Apptainer vs runc
Apptainer
apptainer.orgrunc
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Apptainer | runc |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Container Engines | 8.9 (#1) | 6.6 (#29) |
| Spec score · Container Runtime Software | 8.9 (#1) | 6.6 (#26) |
| Container format | Apptainer produces immutable single-file Singularity Image Format (SIF) images. | A container must be provided as an OCI bundle, and runc can generate a base configuration with its spec command. |
| Purpose | Apptainer creates and runs containers that package software for portability and reproducibility. | runc is a command-line tool for spawning and running containers on Linux according to the OCI specification. |
| Security reporting | The Technical Steering Committee manages project security, and the policy directs vulnerability reports through private contact with the project. | The OCI security policy directs vulnerability reports to [email protected] rather than GitHub issues or pull requests. |
Plans
In their own words
Apptainer
Apptainer is a free container platform for creating and running portable, reproducible workloads, with a focus on shared systems and high-performance computing. It packages containers as immutable, single-file Singularity Image Format (SIF) images designed for transport and sharing. By default, users retain the same privileges inside and outside containers. Images can be signed and verified with PGP keys, PEM keys or X.509 certificates, and encrypted containers can run without writing decrypted contents to disk. Apptainer imports containers from OCI registries and aims to support most Docker Hub containers without changes. It can expose host resources such as GPUs, high-speed networks and parallel filesystems, and supports NVIDIA CUDA, AMD ROCm, Intel Gaudi and OCI Container Device Interface accelerators. Running Apptainer requires Linux; Windows and macOS need a Linux virtual machine, with Windows also listed via WSL2. Root access is unnecessary when user namespaces are available. Full functionality requires kernel support for FUSE and unprivileged user namespaces. Community support includes Slack, Google Groups and GitHub, with commercial services through CIQ.