Docker Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Docker for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is Podman, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to Docker and 11 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Docker are OrbStack, BitNami Application Stacks, ServBay and Colima.

filter to find the best alternatives

Docker alternatives are mainly Server Management Tools, but if you're looking for Virtualization Tools or Web Servers 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.
More about Docker
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Docker alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Podman icon

    Podman

     57 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.
     
    |
    2
    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. OrbStack icon

    OrbStack

     15 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    OrbStack is an alternative to Docker Desktop for macOS, designed to offer improved performance for Docker and virtual machines on Linux running on Mac computers. It addresses performance issues that have been experienced in the past, particularly on models with Apple Silicon.

    10 OrbStack alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    OrbStack screenshot 1
     
  4. BitNami Application Stacks icon

    BitNami Application Stacks

     84 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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
  5. ServBay icon

    ServBay

     11 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    ServBay is a specially crafted local dev env platform made for web developers. It integrates all the essential components for daily development, including programming languages, SQL/NoSQL databases, web servers, DNS services, email services, SSL certificate, and AI/LLM features.

    35 ServBay alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once)
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    reverse proxy
     
  6. Colima icon

    Colima

     3 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

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

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Colima screenshot 1
     
  7. Packer icon

    Packer

     5 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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
     
    |
    2
    Comments about Packer as an Alternative to Docker
    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.
    Docker Icon
    Packer icon
    • Packer is Freemium and ProprietaryDocker is Freemium and Open Source
  10. Singularity icon

    Singularity

     10 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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
     
    |
    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
  11. Turbo.net Client icon

    Turbo.net Client

     5 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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 (Subscription)
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPad
    Turbo.net homepage. Browse and access repositories of popular images, containers, and projects.
     
    |
    1
    Comments about Turbo.net Client as an Alternative to Docker
    JohnDangerbrooks
    Positive
    -1

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

    Docker Icon
    Turbo.net Client icon

    • Turbo.net Client is the most popular Android & iPad alternative to Docker.

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

    Crane

     8 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    Crane screenshot 1
     
  13. Skopeo icon

    Skopeo

     1 like
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Skopeo is a command line utility that performs various operations on container images and image repositories.

    10 Skopeo alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Raspberry Pi
    • Mac
    • Homebrew
     
11 of 11 Docker alternatives