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Docker vs Portainer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Docker
Ranking in Container Management
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (1st), Software Supply Chain Security (5th)
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 December 2024, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Docker is 3.7%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Portainer is 3.1%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Management
 

Featured Reviews

Gur Sannikov - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers reliability and helps to save on costs
In terms of the impact of container orchestration, I would say that though my company does not currently use a lot of containers, we plan to move to containers. I recommend others to just use the internet than ChatGPT since mostly all issues are already known and very easy to deal with so it is better to use the knowledge from the industry. In terms of the use of Docker for AI projects or workflows, I would say that my company deploys AI applications on Docker, like any other application and pipeline. The tools or practices that have proven to be the most beneficial for our company's AI initiatives are agnostic to Docker. There is nothing special in Docker, and our company just uses it to deploy applications. The value derived from the use of the product revolves around the scalability and the reliability it offers. The product helps with the cost-savings part since it saves time and money linked with the amount of engineers required to spend time on operations. I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
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

"When used in conjunction with Kubernetes, it is seamless because it integrates very well."
"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."
"It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Docker is perfect for what I do...The solution is scalable."
"Kubernetes is the primary container orchestration tool I use with this solution. Docker provides a complete solution for deploying and managing workloads across multiple nodes. Container orchestration has significantly impacted my workload by automating tasks and streamlining operations. The availability of systems like Kubernetes is crucial for planning and managing complete clusters and computing environments. Every client's needs are different, and not one solution fits all."
"It is a quite mature technology."
"The initial setup was easy, and you are only required to run commands."
"The solution helps save costs."
"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

"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."
"The security layer is very vulnerable, although they are working to improve the system hardening and email hardening."
"I would like to see a single package image orchestration bundled together."
"The volumes for persistent storage could be more user friendly right out of the box."
"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 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."
"I think Docker can improve as it relates to overall stability."
"Portainer needs to be more intuitive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"It's an open-source solution, so it doesn't cost anything"
"Docker is cost-effective and open-source."
"Docker has made some changes and there is an enterprise version that is affordable."
"It's free."
"There is a license needed to use Docker."
"The solution offers an open-source version that is free and includes a lot of functionality."
"Docker is open source. To use a Docker enterprise model, we would need to pay for it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Insurance Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
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?
Our customers buy the software and the prices are available on Docker Hub. The subscription is typically yearly, and customers will need to buy the subscription directly. They can purchase it thems...
What needs improvement with Docker?
Docker is a time-tested, proven solution with industry-wide applications. There can be challenges with port mapping, however, that's not related to Docker itself.
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

 

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Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Amazon Web Services (AWS), VMware and others in Container Management. Updated: November 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.