Amazon ECR vs Harbor: What are the differences?

Introduction

Below are the key differences between Amazon ECR and Harbor:

1. Scalability: Amazon ECR is a fully managed container registry service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), while Harbor is an open-source container registry that can be self-hosted. This means that Amazon ECR is designed for maximum scalability and can handle large-scale container deployments, while Harbor may have limitations based on the resources available in the self-hosted environment.

2. Integration with AWS Services: Amazon ECR seamlessly integrates with other AWS services such as Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), and AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). This allows for easy management and deployment of containerized applications within the AWS ecosystem. On the other hand, Harbor can be integrated with various container orchestration platforms and cloud providers, but the level of integration may vary depending on the specific environment.

3. Container Image Signing and Security: Amazon ECR provides built-in support for container image signing using AWS Key Management Service (KMS), enhancing the security and integrity of container images. It also supports scanning for vulnerabilities in container images using external tools. Harbor, being an open-source project, also offers features for image signing and vulnerability scanning but relies on external tools for implementation. The level of security and availability of these features may differ between the two solutions.

4. Access Control and Permissions Management: Amazon ECR integrates with IAM, providing robust access control and permissions management capabilities. This allows fine-grained control over who can push, pull, and manage the container images stored in the registry. In the case of Harbor, access control and permissions management are handled through role-based access control (RBAC), which is configurable but requires additional setup and may have limitations compared to the integrated IAM capabilities of Amazon ECR.

5. Availability and Reliability: Amazon ECR is a managed service provided by AWS, which ensures high availability and reliability. It provides automatic scaling and replication across multiple availability zones, with built-in mechanisms for data redundancy and disaster recovery. In contrast, Harbor being a self-hosted solution, the availability and reliability depend on the infrastructure and setup of the environment where it is deployed. It may require additional configuration and measures to achieve similar levels of availability and redundancy.

6. Pricing Model: Amazon ECR pricing is based on usage, including storage and data transfer. It offers a free tier for the first 500MB of storage and provides cost-effective pricing for additional usage. On the other hand, Harbor being an open-source project, it is free to use without any direct costs. However, the deployment and maintenance of the self-hosted environment incur infrastructure and operational costs, which should be considered when comparing the overall cost of the solutions.

In summary, Amazon ECR is a fully managed and scalable container registry service tightly integrated with AWS, providing advanced security features, access control, and high availability. Harbor is an open-source container registry that can be self-hosted, offering flexibility, but requiring additional setup and configuration for features such as access control and scalability.