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AWS App Runner vs Docker comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

AWS App Runner
Ranking in Development Platforms
6th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Docker
Ranking in Development Platforms
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Container Management (5th), Software Supply Chain Security (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Development Platforms category, the mindshare of AWS App Runner is 1.4%. The mindshare of Docker is 42.2%, up from 42.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Development Platforms Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Docker42.2%
AWS App Runner1.4%
Other56.4%
Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2677686 - PeerSpot reviewer
Automated processes have led to significant cost savings and efficiency improvements
There are too many technical details for a single developer to know, making it overwhelming. It would benefit from a roadmap wizard or templates to guide developers. AWS App Runner should have a wizard and templates to simplify creating a REST service. Developers need clearer guidance to avoid spending excessive time understanding the system.
Sunny Nair - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers application conversion to Docker image and a mature environment
The learning curve with Docker is huge and extensive. Adopting Docker is a bit difficult because it requires a lot of expertise and background, including an understanding of networking and security concepts. Many professionals are facing issues with the different architectures that interact with each other in Docker. Whenever in our company, we are working with the production environment, professionals are hesitant to adopt Docker due to the extensive learning curve, and most of the team members in our company are more accustomed to an environment like VMware instead of Docker. Docker runs on scripts, so if AI can automate most of the scripting process in Docker, it would be a great advantage in the future version of Docker. As of now, we can create scripts utilizing most of the functions within Docker, but that initial planning phase wherein to understand exactly how you will plan for the resources, how you will convert applications into a Docker-based image, and similar tasks needs to be simplified so that more professionals can adopt Docker.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Our company realized tremendous cost savings by eliminating the need for a separate DevOps team."
"I like that the solution is easy to start with."
"The most valuable feature of Docker is its portability, ease of security management, and low resource usage."
"In our line of work, we've been involved in various sectors, such as industrial products, transportation, client engineering, telecom, and medical. For instance, we're currently developing an IT platform. One key use case we're tackling is device management."
"I think the best feature is to replicate anything in our local machine using a simple command."
"We find the auto scaling and auto healing functionality of this solution very good."
"We are able to stop our containers or stop the service with a single command."
"The solution's customer service is good."
"The solution helps save costs."
"It is neat and very flexible."
 

Cons

"There are too many technical details for a single developer to know, making it overwhelming."
"When you try to deploy some code that you've written and tested on other platforms, you should also tell the system what your configuration would be."
"The learning curve with Docker is huge and extensive"
"Sometimes, it can become heavy and cause performance issues."
"Enhancing artificial intelligence capabilities and cluster management should be a priority. It should facilitate some security management."
"Unfortunately, base images are not currently available."
"As for improving Docker, I would like to see enhancements in its user interface and documentation to make it even more user-friendly and accessible. I believe Docker will expand its scope and reduce limitations to support more applications, both online and offline. For instance, in scenarios like deployments on ships or during upgrades, Docker can continue to offer software services and container-based intelligence."
"The command line interface could be more intuitive. I constantly struggle with it."
"I want to see if new architectures have been incorporated in Docker or if we have to wait for another release."
"The vendor should release a monitoring tool or include monitoring capabilities in Docker"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You pay as much as your infrastructure and provision are running."
"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."
"For commercial use, it's about $30 per month. The license itself isn't expensive, but if there are many users, the price becomes high."
"The solution is an open-source technology and not a commercial product. However, you will have to pay sometimes. The tool's pricing depends on the vendor."
"I use the solution's open-source version."
"Docker is a free open-source solution."
"The product is not expensive."
"Pricing is based on the number of users."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise34
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS App Runner?
To get AWS App Runner up and running, significant resources and expertise are necessary. One individual must have sufficient knowledge, which can be costly for startups but feasible for larger comp...
What needs improvement with AWS App Runner?
There are too many technical details for a single developer to know, making it overwhelming. It would benefit from a roadmap wizard or templates to guide developers. AWS App Runner should have a wi...
What is your primary use case for AWS App Runner?
I use AWS App Runner as a development platform. I create a service locally with Docker containers, and then I'm able to start it up to test. If I need to make a backup, I just put it on a different...
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.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about AWS App Runner vs. Docker and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.