No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

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

"Docker allows you to run multiple virtual machines independently."
"The current version is quite good with our application."
"Previously we had to set everything up for small deployments in the environment, but with Docker, we can directly run the application in a container and pull any images."
"The solution's customer service is good."
"The most valuable feature is that it gives you the same environment as on a developer machine as well as a production machine relevant to specifications, with binaries and dependencies all bundled together in a similar fashion in both places."
"Kubernetes is the primary container orchestration tool I use with this solution. Docker provides a complete solution for deploying and managing workloads across multiple nodes. Container orchestration has significantly impacted my workload by automating tasks and streamlining operations. The availability of systems like Kubernetes is crucial for planning and managing complete clusters and computing environments. Every client's needs are different, and not one solution fits all."
"It is neat and very flexible."
"The tool helps us in code versioning. I think it's pretty much easy to use and very straightforward. Even if someone is new to the tool, they can easily start using it with a little guidance or theoretical knowledge. Go through the tool and start using it without much struggle."
"The product integrates well with our infrastructure."
"We can add some add-ons and plugins to the product if we need to."
"My experience with Nutanix's technical support is excellent."
"The solution is embedded in the hypervisor and there are no deployment costs."
"The most valuable features of the Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) are its simplicity and efficiency during the initial cluster creation phase."
"We can do a lot of provisioning."
"I would recommend using this product, it's very good."
"Nutanix is very stable and reliable, based on my experience with many customers, including large banks and telcos."
 

Cons

"Docker could improve by having security vulnerability reports."
"There are elements of stability that are problematic."
"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."
"The documentation could be improved."
"I would like to see a single package image orchestration bundled together."
"Unfortunately, base images are not currently available."
"I think Docker can improve as it relates to overall stability."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"There have been cases where we've deployed with Karbon and haven't seen that it includes errors."
"Nutanix has limitations compared to VMware, particularly in testing and industry tie-ups with different OEMs. Deploying virtual machines, especially for industrial automation, can be challenging due to compatibility issues."
"In the next release, I would like to have automatic dynamic scaling, both upscaling and downscaling."
"GUI lacks sufficient information to help with understanding the installation and process."
"I would like to have more nodes for availability and storage."
"NKE could benefit from additional features that support more advanced Kubernetes functionalities and configurations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Docker is a free open-source solution."
"Docker has made some changes and there is an enterprise version that is affordable."
"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."
"I would rate the pricing of Docker as ten out of ten"
"Since Docker is an open-source solution, it is free of cost."
"The pricing of the solution is fairly cheap."
"Pricing is based on the number of users."
"Docker is a free tool."
"The product's licenses are included in the software version deployed in our data center."
"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."
"The platform is averagely priced. I rate the pricing as four out of ten."
"While deploying Kubernetes clusters on Nutanix is cost-effective, there may be additional costs for remote branch offices where Kubernetes is less common."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Container Management solutions are best for your needs.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

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 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...
What advice do you have for others considering Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?
I don't have a technical role, but we are a system integrator, so we sell solutions such as OpenShift and Kubernetes as part of the sales team. We are a reseller called eSky IT, and I serve as the ...
 

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: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.