Docker vs. Portainer

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Docker
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Docker Enterprise was sold to Mirantis in 2019; that product is now sold as Mirantis Kubernetes Engine. But Docker now offers a 2-product suite that includes Docker Desktop, which they present as a fast way to containerize applications on a desktop; and, Docker Hub, a service for finding and sharing container images with a team and the Docker community, a repository of container images with an array of…
$5
per month
Portainer
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Portainer is a centralized container management platform for containerized apps and IoT device management. It helps accelerate container adoption and reduce time-to-value on Kubernetes, Docker, and Swarm with a management portal, allowing users to deliver and manage containerized applications from the data center to the edge. Portainer helps - Reduce the operational complexity associated with multi-cluster management Bridge the skills gap and facilitate feature…
$0
Pricing
DockerPortainer
Editions & Modules
Free
$0
unlimited public repositories
Pro
$5.00
per month per user
Team
$7.00
per month per user
Business
$21
per month per user
Portainer Business - 3 Nodes Free
$0
Home & Student
$149
per year
Starter
$995
per year
Professional
$2995
per year
Enterprise
Contact Sales for Pricing
per year
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
DockerPortainer
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
DockerPortainer
Considered Both Products
Docker

No answer on this topic

Portainer
Chose Portainer
Initially looked into using Rancher for container management but it is aimed more at kubernetes deployments. I have used both at home and liked Portainer more, especially since we are using docker standalone. From
Chose Portainer
Portainer is very simple to use for anyone who is new to docker and trying to build a server. It makes everything super easy to use because of it’s excellent UI/UX which makes it a good tool for beginners!
Chose Portainer
The reason I chose Portainer is that graphically it wins over Yacht, it has many more options to use even in the free version. You can connect more than one environment to one panel which makes it much easier to use multiple instances of Portainer and saves a lot of time.
Chose Portainer
Docker is the basis I Portainer with, so nothing to compare here.
Proxmox is a different approach, letting VMs running on one platform. You have more options and duties, as the OS is always full scaled. This makes it much more easier with Network stuff, i.e. Broadcast / …
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
DockerPortainer
Container Management
Comparison of Container Management features of Product A and Product B
Docker
-
Ratings
Portainer
7.8
81 Ratings
1% below category average
Security and Isolation00 Ratings8.077 Ratings
Cluster Management00 Ratings8.269 Ratings
Storage Management00 Ratings7.568 Ratings
Resource Allocation and Optimization00 Ratings7.772 Ratings
Discovery Tools00 Ratings7.762 Ratings
Analytics, Monitoring, and Logging00 Ratings7.578 Ratings
Best Alternatives
DockerPortainer
Small Businesses
Git
Git
Score 10.0 out of 10
Docker
Docker
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Git
Git
Score 10.0 out of 10
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Git
Git
Score 10.0 out of 10
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
DockerPortainer
Likelihood to Recommend
9.7
(13 ratings)
8.8
(81 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(1 ratings)
8.9
(3 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(1 ratings)
8.8
(3 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
DockerPortainer
Likelihood to Recommend
Docker
You are going to be able to find the most resources and examples using Docker whenever you are working with a container orchestration software like Kubernetes. There will always some entropy when you run in a container, a containerized application will never be as purely performant as an app running directly on the OS. However, in most scenarios this loss will be negligible to the time saved in deployment, monitoring, etc.
Read full review
Portainer
We do have a couple of users who are new to Docker and the Linus shell environment. Portainer makes it easy for them to quickly deploy stacks of containers with its web editor to configure docker-compose files with an easy-to-use GUI. Not only does this save time, but it also encourages new users to interact more positively with Docker and Portainer in general.
Read full review
Pros
Docker
  • Packaging of application to limit the space occupied
  • Ease of running the application
  • Provide multiple ways to handle the application issues and integration of different components like pipeline, ansible, terraform etc
Read full review
Portainer
  • Separating server maintenance with application development, providing a clear user interface for developers who don't want to worry about the underlying server.
  • RBAC for container deployment linked to a SAML IDP, not something particularly easy in a native Docker instance but point and shoot in Portainer, allowing the use of Azure / Okta etc to provide user access.
  • Image management with multiple repositories is super clear and reduces incidents
Read full review
Cons
Docker
  • Docker hub image retention policy can be relaxed
  • Docker hub policies can be more developer friendly
  • Docker CLI help section can be improved
  • Image and container storage (local) management can be optimized
Read full review
Portainer
  • When setting up static IPs for a new container, having the used ones for a specific network at hand would be cool or something like a mini IPAM of some sort...
  • Using the developertools to see "oh, it's a 40x or 500" when something doesn't seem to load because the ui just states "Didn't work" is kinda annoying. expandable toasts or something would be nice.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Docker
No answers on this topic
Portainer
It is an excellent tool.
Read full review
Usability
Docker
Very easy to use, great tutorials, documentation and cheat sheets out there to help you become a Docker Wiz
Read full review
Portainer
It is a clear UI, and it does what it sets out to do, very well
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Docker
Haven't seen any outages, fatal/unrecoverable errors in my usage so far. Enough said.
Read full review
Portainer
No answers on this topic
Performance
Docker
Docker Desktop. The CPU high usage is a known issue. Needs fixing. Otherwise, it is great overall. Would not use anything else still.
Read full review
Portainer
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Docker
No answers on this topic
Portainer
One of their staff members jumped on a video call immediately with me and led me through the problem and solution during a quick session of screen sharing. In this day and age that is above and beyond, especially when it comes to software. It took approximately 5-10 minutes to diagnose and fix, including pleasantries!
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Docker
No answers on this topic
Portainer
It is really easy. Just follow the documentation.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Docker
The reason why we are still using Docker right now is due to that is the best among its peers and suits our needs the best. However, the trend we foresee for the future might indicate Amazon lambda could potentially fit our needs to code enviornmentless in the near future.
Read full review
Portainer
I am using Rancher in Kubernetes environments. It was really the first product I used with it and never really had time to test out how well Portainer behaves on Kubernetes. For the exact same thing - Docker Swarm management I used Swarmpit some time ago, but I like Portainer better, even though Swarmpit has better cluster visualization then Portainer. Portainer 5 node business edition is really a big plus for me, since it has some really nice features.
Read full review
Scalability
Docker
It is the only tool in our toolset that has not [had] any issues so far. That is really a mark of reliability, and it's a testimony to how well the product is made, and a tool that does its job well is a tool well worth having. It is the base tool that I would say any organisation must have if they do scalable deployment.
Read full review
Portainer
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Docker
  • Reduces the number of virtual machine which impacted our quarterly billing
  • Using docker with proxy we run multiple application on same port on same host.
  • impact on billing is we have to provide docker training to the people who are working on it.
Read full review
Portainer
  • Increased productivity: Portainer's user-friendly interface and streamlined container management can help increase the productivity of IT teams.
  • Cost savings: By simplifying container management, Portainer can help reduce the time and resources required to manage container environments, potentially leading to cost savings.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Portainer Screenshots

Screenshot of Portainer is a universal container management platform to help adopt and manage Docker, Kubernetes, Nomad and Edge environments.