Podman vs Shifter
Podman
podman.ioShifter
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Podman | Shifter |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Container Engines | 7.7 (#12) | 7.0 (#27) |
| License | The Podman homepage identifies the project as Apache License 2.0. | The repository license permits redistribution and use in source and binary forms subject to stated conditions and disclaimers. |
| Purpose | Podman manages containers, pods, and images and supports finding, running, building, and sharing containers. | Shifter enables HPC systems to run end-user container images, including Docker images. |
| Support | The project points users to its troubleshooting guide, documentation, issue tracker, Matrix, Discord, IRC, mailing list, and community meetings. | The project README directs users to its Google Groups email list for updates and community support. |
Plans
In their own words
Podman
Podman manages containers, pods, and images, with workflows for finding, running, building, and sharing container workloads. It is a free, daemonless container engine with a command line comparable to Docker’s CLI; most commands can run as a regular user without additional privileges. Podman Desktop adds a graphical application for installing and working with Podman and other container engines on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It can build images from Dockerfiles or Containerfiles, pull images from remote repositories, and manage accounts for pushing images to registries. Podman can run Kubernetes YAML locally, generate YAML from pods, and deploy to existing Kubernetes environments. It can find and pull containers from Docker Hub, Quay.io, internal registries, or vendors. On macOS and Windows it listens for Docker API clients. The project lists integrations including Visual Studio Code, Cirrus CLI, GitHub Actions, and kind. Podman is licensed under Apache License 2.0. Its security foundations include rootless and daemonless containers, SELinux support, network policy enforcement, and immutable containers.