12 Most Useful Docker Alternatives for 2024 [List]

Docker, the most popular developer-oriented containerization platform, is not the only option available today. There are 12 alternatives that can be used to build and deploy containers, each with its own unique features and capabilities. Some of these options include Podman, which is fully OCI-compliant and acts as a drop-in replacement for Docker; containerd, a daemon-based OCI-compliant container runtime; Linux Containers (LXC), an OS-level containerization solution integrated into Linux; runc, an OCI-compliant container runtime with a CLI for starting new containers on your host; and Rancher Desktop, an open-source desktop-based solution for working with containers. Other alternatives include Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift, Windows Containers, Buildah, OrbStack, traditional virtual machines, and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions such as Heroku, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Google App Engine. The choice of containerization tool depends on the specific use case and desired features.