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Docker vs Portainer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 11, 2025

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
Ranking in Container Management
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (1st), Software Supply Chain Security (3rd), AI Software Development (7th)
Portainer
Ranking in Container Management
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Docker is 4.6%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Portainer is 4.8%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Docker4.6%
Portainer4.8%
Other90.6%
Container Management
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2787357 - PeerSpot reviewer
Site Reliability Engineer at Granicus Inc.
Containerization has standardized deployments and drives faster, more reliable delivery
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 Windows containers are heavier and slower than Linux containers because I have worked in both environments and felt that Windows containers are heavier and slower than Linux containers. This also limits the ecosystem and tooling maturity compared to Linux containers. Improvements could include performance optimization and better parity with Linux container features. Apart from that, observability and debugging is another area. The pain point is the limited native metrics available and limited logging and tracing features. Improvements could include adding a good amount of metrics, logging, and tracing, as well as better built-in observability features and easier container introspection. Network complexity is also present. I face issues with Docker networking that can become confusing in complex setups, and debugging container-to-container issues is not always intuitive. Improvements can be made with simpler networking abstractions and better built-in troubleshooting tools. Docker is excellent for containerization and CI/CD, but it can be improved in areas of built-in security, network simplicity, and observability. These points should be kept in mind and worked on.
EB
Developer with 1-10 employees
A GUI solution that helps to administer a docker using a browser
The first time using Portainer involves a learning curve. It takes longer as you're unfamiliar with the processes and might be lazy to consult the manual. Initially, you may rely on intuition within the GUI. However, after repeating the same tasks three or four times, the process becomes much quicker.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Docker is very reliable. It's easy to scale, and it's very stable."
"The solution is stable."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the Dockerfile, which makes the life of developers easy. Developers get a real understanding of container creation."
"It is neat and very flexible."
"When used in conjunction with Kubernetes, it is seamless because it integrates very well."
"The ability to use an image with the software built into it, rather than just the software, is beneficial."
"Docker has had a major positive impact by standardizing how applications are built, shipped, and deployed, which improved speed, reliability, and collaboration across my teams."
"It is a quite mature technology."
"Portainer comes with the ability to take the information of docker definition. Using it, I can visually observe how the container has been created. It allows me to create networks. I can also visually generate volumes and working stacks."
 

Cons

"However, I have deducted 1.5 points because there are still some gaps around security, observability, and networking simplicity that can be addressed."
"Deployment could be quicker."
"We would like to see improvement in adding the node into the Docker Swarm cluster, as at present it is a little tricky and requires a lot of manual steps."
"The product does not have an extensive documentation. The tool does not have good scenarios. We have to go through the GitHub repository and investigate similar scenarios. Also, if you are copying multiple things, then you can jeopardize the copy number. The copying aspect also lacks a UI part. We also need to limit the memory."
"Marketing of Docker is one area that needs to improve."
"One of the challenges I face with Docker is debugging containers within the infrastructure. It can be tricky to debug applications inside containers, which is a common issue among developers. If easier tools or methods were available to debug applications within Docker containers, it would be very beneficial."
"I think Docker can improve as it relates to overall stability."
"I would like to see a more UI-based tool so that students can easily understand it rather than memorizing all of the Docker commands."
"Portainer needs to be more intuitive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution offers an open-source version that is free and includes a lot of functionality."
"Docker is a free open-source solution."
"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs."
"The product is not expensive."
"Pricing is based on the number of users."
"We are using the open-source version of the solution."
"Regarding pricing, we primarily use AWS for our deployments since we have funding for it. We don't spend much on Docker-specific services, just the containerization product. Docker Hub isn't particularly expensive either, so overall, the pricing is pretty reasonable."
"The offering and service are quite free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
8%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise35
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Docker?
We are using Docker to host applications.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Docker?
Regarding the cost, Mirantis Container Cloud is cheaper than other solutions like Red Hat. The license costs around 10,000 Indian rupees per year.
What needs improvement with Docker?
Mirantis Container Cloud should have AI integration tools, which are not available right now. These tools should assist in app scalability and deployment error handling.
What do you like most about Portainer?
Portainer comes with the ability to take the information of docker definition. Using it, I can visually observe how the container has been created. It allows me to create networks. I can also visua...
What needs improvement with Portainer?
Portainer needs to be more intuitive.
What is your primary use case for Portainer?
The tool is a GUI that helps to administer a docker using a browser.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kubernetes and others in Container Management. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.