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Docker Desktop vs Podman: catalog facts
Docker Desktop	Podman
Freemium Free for personal use, education, open source projects and small businesses. Larger…	Free The open-source software is available without a license fee. Hosting, hardware and…
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Everything in one installer: engine, Compose, Kubernetes and a dashboard The reference implementation, so every tutorial assumes it	Rootless containers with no background daemon to run as root Command line is a near drop-in replacement for Docker
Paid subscription required above a company size threshold Closed source, unlike the Docker engine itself	Rootless networking and volume permissions behave differently from Docker and can surprise you Podman Desktop is a separate download from the engine
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: Apache-2.0
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.