Best Container Engines in 2026
Updated
31 container engines ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
31ranked
0free plans on this page
5 Oct 2026last checked
Container Engines, one module each. A lit port is something its maker publishes; 0 of the 6 on this page have a public API.
- 26 Mirantis Container Runtime API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.1
- 27 PouchContainer API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.1
- 28 runhcs API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.1
- 29 OpenVZ API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.0
- 30 Shifter API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.0
- 31 systemd-nspawn API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.0
Compare all 6 in a table
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | Free plan | Paid from | Rootless mode | Image building |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Mirantis Container Runtime | 5.1 | No | No | — | Yes | Yes |
| 27 | PouchContainer | 5.1 | No | Yes | — | — | Yes |
| 28 | runhcs | 5.1 | No | Yes | — | — | — |
| 29 | OpenVZ | 5.0 | No | Yes | — | — | — |
| 30 | Shifter | 5.0 | No | — | — | — | No |
| 31 | systemd-nspawn | 5.0 | No | Yes | — | Yes | — |
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