Docker vs Portainer

Overview

Docker

Stacks194.2K

Followers143.8K

Votes3.9K

Portainer

Stacks507

Followers842

Votes146

Docker vs Portainer: What are the differences?

Docker and Portainer are popular tools for containerization and container management. Docker is an open-source platform that allows developers to build and distribute applications as lightweight containers. Portainer, on the other hand, is a user-friendly management interface for Docker containers. Let's explore their key differences:

Core Functionality: Docker is an open-source platform that enables developers to create, deploy, and manage containers. It provides a complete containerization solution, including container runtime, image management, networking, and orchestration capabilities. Docker allows users to build and package applications along with their dependencies into lightweight and portable containers. Portainer, on the other hand, is a web-based management interface for Docker. It provides a graphical user interface (GUI) to simplify the management of Docker containers, images, networks, and volumes. Portainer focuses on enhancing the usability and accessibility of Docker's core functionalities.
User Interface and Management: Docker primarily relies on a command-line interface (CLI) for managing containers and interacting with the Docker daemon. It requires users to run commands and execute various Docker commands to perform actions such as container creation, deployment, and monitoring. Portainer, on the other hand, offers a user-friendly web-based interface that abstracts the complexity of Docker CLI commands. It provides an intuitive GUI with point-and-click operations, making it easier for users to manage Docker containers and perform tasks like container deployment, scaling, and monitoring without requiring extensive knowledge of Docker commands.
Additional Features and Extensions: Docker provides resources like Docker Compose for creating multi-container applications, Docker Swarm for managing containers, and Docker Registry for storing and sharing container images. Additionally, Kubernetes and other well-known orchestration software are easily integrated with Docker. Portainer makes Docker management simpler, it also offers other features like user management and access control, container templates, and container statistics. Users can manage numerous Docker hosts from a single Portainer instance thanks to its multi-node management functionality.
Deployment and Scalability: Docker is designed to be highly scalable and can be deployed across various environments, including on-premises servers, virtual machines, and cloud platforms. It provides flexibility in deploying containers as standalone entities or as part of larger microservices architectures. Docker supports horizontal scaling by allowing users to create and manage multiple instances of containers to handle increased workloads. Portainer, as a management interface for Docker, does not have inherent scalability features but can be deployed in a distributed manner to manage multiple Docker environments. Multiple instances of Portainer can be set up and connected to manage different Docker hosts.
Community and Support: Docker has a large and active community of developers and contributors, providing extensive documentation, forums, and resources for learning and troubleshooting. It benefits from a robust ecosystem with a wide range of third-party tools and integrations. Portainer also has a supportive community and provides user support through its forums and documentation. However, as Portainer is a tool built on top of Docker, it leverages Docker's community and resources for container-related functionalities.

In summary, Docker enables users to create, deploy, and manage containers, while Portainer is a user-friendly management interface that simplifies Docker container management through a web-based GUI. Docker offers extensive features for container deployment, orchestration, and scaling, while Portainer focuses on enhancing the user experience and providing a simplified interface for managing Docker containers.

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Advice on Docker, Portainer

Florian

IT DevOp at Agitos GmbH

Oct 22, 2019

Decided

lxd/lxc and Docker aren't congruent so this comparison needs a more detailed look; but in short I can say: the lxd-integrated administration of storage including zfs with its snapshot capabilities as well as the system container (multi-process) approach of lxc vs. the limited single-process container approach of Docker is the main reason I chose lxd over Docker.

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Detailed Comparison

Docker	Portainer
The Docker Platform is the industry-leading container platform for continuous, high-velocity innovation, enabling organizations to seamlessly build and share any application — from legacy to what comes next — and securely run them anywhere	It is a universal container management tool. It works with Kubernetes, Docker, Docker Swarm and Azure ACI. It allows you to manage containers without needing to know platform-specific code.
Integrated developer tools; open, portable images; shareable, reusable apps; framework-aware builds; standardized templates; multi-environment support; remote registry management; simple setup for Docker and Kubernetes; certified Kubernetes; application templates; enterprise controls; secure software supply chain; industry-leading container runtime; image scanning; access controls; image signing; caching and mirroring; image lifecycle; policy-based image promotion	Docker management; Docker UI; Docker cluster management; Swarm visualizer; Authentication; User Access Control; Docker container management; Docker service management; Docker overview; Docker console; Docker swarm status; Docker image management; Docker network management; Docker dashboard; Remote HTTP API; Automation
Statistics
Stacks 194.2K	Stacks 507
Followers 143.8K	Followers 842
Votes 3.9K	Votes 146
Pros & Cons
Pros 823 Rapid integration and build up 692 Isolation 521 Open source 505 Testability and reproducibility 460 Lightweight Cons 8 New versions == broken features 6 Documentation not always in sync 6 Unreliable networking 4 Moves quickly 3 Not Secure	Pros 36 Simple 27 Great UI 19 Friendly 12 Easy to setup, gives a practical interface for Docker 11 Because it just works, super simple yet powerful
Integrations
Java Docker Compose VirtualBox Linux Amazon EC2 Container Service Docker Swarm boot2docker Kubernetes Docker Machine Vagrant	Docker Swarm Docker Secrets Auth0 Kubernetes

What are some alternatives to Docker, Portainer?

Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers. It handles scheduling onto nodes in a compute cluster and actively manages workloads to ensure that their state matches the users declared intentions.

Rancher

Rancher is an open source container management platform that includes full distributions of Kubernetes, Apache Mesos and Docker Swarm, and makes it simple to operate container clusters on any cloud or infrastructure platform.

Docker Compose

With Compose, you define a multi-container application in a single file, then spin your application up in a single command which does everything that needs to be done to get it running.

Docker Swarm

Swarm serves the standard Docker API, so any tool which already communicates with a Docker daemon can use Swarm to transparently scale to multiple hosts: Dokku, Compose, Krane, Deis, DockerUI, Shipyard, Drone, Jenkins... and, of course, the Docker client itself.

Tutum

Tutum lets developers easily manage and run lightweight, portable, self-sufficient containers from any application. AWS-like control, Heroku-like ease. The same container that a developer builds and tests on a laptop can run at scale in Tutum.

LXD

LXD isn't a rewrite of LXC, in fact it's building on top of LXC to provide a new, better user experience. Under the hood, LXD uses LXC through liblxc and its Go binding to create and manage the containers. It's basically an alternative to LXC's tools and distribution template system with the added features that come from being controllable over the network.

Codefresh

Automate and parallelize testing. Codefresh allows teams to spin up on-demand compositions to run unit and integration tests as part of the continuous integration process. Jenkins integration allows more complex pipelines.

LXC

LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment features. Through a powerful API and simple tools, it lets Linux users easily create and manage system or application containers.

CAST.AI

It is an AI-driven cloud optimization platform for Kubernetes. Instantly cut your cloud bill, prevent downtime, and 10X the power of DevOps.

k3s

Certified Kubernetes distribution designed for production workloads in unattended, resource-constrained, remote locations or inside IoT appliances. Supports something as small as a Raspberry Pi or as large as an AWS a1.4xlarge 32GiB server.

Related Comparisons

Core Functionality: Docker is an open-source platform that enables developers to create, deploy, and manage containers. It provides a complete containerization solution, including container runtime, image management, networking, and orchestration capabilities. Docker allows users to build and package applications along with their dependencies into lightweight and portable containers. Portainer, on the other hand, is a web-based management interface for Docker. It provides a graphical user interface (GUI) to simplify the management of Docker containers, images, networks, and volumes. Portainer focuses on enhancing the usability and accessibility of Docker's core functionalities.
User Interface and Management: Docker primarily relies on a command-line interface (CLI) for managing containers and interacting with the Docker daemon. It requires users to run commands and execute various Docker commands to perform actions such as container creation, deployment, and monitoring. Portainer, on the other hand, offers a user-friendly web-based interface that abstracts the complexity of Docker CLI commands. It provides an intuitive GUI with point-and-click operations, making it easier for users to manage Docker containers and perform tasks like container deployment, scaling, and monitoring without requiring extensive knowledge of Docker commands.
Additional Features and Extensions: Docker provides resources like Docker Compose for creating multi-container applications, Docker Swarm for managing containers, and Docker Registry for storing and sharing container images. Additionally, Kubernetes and other well-known orchestration software are easily integrated with Docker. Portainer makes Docker management simpler, it also offers other features like user management and access control, container templates, and container statistics. Users can manage numerous Docker hosts from a single Portainer instance thanks to its multi-node management functionality.
Deployment and Scalability: Docker is designed to be highly scalable and can be deployed across various environments, including on-premises servers, virtual machines, and cloud platforms. It provides flexibility in deploying containers as standalone entities or as part of larger microservices architectures. Docker supports horizontal scaling by allowing users to create and manage multiple instances of containers to handle increased workloads. Portainer, as a management interface for Docker, does not have inherent scalability features but can be deployed in a distributed manner to manage multiple Docker environments. Multiple instances of Portainer can be set up and connected to manage different Docker hosts.
Community and Support: Docker has a large and active community of developers and contributors, providing extensive documentation, forums, and resources for learning and troubleshooting. It benefits from a robust ecosystem with a wide range of third-party tools and integrations. Portainer also has a supportive community and provides user support through its forums and documentation. However, as Portainer is a tool built on top of Docker, it leverages Docker's community and resources for container-related functionalities.

Docker vs Portainer