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Docker vs Portainer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
7.2
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (1st), Software Supply Chain Security (3rd)
Portainer
Ranking in Container Management
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Docker is 4.5%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Portainer is 5.4%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Docker4.5%
Portainer5.4%
Other90.1%
Container Management
 

Featured Reviews

Sunny Nair - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers application conversion to Docker image and a mature environment
The learning curve with Docker is huge and extensive. Adopting Docker is a bit difficult because it requires a lot of expertise and background, including an understanding of networking and security concepts. Many professionals are facing issues with the different architectures that interact with each other in Docker. Whenever in our company, we are working with the production environment, professionals are hesitant to adopt Docker due to the extensive learning curve, and most of the team members in our company are more accustomed to an environment like VMware instead of Docker. Docker runs on scripts, so if AI can automate most of the scripting process in Docker, it would be a great advantage in the future version of Docker. As of now, we can create scripts utilizing most of the functions within Docker, but that initial planning phase wherein to understand exactly how you will plan for the resources, how you will convert applications into a Docker-based image, and similar tasks needs to be simplified so that more professionals can adopt Docker.
EB
A GUI solution that helps to administer a docker using a browser
The first time using Portainer involves a learning curve. It takes longer as you're unfamiliar with the processes and might be lazy to consult the manual. Initially, you may rely on intuition within the GUI. However, after repeating the same tasks three or four times, the process becomes much quicker.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Containerization is the most valuable feature. I can communicate to the Docker containers using other containers."
"The most valuable feature of Docker is its integration with other solutions, such as KVM and AlmaLinux."
"The solution is stable."
"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."
"We use Docker to facilitate deployment, updates, and management."
"The solution's customer service is good."
"The most valuable feature of Docker is the dedicated QA environment for connecting the team members. Additionally, there are many core features available and it is highly secure when we are imaging a client's server."
"The initial setup was easy, and you are only required to run commands."
"Portainer comes with the ability to take the information of docker definition. Using it, I can visually observe how the container has been created. It allows me to create networks. I can also visually generate volumes and working stacks."
 

Cons

"Docker can improve the integration with Microsoft Windows. It does not support native installations."
"The solution needs to be more scalable for local machines."
"Stability is an area with a shortcoming."
"There can be challenges with port mapping, however, that's not related to Docker itself."
"The product does not have an extensive documentation. The tool does not have good scenarios. We have to go through the GitHub repository and investigate similar scenarios. Also, if you are copying multiple things, then you can jeopardize the copy number. The copying aspect also lacks a UI part. We also need to limit the memory."
"Sometimes, we have sync-up issues where the build doesn't get processed due to these sync issues, causing the build to fail. That's one of the drawbacks I see. When we did a huge sync-up, we faced a couple of issues. It takes some time for us to complete the sync-up. For frequent, smaller updates, we haven't had any issues. However, challenges can arise for those who prefer doing everything in one go. This might not necessarily be due to the tool itself but because of the approach of doing everything in a single batch."
"The volumes for persistent storage could be more user friendly right out of the box."
"I think Docker can improve as it relates to overall stability."
"Portainer needs to be more intuitive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Its convenience edition is free of cost."
"The solution is an open-source technology and not a commercial product. However, you will have to pay sometimes. The tool's pricing depends on the vendor."
"The product is a free open-source tool."
"We are using the open-source version of the solution."
"Customers pay for the license through a yearly subscription model, where they pay per license. This means that the license is based on a subscription, and the customer pays annually for each license they use."
"Docker is cost-effective and open-source."
"The solution offers an open-source version that is free and includes a lot of functionality."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise34
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Docker?
We are using Docker to host applications.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Docker?
Regarding the cost, Mirantis Container Cloud is cheaper than other solutions like Red Hat. The license costs around 10,000 Indian rupees per year.
What needs improvement with Docker?
Mirantis Container Cloud should have AI integration tools, which are not available right now. These tools should assist in app scalability and deployment error handling.
What do you like most about Portainer?
Portainer comes with the ability to take the information of docker definition. Using it, I can visually observe how the container has been created. It allows me to create networks. I can also visua...
What needs improvement with Portainer?
Portainer needs to be more intuitive.
What is your primary use case for Portainer?
The tool is a GUI that helps to administer a docker using a browser.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Broadcom and others in Container Management. Updated: October 2025.
872,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.