Stacks8.3K

Followers6.3K

+ 1

Votes465

Portainer

Stacks219

Followers377

+ 1

Votes117

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Docker Compose vs Portainer: What are the differences?

What is Docker Compose? Define and run multi-container applications with Docker. 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.

What is Portainer? Simple management UI for Docker. Portainer is an open-source lightweight management UI which allows you to easily manage your Docker environments Portainer is available on Windows, Linux and Mac. It has never been so easy to manage Docker !.

Docker Compose and Portainer can be categorized as "Container" tools.

"Multi-container descriptor" is the top reason why over 111 developers like Docker Compose, while over 29 developers mention "Simple" as the leading cause for choosing Portainer.

Docker Compose is an open source tool with 16.6K GitHub stars and 2.56K GitHub forks. Here's a link to Docker Compose's open source repository on GitHub.

According to the StackShare community, Docker Compose has a broader approval, being mentioned in 795 company stacks & 625 developers stacks; compared to Portainer, which is listed in 23 company stacks and 18 developer stacks.

Pros of Docker Compose

Pros of Portainer

116
Multi-container descriptor
105
Fast development environment setup
75
Easy linking of containers
65
Simple yaml configuration
58
Easy setup
14
Yml or yaml format
10
Use Standard Docker API
7
Open source
4
Can choose Discovery Backend
4
Go from template to application in minutes
2
Kubernetes integration
2
Easy configuration
2
Scalable
1
Quick and easy

31
Simple
23
Great UI
15
Friendly
11
Easy to setup, gives a practical interface for Docker
10
Fully featured
7
Because it just works, super simple yet powerful
7
A must for Docker DevOps
5
Free and opensource
3
It's simple, fast and the support is great
3
API
2
Template Support

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Cons of Docker Compose

Cons of Portainer

5
Tied to single machine
4
Still very volatile, changing syntax often

Be the first to leave a con

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- No public GitHub repository available -

What is 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.

What is Portainer?

Portainer is an open-source lightweight management UI which allows you to easily manage your Docker environments. Portainer is available on Windows, Linux and Mac. It has never been so easy to manage Docker !

What companies use Docker Compose?

What companies use Portainer?

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What tools integrate with Docker Compose?

What tools integrate with Portainer?

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What are some alternatives to Docker Compose and 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.

Docker

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

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.

Helm

Helm is the best way to find, share, and use software built for Kubernetes.

Ansible

Ansible is an IT automation tool. It can configure systems, deploy software, and orchestrate more advanced IT tasks such as continuous deployments or zero downtime rolling updates. Ansible’s goals are foremost those of simplicity and maximum ease of use.

See all alternatives

Interest over time

How much does Docker Compose cost?

How much does Portainer cost?

Pricing unavailable

News about Docker Compose

Get involved with the Moby Project by attending upcoming Moby Summits!

(blog.docker.com)

May 25, 2017

Spring Boot Development with Docker

(blog.docker.com)

May 24, 2017