Incus vs OrbStack
Incus
linuxcontainers.org
OrbStack
orbstack.devSide by side
| Figure | Incus | OrbStack |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $8/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Container Runtime Software | 8.7 (#2) | 8.5 (#5) |
| Installation | Incus upstream does not directly provide packages; packages are available through Linux distributions or third-party repositories, and it can also be installed from source. | The documented installation path is downloading and opening the app or installing it with brew install --cask orbstack. |
| Security | The project highlights unprivileged containers, resource restrictions, and authentication as security measures. | For its paid subscription service, Orbital Labs describes access controls, multi-factor authentication, firewalls, monitoring, and encryption safeguards. |
| Support | Community support is available through the Linux Containers forum, and Zabbly provides commercial support for users of its Debian or Ubuntu packages. | Official support is offered through email, discussions, an issue tracker and a Discord community. |
| What it does | Incus is a system container, application container, and virtual machine manager. | OrbStack runs Docker containers and Linux machines in a macOS application positioned as an alternative to Docker Desktop and WSL. |
Plans
In their own words
Incus
Incus is free software for managing system containers, application containers, and virtual machines. Instances can share storage and networking, and administrators can manage them through a command-line tool, REST API, or third-party integrations. The software supports snapshots, backup and recovery, migration, configurable storage pools and networks, and resource controls. The project describes its API as suitable for use from a laptop through clusters of thousands of compute nodes. Documented integrations include Terraform, OpenTofu, Ansible, Packer, Distrobuilder, GARM, Kubernetes Cluster API, and Incant. The daemon runs on Linux; client applications are available for Windows and macOS, with FreeBSD client packages also listed. Upstream does not directly provide packages, so installation is through Linux distributions, third-party repositories, or source. Incus is developed under the Apache 2 license. Containers are unprivileged by default, but access to the Unix socket grants full control, so it should be limited to trusted users. The 6.0 LTS release is supported until June 2029; feature releases are normally supported until the next release.
OrbStack
OrbStack is a macOS app for running Docker containers and Linux machines. It can also run a lightweight, single-node Kubernetes cluster for local development, with a GUI and network integration. The maker says it starts in two seconds and uses optimized networking, file systems, and x86 emulation. Docker CLI, Compose, Earthly, and VS Code Dev Containers work with OrbStack. Linux machines integrate with macOS networking and file sharing, and support SSH agent forwarding and remote VS Code. OrbStack requires macOS 14.0 or later. Personal, non-commercial use is free; freelance, business, and commercial users need a license for each user, with up to five devices covered per user. Pro costs $8/user/mo, billed as $96 annually, and adds Debug Shell and priority support. Enterprise lists SAML SSO and invoice and PO payments, with no price listed. A trial is available without a card, and the FAQ gives users a 30-day grace period to purchase a license. Linux graphical apps and GPU are listed as unsupported.