Docker vs Google Kubernetes Engine comparison

Docker and Google are both solutions in the Container Management category. Docker is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.9, while Google is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.1. Docker holds a 3.0% mindshare in CM, compared to Google’s 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Docker users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Google users who would recommend it.

Docker

Read 56 Docker reviews

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1,151 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Google Kubernetes Engine

Read 37 Google Kubernetes Engine reviews

1,179 Views
918 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Docker

Google Kubernetes Engine

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 13, 2024

Google Kubernetes Engine and Docker compete in the cloud infrastructure and containerization space. GKE appears to have the upper hand due to its robust infrastructure management and advanced auto-scaling capabilities.

Features: GKE is known for its ease of deployment, seamless multi-cloud support, and advanced auto-scaling capabilities. It integrates well with Google's ecosystem, enhancing its usability for machine learning applications. On the other hand, Docker excels in containerization, providing a flexible and user-friendly environment with fast deployment times. Its simplicity in container orchestration and cross-environment consistency is beneficial for straightforward containerization.

Room for Improvement: Google Kubernetes Engine could enhance application-level security, backup systems, and provide more integrated tools to reduce reliance on third-party software. Improved documentation and support are also necessary. Docker could focus on improving stability and security features, enriching documentation, and offering straightforward management tools. Integration of GPU support and enhancing user interfaces are potential areas for improvement.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: GKE primarily operates on public cloud infrastructure, making it scalable and easy to deploy. However, customer service experiences vary, with noted slow response times and a need for better documentation. Docker offers flexibility with deployments across on-premises, public, private, and hybrid clouds, though its support largely depends on community resources, with professional support available via a paid license.

Pricing and ROI: GKE is a paid service with flexible pricing based on usage, offering excellent operational productivity but potentially higher costs compared to competitors like AWS. Docker is mostly open-source and free, with a paid Enterprise version including additional features. GKE's costs are linked to virtual machine and resource requirements, while Docker offers cost efficiency through its open-source nature. Both provide worthwhile ROI, though cost structures vary; GKE costs are driven by infrastructure needs, whereas Docker remains cost-effective.

To learn more, read our detailed Docker vs. Google Kubernetes Engine Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Docker vs. Google Kubernetes Engine

March 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Docker

Ranking in Container Management

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Development Platforms (1st), Software Supply Chain Security (8th)

Google Kubernetes Engine

Ranking in Container Management

10th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Docker is 3.0%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Kubernetes Engine is 2.2%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Container Management

Featured Reviews

Rikin Parekh

Backend Engineer at Northeastern University

Useful to create sandbox environments to run applications and makes it easy to test them

Overall, setting up the Docker environment is quite easy. Many methods exist, such as using Docker Compose and Docker networks to communicate between containers. The main challenge lies in designing the architecture and integrating different frameworks and microservices. I would rate the ease of setting up the tool at around nine out of ten. The time it takes to deploy depends on the scale of the system. For the early-stage startup I'm currently working with, it doesn't take much time. It's just me handling the deployment. In our early-stage startup, we have a couple of teams with around four to five backend APIs and two front-end services. Deploying these doesn't take much time. My focus is more on minimizing costs due to our lean startup structure.

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Abhilash Gopidas

Deployment Manager at HealthEdge Software, Inc.

The auto-scaling feature helps during peak hours, but the support is not great

The product has no downtime. Automated scaling is a valuable feature. During peak hours, the datasets are on a higher volume. We need scaling in place. Otherwise, there's a degradation in the performance. We might sometimes miss data, or there will be no data sync between systems. Auto-scaling helps deal with performance needs during peak hours. There's no lag time for processing data.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Docker is that it revolutionized virtualization by providing a new approach with containers that completely nullified the time it used to take to deploy applications on virtual servers, resulting in deployment times that can be as quick as milliseconds, unless it is a heavy application, such as Java. Additionally, resource utilization has greatly improved with Docker, allowing for more resources to be allocated to other tasks. These are a few key features that make Docker a preferred choice."

"There are ways of using Docker where you have absolutely no dependencies on the environment that you work in. This allows us to deploy Docker anywhere anytime and this has been most valuable."

"The most valuable feature is the simple containerization."

