Adoption Radar

Adopt means use it. Trial means try it. Assess means watch it. Hold means avoid for now. Each tool links the proof.

What the rings mean

  • Adopt. Use it. Stable, updated in the last 6 months, lots of people use it.
  • Trial. Try it. Still young (before 1.0), or quiet for 6 to 18 months, or few users yet.
  • Assess. Watch it. Brand new, less than a year old.
  • Hold. Avoid for now. Dead, deprecated, or no update in 18 months.

Dot shape shows the license: ● open source, ■ free or free tier, ◆ paid. Every tool links the release page or notice that puts it in its ring.

The same tools as a table
ToolFamilyCategoryRingLicenseEasy to useBig real systems
Docker Engine The open-source Docker daemon and CLI for Linux Containers & clusters Container runtimes Adopt Open source 50 40
Docker Desktop Docker Engine, Compose and Kubernetes in a desktop app Containers & clusters Container runtimes Adopt Free tier, paid plans 70 60
Podman Daemonless, rootless container engine Containers & clusters Container runtimes Adopt Open source 50 50
Podman Desktop Desktop app for Podman, Kubernetes and other engines Containers & clusters Container runtimes Adopt Open source 60 60
Rancher Desktop Desktop containers and k3s Kubernetes, free and open Containers & clusters Container runtimes Adopt Open source 60 60
OrbStack Fast, light Docker and Linux VMs for macOS Containers & clusters Container runtimes Adopt Free tier, paid plans 70 60
Colima Minimal container runtimes on macOS and Linux via Lima Containers & clusters Container runtimes Trial Open source 50 50
Lima Linux VMs with containerd for macOS and Linux Containers & clusters Container runtimes Adopt Open source 30 40
containerd Industry-standard container runtime daemon Containers & clusters Container runtimes Adopt Open source 30 30
nerdctl Docker-compatible CLI for containerd Containers & clusters Container runtimes Adopt Open source 30 50
Finch AWS's open-source client for container development Containers & clusters Container runtimes Adopt Open source 50 50
Apple container Run Linux containers as light VMs on Apple silicon Containers & clusters Container runtimes Trial Open source 20 20
Docker Compose Define and run multi-container apps from YAML Containers & clusters Compose Adopt Open source 60 60
Compose Watch File sync and rebuild-on-change for Docker Compose Containers & clusters Compose Adopt Open source 50 50
Podman Compose Run Compose files with Podman Containers & clusters Compose Trial Open source 30 50
Kompose Convert Compose files to Kubernetes manifests Containers & clusters Compose Adopt Open source 50 30
kind Kubernetes clusters in Docker containers Containers & clusters Local Kubernetes Trial Open source 50 50
k3d Run k3s clusters in Docker Containers & clusters Local Kubernetes Adopt Open source 60 50
k3s Lightweight certified Kubernetes distribution Containers & clusters Local Kubernetes Adopt Open source 50 60
minikube Local Kubernetes for learning and development Containers & clusters Local Kubernetes Adopt Open source 70 50
MicroK8s Canonical's low-ops Kubernetes with add-ons Containers & clusters Local Kubernetes Adopt Open source 40 70
k0s Single-binary, zero-dependency Kubernetes Containers & clusters Local Kubernetes Adopt Open source 50 60
vcluster Virtual Kubernetes clusters inside a host cluster Containers & clusters Local Kubernetes Trial Open source 30 70
Kubernetes Upstream container orchestration, as a reference point Containers & clusters Local Kubernetes Adopt Open source 30 90
BuildKit / buildx Docker's concurrent, cache-efficient image builder Containers & clusters Image builders Adopt Open source 40 30
Cloud Native Buildpacks Build OCI images from source without a Dockerfile Containers & clusters Image builders Trial Open source 40 30
ko Build Go container images without Docker Containers & clusters Image builders Trial Open source 60 30
Jib Daemonless container images for Java via Maven or Gradle Containers & clusters Image builders Adopt Open source 40 20
Kaniko Build images from a Dockerfile inside Kubernetes Containers & clusters Image builders Hold Open source 10 30
Buildah Build OCI images without a daemon Containers & clusters Image builders Adopt Open source 30 30
Nixpacks Build images from source using Nix packages Containers & clusters Image builders Hold Open source 30 20
Railpack Zero-config image builder on BuildKit, from Railway Containers & clusters Image builders Trial Open source 30 20
Depot Hosted remote BuildKit builders with shared cache Containers & clusters Image builders Adopt Paid 40 30
Portainer Web UI for Docker, Podman and Kubernetes Containers & clusters Container UIs Adopt Free tier, paid plans 60 30
Lazydocker Terminal UI for Docker and Compose Containers & clusters Container UIs Trial Open source 60 20
Dive Explore image layers and find wasted space Containers & clusters Container UIs Trial Open source 60 20