Docker AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Virtualization Tools

The best Virtualization alternative to Docker 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 18 are Virtualization Tools so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Virtualization Tool alternatives to Docker are Portainer, Distrobox, Docker Desktop and Linux Containers (LXC).

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Most Docker alternatives are Virtualization Tools, but you can also narrow the list to Docker Managers or Operating Systems. Other popular filters are FreeBSD, Free, Windows, Mac and Open Source. You can also filter for EU-based alternatives if you prefer software from the European Union.
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Alternatives
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Alternatives list

  1. Podman icon
     74 likes

    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.

    16 Podman alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Red Hat
    • US flagUnited States
    Manage containers. Part 1 of 3. Supported engines and orchestrators include Podman, Docker, Lima, kind, Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat OpenShift Developer Sandbox.
    Good alternative?
     
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  2. Portainer icon
     83 likes

    Portainer Community Edition is a lightweight service delivery platform for containerized applications that can be used to manage Docker, Swarm, and Kubernetes environments. It is designed to be as simple to deploy as it is to use.

    44 Portainer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source (Zlib)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • Kubernetes
    • Docker
    Good alternative?
     
  3. Distrobox icon
     25 likes

    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.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
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  4. Docker Desktop icon
     13 likes

    Docker Desktop is a one-click-install application that lets you to build, share, and run containerized applications and microservices.

    35 Docker Desktop alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  5. 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.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  6. ArcBox icon
     5 likes

    Native macOS GUI for ArcBox — containers, VMs, and sandboxes at your fingertips. Open Source alternative to OrbStack and Docker Desktop.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  7. OrbStack icon
     16 likes

    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.

    14 OrbStack alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  8. containerd icon
     7 likes

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

    23 containerd alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    Good alternative?
     
  9. rkt icon
     7 likes

    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

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  10. OpenVZ icon
     13 likes

    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.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  11. Apache Mesos icon
     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
    Good alternative?
     
  12. 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
    Good alternative?
     
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12 of 18 Docker alternatives