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Docker vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

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
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (1st), Container Management (4th), Software Supply Chain Security (1st), AI Software Development (5th)
Nutanix Kubernetes Engine N...
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

PB
Senior Cloud Engineer - AWS at Bytedance
Time-saving deployment with seamless virtualization for diverse environments
I used Docker to Dockerize Java code. We had a code base, and I needed to create a Docker image from it so that it could be deployed. At the time, we used Docker Compose, which is somewhat similar to Kubernetes Docker allows virtualization at a higher level without the need for a host machine.…
reviewer2741271 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nutanix Administrator at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Has provided seamless upgrade experiences and robust technical support
I have heard there are many features added in NKP that are not available in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE, such as load balancer features. The unified control plane feature is not being used in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE. We are currently using a third-party tool for load balancing, but going forward, NKP will include load balancer, ingress, and egress features, making infrastructure management much easier. There is no auto-scaling feature in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE; however, NKP offers it. In NKE, we created additional worker nodes and increased CPU and RAM capacity, but it required manual intervention. Concerning policy-driven governance in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE, we have the ability to implement RBAC at the cluster level, which helps maintain security by not granting full admin privileges to every end user, thus restricting access effectively.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Docker is that it provides a containerized environment. The isolation between the environments is beneficial. Additionally, the solution is easy to use."
"Docker allows you to run multiple virtual machines independently."
"It is neat and very flexible."
"Docker is highly scalable."
"The most valuable feature of Docker is the dedicated QA environment for connecting the team members. Additionally, there are many core features available and it is highly secure when we are imaging a client's server."
"There are ways of using Docker where you have absolutely no dependencies on the environment that you work in. This allows us to deploy Docker anywhere anytime and this has been most valuable."
"The most valuable features of Docker are its security, detailed documentation, and ease of use, and the Docker Swarm is not as complex as Kubernetes."
"It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The solution provides no downtime features. If we face issues, we create a new port, deploy it there, and then drop the existing one. This way, we avoid NKE downtime on our website."
"We can do a lot of provisioning."
"Nutanix is very stable and reliable, based on my experience with many customers, including large banks and telcos."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The product integrates well with our infrastructure."
"My experience with Nutanix's technical support is excellent."
"Nutanix's support is really good."
"The solution is easy to manage. You can get everything in a single platform. It is also easy to work with Terraform as a code."
 

Cons

"I would like to see better management layers."
"The vendor should release a monitoring tool or include monitoring capabilities in Docker"
"The runtime and security could improve in Docker. Security is paramount in the cloud and important."
"I would love to have it available on Linux."
"There can be challenges with port mapping, however, that's not related to Docker itself."
"It could be easier to create images and save them on reports. Just improved development workflow, just quicker, like some better user experience creating the images for the Docker containers."
"The backup compatibility for legacy window stations is an area of concern where improvement is required, especially since my company has certain legacy tools that we are struggling to move."
"Owing to a few shortcomings in its stability, I would say that its stability can be improved."
"We need a backup of production clusters."
"There is no auto-scaling feature in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE; however, NKP offers it. In NKE, we created additional worker nodes and increased CPU and RAM capacity, but it required manual intervention."
"Areas for improvement in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) include upgrading management capabilities and enhancing the user interface for improved usability."
"GUI lacks sufficient information to help with understanding the installation and process."
"One major issue we faced was that appliances couldn't migrate from VMware to the tool. However, this seems to be a common problem across platforms. We've seen the same issue when migrating from VMware to RHV or other solutions. It's not specifically a Nutanix problem but rather an issue migrating appliances from one VM infrastructure to another. Some kernel-level and storage-level issues impact this process."
"The product lacks some virtualization capabilities, making it an area for improvement where the solution can focus on providing users with more virtualization capabilities related to disk systems."
"There have been challenges related to software bugs, especially regarding long-term licensing options and issues within our customer network."
"I would like to have more nodes for availability and storage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Docker is a free open-source solution. However, there is the Docker Enterprise which is a paid solution."
"Pricing is based on the number of users."
"Docker has made some changes and there is an enterprise version that is affordable."
"The solution offers an open-source version that is free and includes a lot of functionality."
"Docker is a free-to-use solution. However, Docker Enterprise is not free."
"Its convenience edition is free of cost."
"Customers pay for the license through a yearly subscription model, where they pay per license. This means that the license is based on a subscription, and the customer pays annually for each license they use."
"We are using the open-source version of the solution."
"While deploying Kubernetes clusters on Nutanix is cost-effective, there may be additional costs for remote branch offices where Kubernetes is less common."
"The product's licenses are included in the software version deployed in our data center."
"The platform is averagely priced. I rate the pricing as four out of ten."
"I rate the product price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"I rate NKE's pricing a six out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise35
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Docker?
The setup cost has balanced out, and I find Docker's pricing reasonable. Docker Engine is free and open source for Linux, and Docker Desktop is free for individual developers and small teams, but a...
What needs improvement with Docker?
As Docker is already a very mature tool, there are areas where it can be improved based on real-world usage. One area I consider is the Windows container experience. The pain point here is that Win...
What is your primary use case for Docker?
My main use case for Docker is to package applications into consistent, portable containers and use those images across CI/CD and production environments. I containerize applications so they can ru...
What do you like most about Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?
The most valuable features of the Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) are its simplicity and efficiency during the initial cluster creation phase.
What needs improvement with Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?
In terms of features, I cannot comment technically, but the real value is the consolidated out-of-the-box solution that Nutanix offers. Nutanix has built great branding and a lot of credibility and...
What is your primary use case for Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?
I have experience with OpenShift, Kubernetes, and Nutanix, as we are one of the largest Nutanix resellers in the Middle East. We handle Kubernetes on the cloud as well, so we manage most of the Kub...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Nutanix Karbon
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Web Services (AWS), Red Hat, Kubernetes and others in Container Management. Updated: March 2026.
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