Docker vs VMware Tanzu Platform comparison

Docker and VMware are both solutions in the Development Platforms category. Docker is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.9, while VMware is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.7. Additionally, 98% of Docker users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of VMware users who would recommend it.

Docker

Read 56 Docker reviews

504 Views
409 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

VMware Tanzu Platform

Read 21 VMware Tanzu Platform reviews

309 Views
239 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Docker

VMware Tanzu Platform

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

Docker and VMware Tanzu Platform compete in the realm of containerization and cloud management solutions. Docker seems to have the upper hand in terms of cost-effectiveness and ease of use, while VMware Tanzu excels with its integration within the VMware ecosystem and robust cloud capabilities.

Features: Docker offers strong security, user-friendly documentation, and simplicity in deployment, making it highly popular for containerized applications. It is known for its portability and cost-effectiveness, which are enhanced by seamless integrations. VMware Tanzu Platform stands out with its native integration with VMware products, comprehensive management for Kubernetes clusters, and multi-cloud support, providing a full-stack cloud solution.

Room for Improvement: Docker could improve its firewall setup, security vulnerability reporting, and integration with Microsoft Windows. Enhancements are also suggested for its UI and command line interface. VMware Tanzu Platform users see integration with non-VMware ecosystems and its high cost as areas to address. Additional granular networking controls and improved disaster recovery features are also desired.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Docker offers a variety of deployment options and is praised for its comprehensive documentation and active community support. Support experiences vary but are generally positive. VMware Tanzu Platform supports diverse environments but is more complex due to its integration within the VMware suite. Support is responsive with positive customer engagement.

Pricing and ROI: Docker is cost-effective with its open-source model, providing significant ROI through reduced development times. Its Enterprise version offers more features but remains competitive. VMware Tanzu Platform, being pricier, targets larger enterprises, delivering ROI through its full-featured management capabilities and integration, yet its high cost can be a disadvantage for smaller businesses.

To learn more, read our detailed Docker vs. VMware Tanzu Platform Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Docker vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

March 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 842,296 peers since 2012

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 Development Platforms

1st

Ranking in Container Management

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Supply Chain Security (8th)

VMware Tanzu Platform

Ranking in Development Platforms

2nd

Ranking in Container Management

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Build Automation (11th), PaaS Clouds (10th), Cloud Management (17th), Service Mesh (4th), Agile and DevOps Services (4th)

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.

Read full review

DarshanChaudhari

Solutions Architect Hybrid Cloud Practice US/Europe at Tech Mahindra Limited

Empowers seamless connectivity and integration through APIs while offering robust auto-scaling

I am involved in IT services and we provide a solution to customers. We work with VMware, Nutanix, OpenShift, and Microsoft Hyper-V The Tanzu platform is highly available, scalable, and flexible. It offers native services for autoscaling and integrations through APIs, allowing seamless…

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

"We find the auto scaling and auto healing functionality of this solution very good."

"Traditional deployments take more time and builds can be inconsistent across different environments. Docker solves these issues."

"We use Docker to facilitate deployment, updates, and management."

"Docker is easy to understand and follow. It provides good scalability to the application."

"The most valuable feature is that it gives you the same environment as on a developer machine as well as a production machine relevant to specifications."

"Docker allows you to create small applications and containerize them. You can create multiple such application containers that can run simultaneously on the Linux operating system. In a DevOps environment where multiple teams are creating applications, developing new versions, and deploying applications frequently, Docker is very helpful. The greatest benefit of the solution is that you can create applications and multiple versions of the same application, distributing them across various Linux platforms. Setting up Docker is very quick; whereas setting up a Linux operating system can take five to ten minutes, you can set up a Docker-based Linux OS container within minutes. For developers who frequently create and deploy applications, Docker makes it easy to quickly develop, deploy, and run the latest versions. The solution’s stability is great. I rate it a nine out of ten. Regarding scalability, Docker doesn't require any separate configuration for multiple users. If you are trying to create an application quickly for testing or development purposes, Docker is the best tool available."

"The solution is easy to install."

"The deployment is quite fast, which is beneficial."

More Docker pros

"The solution is integrated very well with a lot of other systems. Also, its GUI is very good."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ability to check the flow of all the different variants within our applications."

"The most popular feature of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is its graphical user interface for describing network policies on the Service Mesh, which is highly integrable with other tools commonly used in supply chains such as security."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The Tanzu platform is highly available, scalable, and flexible."

"Tanzu is easy to upgrade and scale, whether we're talking about horizontal or vertical scaling. It is as smooth as possible without any downtime. The platform maintenance, upgrading, and operations part is very smooth."

"A feature we find valuable is that other products can also be integrated with Mission Control. This means that we can see the status of specific clusters, as well as view the monitoring application logs all from one point."

"The valuable feature I have found to be the management of Kubernetes clusters in a private cloud or public clouds, such as Azure or Google Cloud Platform."

More VMware Tanzu Platform pros

Cons

"The solution needs to be more scalable for local machines."

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

"I would love to have it available on Linux."

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

"Unfortunately, base images are not currently available."

