GibelliLightweight, very easy to setup. Moving containers between servers is as easy as copying a file.
OpenVZ is container-based virtualization for Linux.
OpenVZ creates multiple secure, isolated Linux containers (otherwise known as VEs or VPSs) on a single physical server enabling better server utilization and ensuring that applications do not conflict.
Each container performs.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Linux
OpenVZ Features
Same syntax, runs without socket, more secure