The 10 best Docker alternatives to consider

1. Podman

Podman is a container engine developed by RedHat and is a prominent Docker alternative for building, running, and storing container images. It is daemonless, making it more lightweight and secure compared to Docker. Podman also allows the creation and running of pods, a feature not yet present in Docker.

2. Buildah

Buildah is a Docker alternative for building images and offers fine-grained control over the image-building process through its CLI tool. Images produced by Buildah fully comply with the OCI specification, similar to images built with Docker. Buildah can commit many changes to a single layer, providing users with greater flexibility in image management.

3. Kaniko

Developed by Google, Kaniko is used to build container images inside unprivileged containers or Kubernetes clusters. It does not require a daemon and can build images from Dockerfiles without depending on Docker. Kaniko is more focused on Kubernetes workflows and is meant to run as an image, making it less suitable for local development. It can only run on Linux due to its focus on Kubernetes environments.

4. Skopeo

Skopeo is another Docker alternative that does not require a daemon to run and does not need root privileges. It is a versatile tool for working with container images, allowing users to inspect, copy, delete, and sign images across registries. Skopeo is ideal for tasks that involve interacting with container images without requiring a full-fledged container engine like Docker.