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Shepherd vs Watchtower: catalog facts
Shepherd	Watchtower
Free Free to run from its public GitHub repository.	Free Free and open source.
Linux, Self-hosted	Linux, Self-hosted
Automatic service updates when images change Deploys as a single Swarm service	Keeps running containers updated without manual pulls Actively maintained continuation of the original Watchtower
Works only with Docker Swarm, not standalone containers Must run on a manager node with access to the Docker socket	Automatic updates can introduce breaking changes without warning Not designed for controlled rollouts in larger production environments
Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: Apache-2.0
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026

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