Enroot vs Shifter
Enroot
github.comShifter
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Enroot | Shifter |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Container Engines | 7.7 (#11) | 7.0 (#27) |
| License | The project is released under the Apache License 2.0. | The repository license permits redistribution and use in source and binary forms subject to stated conditions and disclaimers. |
| Purpose | Enroot turns traditional container and OS images into unprivileged sandboxes. | Shifter enables HPC systems to run end-user container images, including Docker images. |
Plans
In their own words
Enroot
Enroot is a free, open-source Linux command-line utility that turns traditional container and operating-system images into unprivileged sandboxes. It is aimed at high-performance or virtualized environments where portability and reproducibility matter and additional isolation is not required. Enroot runs without a daemon and supports unprivileged multi-user use without a setuid binary. Linux user and mount namespaces preserve filesystem separation, while the project provides little to no isolation. The command line covers batch, bundle, create, exec, export, import, list, remove, and start operations. It imports known formats including Docker, with the README reporting a 3x to 5x speedup for large Docker-image imports. Built-in GPU support uses libnvidia-container, and hooks can add NVIDIA support or Mellanox host MOFED. Runtime settings come from enroot.conf or higher-priority environment variables. Standard and hardened package flavors are available.