OrbStack Alternatives

OrbStack is described as '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' and is an app in the development category. There are six alternatives to OrbStack for a variety of platforms, including Mac, Windows, Linux, Self-Hosted and Raspberry Pi apps. The best OrbStack alternative is Docker, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like OrbStack are Podman, Windows Subsystem for Linux, Docker Desktop and Kata Containers.

OrbStack iconOrbStack
  11
  • Free Personal • Proprietary
  • ...

OrbStack is an alternative to Docker Desktop for macOS, designed to offer improved performance for Docker and virtual...

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More about OrbStack
OrbStack alternatives page was last updated Apr 7, 2025
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  1. Docker icon

    Docker

     302 likes
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    Docker is an open-source engine that automates the deployment of any application as a lightweight, portable, self-sufficient container that will run virtually anywhere.

    27 Docker alternatives

    License model

    • Freemium • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • TrueNAS
    Docker screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Container Virtualization
    2.  Virtualization
    3.  Server Management
    4.  Command line interface
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  Portable
    7.  No registration required
    8.  Hypervisor

    Docker VS OrbStack

     

    • Docker is the most popular Web-based, Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to OrbStack.

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

    • Docker is Freemium and Open SourceOrbStack is Free Personal and Proprietary
    • Docker is LightweightOrbStack is not according to our users
  2. Podman icon

    Podman

     51 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

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    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.

    Podman Features

    1.  Secure containerization
    2.  No Root Required
    3.  Self-hosted
    4.  Container Virtualization
    5.  Docker Container
    6.  Container Orchestration
    7.  Kubernetes

    Podman VS OrbStack

     
  4. Windows Subsystem for Linux icon

    Windows Subsystem for Linux

     21 likes
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    The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a new Windows 10 feature that enables you to run native Linux command-line tools directly on Windows.

    33 Windows Subsystem for Linux alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Windows Subsystem for Linux screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Linux on Windows

    Windows Subsystem for Linux VS OrbStack

     
  5. Docker Desktop icon

    Docker Desktop

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

    10 Docker Desktop alternatives

    License model

    • Freemium • Proprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Docker Extensions

    Docker Desktop Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Container Virtualization
    3.  Ad-free
    4.  Dark Mode
    5. Docker icon  Support for Docker

    Docker Desktop VS OrbStack

     
  6. Kata Containers icon

    Kata Containers

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    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.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    Kata Containers screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Kata Containers VS OrbStack

     
  7. Skopeo icon

    Skopeo

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

    11 Skopeo alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Raspberry Pi
    • Mac
    • Homebrew

    Skopeo Features

    1.  Command line interface

    Skopeo VS OrbStack

     
    Comments about Skopeo as an Alternative to OrbStack
    Guest
    Negative Oct 8, 2024
    0

    OrbStack provides Virtual Machines support + full docker containers. support. With Skopeo you have neither VMs, nor containers, it's a simple tool to manipulate OCI Images download/tag/upload to OCI Registries. That's like 2% of what OrbStack is capable of.

    OrbStack Icon
    Skopeo icon
    • Skopeo is Free and Open SourceOrbStack is Free Personal and Proprietary
6 of 6 OrbStack alternatives