"Docker offers a resilient system with minimal failure chances and optimized performance"

"We are able to stop our containers or stop the service with a single command."

"Docker is perfect for what I do...The solution is scalable."

"Containerization is the most valuable feature. I can communicate to the Docker containers using other containers."

"I think the best feature is to replicate anything in our local machine using a simple command."

More Docker pros

"I am impressed with the product's output scaling."

"It is easy to use and deploy."

"GKE's plugin management and configuration sync are excellent features. The amount of data it provides is good, and I've been able to integrate it with the things I need."

"Before using this solution, it was a lot of manual tasks and a lot of people participated in the process."

"The most beneficial feature is the ability to separate each project and manage permissions more effectively."

"I rate Google Kubernetes Engine a ten out of ten."

"The solution simplified deployment, making it more automated. Previously, Docker required manual configuration, often done by developers on their computers. However, with Google Kubernetes Engine, automation extends to configuration, deployment, scalability, and viability, primarily originating from Docker rather than Kubernetes. Its most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."

"The solution is more user-friendly than AWS or Azure. I can also easily scale out the service in the future when the number of customers grows. GKE is the leader of Kubernetes service and it can be easily updated. I love the tool's user interfaces."

More Google Kubernetes Engine pros

Cons

"Docker management is very difficult when we have a large number of nodes."

"We would like to see improvement in adding the node into the Docker Swarm cluster, as at present it is a little tricky and requires a lot of manual steps."

"The solution’s documentation could improve a bit."

"I advise new users to review their website, commands, and the steps for creating images."

"They should provide proper documentation to understand the solution's cgroup process."

"There may not be much room for improvement with Docker as it has greatly evolved. However, one area that could be improved upon is the documentation on their website which was once easy to follow but has become quite terrible with numerous versions being released. As an example, the installation process for Docker now requires more than just a one-line command, causing inconvenience. Additionally, based on my experience as a college instructor, teaching students to install Docker was a difficult task due to the lack of straightforward and easy-to-follow documentation. Docker should focus on improving their documentation to make it more user-friendly for all."

"If you install Docker on a host, it creates its own firewalls. It can become an issue. Usually, when you want to install Docker, you need to restart the firewall or restart the active tables on the machine, but this is not the case with Kubernetes. It uses the default set up by the next administrator, but with Docker, you have to restart the firewall and restart Docker before the firewall on the system will be okay. If you do not the rules will not be created."

"Docker could improve by providing the ability to use the GPU for parallel processing. If there was the capability of using the GPU it would improve the machine learning that I want to use."

More Docker cons

"An area in which Google Kubernetes Engine could improve is configuration."

"It needs to support load balancing."

"The product's stability is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"The product's integration with third-party vendors needs improvement."

"There is a limitation for our infrastructure. It's very complex to see in one dashboard all the components and all the behavior on performance. I am looking for some additional tools for that. If I want to check the disk or file storage, it gets complex. There should be an integrated dashboard so that we can manage everything through a single pane."

"While the GKE cluster is secure, application-level security is an essential aspect that needs to be addressed. The security provided by GKE includes the security of communication between nodes within the cluster and the basic features of Kubernetes security. However, these features may not be sufficient for the security needs of an enterprise. Additional security measures must be added to ensure adequate protection. It has become a common practice to deploy security tools within a Kubernetes cluster. It would be ideal if these tools were included as part of the package, as this is a standard requirement in the industry. Thus, application-level security should be integrated into GKE for improved security measures."

"The primary area for improvement would be the complexity involved when working with Google Kubernetes Engine, especially when using Terraform."

"I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten."

More Google Kubernetes Engine cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The current cost for us is nothing as an open source."

"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs."

"It's free."

"Docker is cost-effective and open-source."

"The solution offers an open-source version that is free and includes a lot of functionality."

"I would rate the pricing of Docker as ten out of ten"

"Regarding pricing, we primarily use AWS for our deployments since we have funding for it. We don't spend much on Docker-specific services, just the containerization product. Docker Hub isn't particularly expensive either, so overall, the pricing is pretty reasonable."

"We are using the open-source version of the solution."

More Docker pricing and cost advice

"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."

"The product is a little bit expensive."

