head to head · open source
Docker vs portainer
Docker has 72,238 GitHub stars, 19,309 forks, 3,902 open issues and last shipped yesterday. portainer has 38,776 stars, 2,935 forks, 757 open issues and last shipped today. Docker leads on adoption by 86% (72,238 vs 38,776 stars). Docker is written in Go under Apache-2.0; portainer is written in TypeScript under Zlib. Docker has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, portainer 8%. portainer was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (docker), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Docker | portainer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 72K | ★ 39K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Zlib |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 19K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Docker if
- You weight community size — 72K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick portainer if
- You want the portainer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and portainer fits your workflow better
About Docker
The Moby Project ================ Moby is an open source project created by Docker to enable and accelerate software containerization. It provides a "Lego set" of toolkit components, the framework for assembling them into custom container based systems, and a place for all container enthusiasts and professionals to experiment and exchange ideas. Components include container build tools, a container registry, orchestration tools, a runtime and more, and these can be used as building blocks in conjunction with other tools and projects. Principles Moby is an open project guided by strong principles, aiming to be…
read the full Docker overview →
About portainer
Portainer Community Edition is a free, lightweight container management UI for Docker, Swarm, Podman, Kubernetes, and ACI environments. It is provided as is, at no cost, for the convenience of homelab operators, hobbyists, students, and anyone experimenting with containers on their own hardware. Portainer Business Edition builds on the same open source base and adds the features, hardening, and commercial support that production and enterprise environments require (RBAC, GitOps, edge management, audit, SSO, and more). Find out more about Portainer Business Edition features Take3 – get 3 free nodes of Portainer…
read the full portainer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docker or portainer more popular?
Docker has 72,238 GitHub stars and portainer has 38,776. Docker has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docker and portainer free?
Both are open source. Docker is licensed under Apache-2.0 and portainer under Zlib. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docker and portainer?
Docker is written in Go and portainer in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Docker or portainer?
Choose Docker if you want the larger community (72,238 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose portainer if its feature set, stack or Zlib licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.