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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
7.4
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Container Management (5th), Software Supply Chain Security (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Development Platforms category, the mindshare of AWS App Runner is 0.9%. The mindshare of Docker is 42.7%, up from 38.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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.
Rikin Parekh - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful to create sandbox environments to run applications and makes it easy to test them
Overall, setting up the Docker environment is quite easy. Many methods exist, such as using Docker Compose and Docker networks to communicate between containers. The main challenge lies in designing the architecture and integrating different frameworks and microservices. I would rate the ease of setting up the tool at around nine out of ten. The time it takes to deploy depends on the scale of the system. For the early-stage startup I'm currently working with, it doesn't take much time. It's just me handling the deployment. In our early-stage startup, we have a couple of teams with around four to five backend APIs and two front-end services. Deploying these doesn't take much time. My focus is more on minimizing costs due to our lean startup structure.

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 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 a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Docker is easy to understand and follow. It provides good scalability to the application."
"I have seen end-to-end performance with Docker. It's a great tool, and it's the most popular container service in the market."
"The stability is excellent."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its sandbox environment. It makes it very easy to run and test applications without needing configurations, which is the core advantage of containerization. Kubernetes and Helm are helpful as they provide high-level metrics, making tracking the status of all the containers and applications running easier."
"It is a quite mature technology."
"The solution's most valuable feature is having containers independent of the operating system or environment."
 

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."
"Docker management is very difficult when we have a large number of nodes."
"Docker could improve by providing the ability to use the GPU for parallel processing. If there was the capability of using the GPU it would improve the machine learning that I want to use."
"Sometimes, it can become heavy and cause performance issues."
"There is always room for improvement. I often refer to forums such as StackOverflow to learn from other developers' experiences and the challenges they have faced while using Docker."
"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."
"Sometimes, we have sync-up issues where the build doesn't get processed due to these sync issues, causing the build to fail. That's one of the drawbacks I see. When we did a huge sync-up, we faced a couple of issues. It takes some time for us to complete the sync-up. For frequent, smaller updates, we haven't had any issues. However, challenges can arise for those who prefer doing everything in one go. This might not necessarily be due to the tool itself but because of the approach of doing everything in a single batch."
"We have found that it is not easy to install it into a Windows system."
"Docker could improve by having security vulnerability reports."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You pay as much as your infrastructure and provision are running."
"The solution offers an open-source version that is free and includes a lot of functionality."
"The product is not expensive."
"Docker is a free open-source solution. However, there is the Docker Enterprise which is a paid solution."
"Docker is a free open-source solution."
"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."
"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs."
"Docker is a free-to-use solution. However, Docker Enterprise is not free."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
9%
Insurance Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 needs improvement with Docker?
In terms of communication between services, perhaps the configuration within networks between containers could be improved.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about AWS App Runner vs. Docker and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.