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Docker vs Portainer 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

Docker
Ranking in Container Management
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (1st), Software Supply Chain Security (6th)
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 July 2025, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Docker is 2.6%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Portainer is 5.7%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Management
 

Featured Reviews

GurpreetSingh4 - PeerSpot reviewer
It's beneficial in bridging the gap between monolithic and serverless platforms, making it easier to scale and manage applications
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.
EB
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

"The solution's most valuable feature is having containers independent of the operating system or environment."
"The solution helps save costs."
"Containerization is the most valuable feature. I can communicate to the Docker containers using other containers."
"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."
"The solution is easy to install."
"I think that with Docker, it is easy to deploy it on different platforms."
"The solution offers speed and flexibility."
"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

"The learning curve with Docker is huge and extensive"
"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."
"Stability is an area with a shortcoming."
"Owing to a few shortcomings in its stability, I would say that its stability can be improved."
"One item that could be improved is the overall stability of Docker."
"Deployment could be quicker."
"The security layer is very vulnerable, although they are working to improve the system hardening and email hardening."
"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 current cost for us is nothing as an open source."
"Pricing is based on the number of users."
"Docker is open source. To use a Docker enterprise model, we would need to pay for it."
"Docker is a free tool."
"Its convenience edition is free of cost."
"The product is not expensive."
"It's free."
"Docker is a free-to-use solution. However, Docker Enterprise is not free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
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), VMware and others in Container Management. Updated: July 2025.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.