Apple container vs Shifter
| Apple container | Shifter | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Paid from | Free | — |
| Open source | No | No |
| Platforms | macOS, self-hosted | Linux |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Image building | Yes | No |
| Windows containers | No | — |
| Image format | oci | docker |
| Supported host OS | macOS 26 | Linux, including SUSE Linux, RHEL/CentOS/Scientific Linux, and Debian/Ubuntu |
| Runtime interface | — | other |
Both are listed in Best Container Engines. On Specifiction, Apple container scores higher on our published basis.