Open source alternative to Docker Desktop and OrbStack
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Run Linux containers as lightweight VMs on Apple silicon Macs, using OCI-compatible images and a Swift-native CLI optimized for macOS 26.
Container lets you pull and run standard OCI images directly on Apple silicon without a commercial client. Use it to spin up a development database, run a test container, or mirror a production Linux environment on your Mac.
Your team includes developers on Intel Macs, Windows, or Linux. Container requires Apple silicon and macOS 26; teams with mixed hardware need a cross-platform container tool.
Docker Desktop added paid subscription requirements for commercial use in organizations above a certain size. Container provides an Apache-2.0-licensed path to the same OCI container workflow on macOS, without per-seat fees or subscription overhead.
Your organization is on a Docker Desktop plan that fits your budget, or you depend on Docker Desktop-specific features like the Extensions marketplace or its built-in Kubernetes integration.
Container builds OCI-compliant images that push to any standard registry. Build on Apple silicon and push to DockerHub or GHCR for deployment anywhere OCI images run, including Kubernetes clusters and cloud container services.
Your image builds already run in CI on Linux. Container is a local Mac tool; for automated build pipelines, a Linux runner is more portable and not hardware-restricted.
Running Linux containers on a Mac for development has historically required commercial clients that carry licensing restrictions and subscription fees. Docker Desktop requires a paid subscription for commercial use in organizations above a certain size; OrbStack is a commercial product. Developers and teams who want an open source, vendor-neutral path to Linux container workflows on their Mac have had to weigh these commercial options or piece together alternatives.
Apple silicon Macs benefit from container tooling built natively for their architecture, using macOS 26's Virtualization framework. Container runtimes from the x86 era require translation layers that add overhead on Apple silicon. Developers on Apple silicon who want native performance and full OCI compatibility have had few open source options.
Pulls from and pushes to any standard OCI container registry, including Docker Hub and GitHub Container Registry. Images built with Container conform to the OCI image spec, so they run in any other OCI-compatible application. No proprietary image format or vendor lock-in.
Each container runs inside its own lightweight virtual machine using macOS 26's Virtualization framework. This gives stronger process isolation than namespace-based containers and runs a full Linux kernel, making it suitable for containers that expect a complete Linux environment.
Written entirely in Swift and built for Apple silicon, the tool avoids x86 translation overhead. It uses the Containerization Swift package for low-level container, image, and process management, and is maintained by Apple's own engineering team.
Container runs as a macOS system service managed via `container system start` and `container system stop`. The XPC-based container-apiserver preserves forward and backward API compatibility within a major version, keeping scripts stable across updates.
The installer includes `update-container.sh` for upgrading to the latest release and `uninstall-container.sh` for removal. Downgrade to a specific version by stopping the service, uninstalling with the `-k` flag to keep user data, then running `update-container.sh -v 0.3.0`.
Both Container and Docker Desktop run OCI-compatible Linux containers on a Mac. The key difference is licensing: Container is Apache-2.0 with no subscription requirements; Docker Desktop moved to a paid subscription model for commercial use in organizations over a certain employee count.
| Feature | Container | Docker Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| License | Apache-2.0 | Commercial (paid subscription for orgs above a size threshold) |
| Self-hosting | Local install (pkg) | Local install |
| Apple silicon | Native (required) | Supported |
| macOS requirement | macOS 26 only | Older macOS supported |
| OCI compatibility | Yes | Yes |
| Kubernetes integration | Experimental | Yes (built-in) |
| Pricing | Free | Free personal; paid commercial |
Container is the better choice for teams that want an Apache-licensed container workflow on Apple silicon without subscription overhead. Docker Desktop is the better fit when you need its built-in Kubernetes integration, the Docker Extensions marketplace, or support for Intel Macs and older macOS versions.
OrbStack and Container both run Linux containers on Apple silicon Macs. OrbStack is a commercial product; Container is open source under Apache-2.0.
| Feature | Container | OrbStack |
|---|---|---|
| License | Apache-2.0 | Commercial |
| Price | Free | Paid subscription |
| OCI compatibility | Yes | Yes |
| macOS requirement | macOS 26 only | Older macOS supported |
| Linux VM support | Yes (per container) | Yes |
| Management interface | CLI only | GUI available |
Container is the right choice for developers who want a vendor-neutral, Apache-licensed tool and are comfortable with a CLI-only workflow on Apple silicon. OrbStack is worth considering when you want a graphical interface for managing containers and VMs, need to run on older macOS versions, or want a more polished out-of-box experience.
Download the signed installer pkg from the GitHub releases page for macOS 26 and Apple silicon. To build from source instead, clone the repo and follow BUILDING.md.
```bash
git clone https://github.com/apple/container
```
After installation, start the system service and run a first container:
```bash
container system start
container run --rm alpine echo hello
```No. Container is Apache-2.0 licensed and free for all use, including commercial. There is no subscription, no per-seat pricing, and no feature tier. Download the installer from the GitHub releases page and run it at no cost.
Container requires an Apple silicon Mac (M1 or later) running macOS 26. It takes advantage of new virtualization and networking features in macOS 26 and will not run on older macOS versions or Intel Macs. The maintainers do not support older configurations.
Yes. Container consumes OCI-compatible images from any standard registry, including Docker Hub. Pull and run an image with container run <image> just as you would with Docker. Images you build can be pushed back to Docker Hub or any OCI-compatible registry.
Both run Linux containers on a Mac using OCI images. Container is Apache-2.0 licensed with no subscription requirements; Docker Desktop requires a paid commercial subscription for organizations above a certain size. Container requires macOS 26 and Apple silicon; Docker Desktop supports Intel Macs and older macOS versions.
No. The k8s subcommand is explicitly marked experimental and does not guarantee backward compatibility between releases. For production Kubernetes workflows, check the current documentation before relying on it and expect that it may change.
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