"The learning curve with Docker is huge and extensive"

"The vendor should release a monitoring tool or include monitoring capabilities in Docker"

"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

"Tanzu provides better manageability as compared to OCP, but when it comes to tagging it with other products, it's a bit rigid. If I have to bring in any new product or something out of the box from a different vendor, working with Tanzu becomes a little difficult. For example, if I want to use the F5 services, I have to add one more layer of Avi, but I don't want to do that. If I have a list of the products that I want to use, such as for firewall services, with Tanzu, I will have to go through another layer, which creates complexity."

"Cost is always a concern. Smaller companies might find the price a bigger issue."

"Addressing the high upfront costs could improve the product. Implementing a subscription-based model with tiered service options could make it more accessible to a broader range of customers."

"The network control and security policies must be improved."

"The solution could improve by having better integration with other solutions such as HPE."

"We want to see a new feature that helps build more security architecture like Zero Trust Security or shifting left in Kubernetes."

"The implementation is not easy, it is very complex and can take a day or two to complete."

"Having a unified dashboard to manage all infrastructure, whether it involves additional IT infrastructure or modern apps, would be highly advantageous"

More VMware Tanzu Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license needed to use Docker."

"Docker is a free-to-use solution. However, Docker Enterprise is not free."

"Since Docker is an open-source solution, it is free of cost."

"Pricing is based on the number of users."

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

"The pricing of the solution is fairly cheap."

"We use the open-source version."

"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."

More Docker pricing and cost advice

"The least expensive licensing cost for VMware is around $350 per core."

"The solution is bundled in with Cloud Foundry so the pricing is not independent."

"It is not the most expensive option, and I believe the capabilities align well with the value it provides."

"The solution is only for large or medium size enterprises because it is expensive."

"There are different licenses available. You have to upgrade your license if you want to scale the solution more."

"Its pricing is very competitive. We get around 70% or 75%, sometimes even 80%, discount on the product. I would rate it a four out of five in terms of pricing."

"The licensing cost is expensive."

"The product is not expensive, but it is not cheap."

More VMware Tanzu Platform pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Development Platforms solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Insurance Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

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

Which is better - OpenShift Container Platform or VMware Tanzu Mission Control?

Red Hat Openshift is ideal for organizations using microservices and cloud environments. I like that the platform is auto-scalable, which saves overhead time for developers. I think Openshift can b...

See all answers

What do you like most about VMware Tanzu Application Service?

The solution is integrated very well with a lot of other systems. Also, its GUI is very good.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for VMware Tanzu Application Service?

Since I have a developer team, they use the solution for testing purposes.

See all answers

Comparisons

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

AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) vs Docker

Compared 7% of the time

More Docker Competitors

Rancher Labs vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 18% of the time

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Kubernetes vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 10% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon AWS vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 3% of the time

More VMware Tanzu Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Docker

March 2025

Download Docker product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Tanzu Platform

March 2025

Download VMware Tanzu Platform product report

Also Known As

No data available

Tanzu Application Catalog, Application Platform, Application Service, Hub, Mission Control, Service Mesh, Build Service, Concourse for VMware Tanzu

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

VMware Tanzu Platform is designed for cloud-native development and management of Kubernetes, CI/CD processes, microservices, and containerized workloads. It supports deployments both on cloud and on-premises, providing centralized management via Mission Control.

VMware Tanzu Platform offers seamless integration with vSphere, ESX, and vSAN, supporting centralized cluster management and lifecycle management. The platform provides a GUI for monitoring CI/CD pipelines and network policies, enhancing multi-tenancy and Day 2 operations. Users can easily manage Kubernetes clusters, monitor applications, and integrate with tools such as GitHub, GitLab, Cloud Foundry, and Azure. It ensures compliance and security for service providers, financial institutions, and businesses.

What are the key features of VMware Tanzu Platform?

Integration with vSphere, ESX, and vSAN: Enhances compatibility and flexibility.
Seamless Cluster Management: Centralized control over Kubernetes clusters.
CI/CD Pipelines and Network Policies: Simplifies monitoring and management.
Multi-tenancy Support: Facilitates resource sharing among multiple users.
Comprehensive Lifecycle Management: Streamlines deployment and scalability.
Observability Platform: Provides enhanced visibility and control.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in VMware Tanzu Platform reviews?

Centralized Management: Simplifies operations and reduces manual effort.
Enhanced Compliance and Security: Meets regulatory requirements.
Flexibility in Deployment: Supports both cloud and on-premises options.
Seamless Integration: Works with multiple vendors and tools.
Developer-Friendly Environment: Improves productivity and innovation.

Industries such as financial institutions, service providers, and businesses requiring rigorous compliance and security deploy VMware Tanzu Platform. These entities benefit from centralized management, streamlined DevOps processes, and integrated tools, enhancing their capabilities in cloud-native developments and containerized workloads.

VMware

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Verizon, Cerner, Zipcar, Avarteq

Buyer's Guide

Docker vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

March 2025

Free Report: Docker vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

Find out what your peers are saying about Docker vs. VMware Tanzu Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Docker vs. VMware Tanzu Platform report.

See our list of best Development Platforms vendors and best Container Management vendors.

We monitor all Development Platforms reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.