Azure Container Registry vs Harbor comparison

Microsoft and GoHarbor are both solutions in the Container Registry category. Microsoft is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.7, while GoHarbor is ranked #3 with an average rating of 9.0. Microsoft holds a 11.4% mindshare in CR, compared to GoHarbor’s 26.7% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of GoHarbor users who would recommend it.

Azure Container Registry

Read 20 Azure Container Registry reviews

2,581 Views
2,034 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Harbor

Read 2 Harbor reviews

6,314 Views
5,280 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Azure Container Registry

Harbor

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Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

Azure Container Registry and Harbor compete in the container registry services category. Azure Container Registry has an upper hand due to seamless integration with Azure services and stronger enterprise support, while Harbor stands out for its open-source approach and customization capabilities, appealing to organizations prioritizing flexibility.

Features: Azure Container Registry offers integration with Azure DevOps, advanced security features including image scanning, and geo-replication. Harbor provides customizable options, strong image vulnerability scanning, and role-based access control. The distinction is between Azure's ecosystem integration and Harbor's flexibility and control.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Azure Container Registry benefits from straightforward deployment within the Azure ecosystem, supported by Microsoft's extensive network. Harbor requires hands-on management due to its open-source nature, offering greater control but necessitating more expertise for deployment.

Pricing and ROI: Azure Container Registry provides competitive and predictable pricing models, suitable for organizations already invested in Azure. Harbor, as an open-source solution, offers a lower initial cost structure with higher ROI potential for those managing deployment and maintenance internally, while Azure may involve higher costs due to integration capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Container Registry vs. Harbor Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Container Registry vs. Harbor

June 2025

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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

Azure Container Registry

Ranking in Container Registry

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Harbor

Ranking in Container Registry

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Container Registry category, the mindshare of Azure Container Registry is 11.4%, up from 10.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Harbor is 26.7%, down from 28.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Container Registry

Featured Reviews

Chris Badenhorst

Strategic Head | Azure Services and GRC at Braintree

Offers horizontal scaling and auto-scaling capabilities

We are a Microsoft partner with solutions designations and specializations in Azure. We have about one thousand customers running on Azure, to whom we provide managed services through our local Microsoft arrangement in EMEA. We do have extensive experience in Azure networking, infrastructure platforms, and data analytics. We have three teams covering application and data analytics, storage configuration, networking, public endpoints, and the like. We manage Service Fabric for two customers. We have more experience with Service Fabric than pure containers on AKS or IPS.

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reviewer2584182

DevOps Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

Enhance security with automated vulnerability detection and private registry support

We use Harbor for Docker containers to build from our GitLab CI/CD pipeline. This pipeline then automatically pushes to our Harbor instance. We are still working on storing Helm charts in the Harbor instance as well Harbor has improved our organization's security and stability in our container…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The portability and elasticity features are the most valuable."

"The continuity screen is a valuable feature."

"The most valuable feature is that it's easy to download, install and manage."

"The solution has built-in resiliency and replication zone availability so it is very stable."

"We like the fact that this is a secure solution, that employs a token-based system, which can be used to manage all the applications under this product."

"Provides secure duplication and the option for service webhooks."

"It's great for storing images on containers."

"The whole package is valuable as it allows for easy application cloning and deployment."

More Azure Container Registry pros

"The most valuable feature of Harbor is its security scanning capability."

"Right now this is the leading product in this category."

Cons

"The setup for Azure Container Registry was a bit complex. Still, the main problem was that whenever a new image was generated, that new Docker image needed to be updated in Azure Container Registry."

"The solution could always improve its security measures with regard to access."

"The setup process is mildly complex. There is no straightforward management platform, so there's a level of complexity to it."

"The solution has no areas that need improvement."

"The solution has become more popular in the last few years but I find that the technical support has not increased their knowledge base, so more knowledgeable support staff can help improve the solution."

"The security, dashboards, and monitoring system could be improved."

"The accessibility of Azure Container Registry also has room for improvement because the solution is not always accessible 24 x 7. I experienced this three times when the service wasn't responding, so I could not push or pull images, and I had to decommission Azure Container Registry and redeploy it."

"The deployment is an area that needs improvement, as it can take some time to deploy."

More Azure Container Registry cons

"The GUI needs to improve."

"The product should integrate better with other storage options."

"There is a need for more support for public repositories, like the Google Cloud GTR, which is not as integrated as desired."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The Premium version includes some enhancements but is still quite okay with regard to pricing."

"The product is competitively priced."

"I would rate the pricing four out of ten."

"Azure is a bit expensive."

"Azure Container Registry, has no cost, but you pay for storage service."

"I have no information on how much Azure Container Registry costs. I know it's the only solution my institution can use, so the cost was approved."

"When using Azure Container Registry, it was $1.5 or $1.6 per day, but I'm unsure how much it costs today."

"The cost of the product is free."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Container Registry?

Azure Container Registry is an easy-to-install, easy-to-configure, and easy-to-deploy solution.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Container Registry?

The pricing is on the lower side and not costly. Customers usually pay approximately $500 USD monthly, though this includes multiple services, not just the Azure Container Registry.

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What needs improvement with Azure Container Registry?

While downtime is uncommon, there are occasional server errors like '404 not found' and '504 server not found'. Viewing server logs is not a reliable approach, and improving log visibility would he...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Harbor?

Harbor is open source and part of the graduated Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) landscape, making it a cost-effective solution.

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What needs improvement with Harbor?

There is a need for more support for public repositories, like the Google Cloud GTR, which is not as integrated as desired. Additionally, more example implementations for installation using Ansible...

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What is your primary use case for Harbor?

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Comparisons

Amazon ECR vs Azure Container Registry

Compared 49% of the time

JFrog Container Registry vs Azure Container Registry

Compared 30% of the time

Red Hat Quay vs Azure Container Registry

Compared 2% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Azure Container Registry

Compared 1% of the time

More Azure Container Registry Competitors

JFrog Container Registry vs Harbor

Compared 61% of the time

Red Hat Quay vs Harbor

Compared 17% of the time

Amazon ECR vs Harbor

Compared 10% of the time

VMware Harbor Registry vs Harbor

Compared 2% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Harbor

Compared 1% of the time

More Harbor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Container Registry

June 2025

Download Azure Container Registry product report

Buyer's Guide

Container Registry

June 2025

Download Harbor product report

Also Known As

Microsoft Azure Container Registry

No data available

Overview

Azure Container Registry allows you to build, store, and manage container images and artifacts in a private registry for all types of container deployments. Use Azure container registries with your existing container development and deployment pipelines. Use Azure Container Registry Tasks to build container images in Azure on-demand, or automate builds triggered by source code updates, updates to a container's base image, or timers.

Microsoft

Harbor is an open source container image registry that secures images with role-based access control, scans images for vulnerabilities, and signs images as trusted. A CNCF Incubating project, Harbor delivers compliance, performance, and interoperability to help you consistently and securely manage images across cloud native compute platforms like Kubernetes and Docker.

GoHarbor

Sample Customers

DNV GL, Alaska Airlines, Finastra

AXA, Talking Data

Buyer's Guide

Azure Container Registry vs. Harbor

June 2025

Free Report: Azure Container Registry vs. Harbor

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