Firecracker vs Docker: key differences and when to use each

Docker containers and Firecracker microVMs offer distinct approaches to running isolated workloads on shared hardware, with each designed to address different security needs and use cases. Docker is the dominant standard for cloud-native application deployment, offering fast startup times and high workload density through OS-level isolation, making it ideal for trusted internal services and CI/CD environments. However, its shared kernel model poses security risks for multi-tenant and untrusted code executions. In contrast, Firecracker, developed by AWS, provides hardware-level isolation with microVMs running dedicated guest kernels, making it suitable for scenarios requiring robust security, such as serverless functions and AI-generated code execution. Northflank provides a unified platform that integrates both Docker and Firecracker, allowing users to manage workloads with varying isolation requirements without the need for separate infrastructure setups, thus facilitating seamless deployment and orchestration of diverse workloads, including databases, GPU tasks, and untrusted code execution.