"Initially, Google Kubernetes Engine was a little bit cheaper, but now its prices have been increased compared to the pricing model and the features that are made available by its competitors."

"It is competitive, and it is not expensive. It is almost competitive with AWS and the rest of the cloud solutions. We are spending around 3K USD per month. There are four projects that are currently running, and each one is incurring a cost of around 3K USD."

"Currently, it costs around $1000 per month which sorted our deployment. So once we get more clients, having a huge suffix, costs can go up."

"I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price. The product is competitively priced."

"This is an open source solution, so there is no pricing or licensing."

"The price for Google Kubernetes Engine could be lower - I'd rate its pricing at three out of five."

More Google Kubernetes Engine pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Insurance Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

22%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Docker?

We are using Docker to host applications.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Docker?

I consider Docker's pricing to be affordable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Docker?

In terms of communication between services, perhaps the configuration within networks between containers could be improved.

See all answers

What do you like most about Google Kubernetes Engine?

The product has no downtime.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Kubernetes Engine?

For pricing, Google is considered cheaper compared to AWS, making it suitable for smaller to medium companies concerning cost. I would rate the cost around four out of ten, where ten is the higher ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Kubernetes Engine?

The management UI could be improved. When looking at the web interface, it feels kind of slow due to the many features involved. The interface could definitely be faster.

See all answers

Comparisons

VMware Tanzu Platform vs Docker

Compared 26% of the time

Rancher Labs vs Docker

Compared 20% of the time

Mirantis Container Runtime vs Docker

Compared 15% of the time

Codespaces vs Docker

Compared 12% of the time

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE vs Docker

Compared 9% of the time

More Docker Competitors

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform vs Google Kubernetes Engine

Compared 26% of the time

Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) vs Google Kubernetes Engine

Compared 22% of the time

Rancher Labs vs Google Kubernetes Engine

Compared 14% of the time

VMware Tanzu Platform vs Google Kubernetes Engine

Compared 12% of the time

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE vs Google Kubernetes Engine

Compared 10% of the time

More Google Kubernetes Engine Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Docker

March 2025

Download Docker product report

Buyer's Guide

Google Kubernetes Engine

March 2025

Download Google Kubernetes Engine product report

Also Known As

No data available

GKE

Overview

Docker is a versatile container platform used for running and deploying applications in isolated environments, ensuring consistency across development, testing, and production.

Docker offers solutions for containerizing applications, automating deployments, and managing infrastructure through its robust platform. It supports CI/CD workflows, provides a development platform for container management, and simplifies the setup by using streamlined tools. Organizations leverage Docker for building microservices, running UI applications, deploying web services, and setting up secure environments. It also facilitates managing containers via Kubernetes and creating development stacks for enhanced productivity.

What are Docker's key features?

Security: Offers containment and isolation of applications.
Easy Use: Simplifies the deployment and management of applications.
Documentation: Extensive resources to aid in understanding and implementation.
Customization: Flexible environment configurations.
Scalability: Efficiently handles applications irrespective of scale.
Internal DNS: Manages network configurations within the container ecosystem.
Overlay Networks: Facilitates seamless inter-container communication.
Resource Efficiency: Optimizes usage of system resources.

What benefits should users look for?

Consistency: Ensures homogeneous environments across development, testing, and production stages.
Portability: Allows applications to run consistently on any platform.
Cost-Effectiveness: Reduces overhead costs associated with application deployment.
Speed: Accelerates the build, test, and deployment cycles.
Flexibility: Supports various tools and integrations to adapt to different workflows.

Industries implement Docker for CI/CD pipelines, scaling services, and improving resource utilization. Tech companies use Docker for building and deploying their software in isolated environments. Finance and healthcare sectors deploy applications securely, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. Educational institutions set up consistent development environments for coding labs and training students in advanced technologies.

Docker

Kubernetes Engine is a managed, production-ready environment for deploying containerized applications. It brings our latest innovations in developer productivity, resource efficiency, automated operations, and open source flexibility to accelerate your time to market.

Google

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Philips Lighting, Alpha Vertex, GroupBy, BQ

Buyer's Guide

Docker vs. Google Kubernetes Engine

March 2025

Free Report: Docker vs. Google Kubernetes Engine

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