Docker Alternatives

Docker is described as 'Open-source engine that automates the deployment of any application as a lightweight, portable, self-sufficient container that will run virtually anywhere' and is a very popular Virtualization tool in the system & hardware category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Docker for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Mac, Windows, Self-Hosted and BSD apps. The best Docker alternative is Podman, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Docker are Linux Containers (LXC), Distrobox, OrbStack and BitNami Application Stacks.

filter to find the best alternatives

Docker alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools, but if you're looking for Web Servers or Server Management Tools 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. Packer icon

    Packer

     5 likes

    Packer is a "source available" tool for creating identical machine images for multiple platforms from a single source configuration. Packer is lightweight, runs on every major operating system, and is highly performant, creating machine images for multiple platforms in...

    5 Packer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Solaris
     
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    2
    Packer vs Docker Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    Packer is NOT an alternative to Docker. it is an API abstraction layer for creating repeatable machine images, not for orchestrating containers

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    Packer is a system building and provisioning tool. While it can be used to create a virtual machine, it is not itself virtual machine implementation.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Packer is Freemium and ProprietaryDocker is Freemium and Open Source
  2. Apache Mesos icon

    Apache Mesos

     20 likes

    Apache Mesos is a cluster manager that simplifies the complexity of running applications on a shared pool of servers.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Apache Mesos screenshot 1
     
  4. Singularity icon

    Singularity

     10 likes

    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.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Screenshot of singularity building an hello-world container
     
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    1
    Singularity vs Docker Comments
    Luca Gibelli
    Positive
    0

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

    • Singularity is Free and Open SourceDocker is Freemium and Open Source
  5. F

    FreeBSD Jails

     4 likes

    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
    FreeBSD Jails vs Docker Comments
    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.
    • FreeBSD Jails is Free and Open SourceDocker is Freemium and Open Source
  6. L

    Libre.sh

     6 likes

    Libre.sh is a little framework to host Docker. It is simple and modular and respect the convention over configuration paradigm.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  7. Kata Containers icon

    Kata Containers

     1 like

    Kata Containers is an open source, secure container runtime with lightweight virtual machines that feel and perform like containers, but provide stronger workload isolation using hardware virtualization technology as a second layer of defense.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    Kata Containers screenshot 1
     
  9. Simplecontainer icon

    Simplecontainer

     2 likes

    Simplecontainer manager a.k.a smr. Standalone and cluster mode, GitOps, Secrets, Reconciliation, and YAML definitions for Docker.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Docker
     
  10. Kubevious icon

    Kubevious

     1 like

    Kubevious provides a usable and highly graphical interface for Kubernetes. Kubevious renders all configurations relevant to the application in one place. That saves a lot of time from operators, eliminating the need for looking up settings and digging within selectors and labels.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Online
    Kubevious screenshot 1
     
  11. Turbo.net Client icon

    Turbo.net Client

     5 likes

    The Turbo.net Client allows you to package apps and their dependencies into a lightweight, isolated virtual environment called a "container." Containerized apps can be run on any machine that has the appropriate Turbo.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPad
    Turbo.net homepage. Browse and access repositories of popular images, containers, and projects.
     
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    1
    Turbo.net Client vs Docker Comments
    JohnDangerbrooks
    Positive
    -1

    It is the only solution that runs an OS other than Linux.

    • Turbo.net Client is Freemium and ProprietaryDocker is Freemium and Open Source
  12. Pods icon

    Pods

     2 likes

    Pods is a frontend for podman. It uses libadwaita for its user interface and strives to meet the design principles of GNOME.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    Pods screenshot 1
     
  13. Crane icon

    Crane

     8 likes

    Crane is a container image tool that includes building local Docker images; connecting to DockerHub; listing local and remote container images; pushing local images to the DockerHub registry, and importing remote container images into an MLOps platform cluster.

    13 Crane alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    Crane screenshot 1
     
  14. M

    Monty - Python Interpreter

     1 like

    A minimal, secure Python interpreter written in Rust for use by AI.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Python
    • Rust
    • Linux
    • Mac
    • Windows
    • BSD
     
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