Docker Engine (Moby) vs Podman

Docker Engine (Moby) vs Podman
Fact	Docker Engine (Moby)	Podman
Language	Go	Go
Licence	Apache-2.0	Apache-2.0
Stars	72k	33k
Latest	docker-v29.8.2	v6.1.3
Last push	2026-10-06	2026-10-06
Release cadence	about 1 day between releases	about 7 days between releases
Active contributors	18+ commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days	90+ commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days
Flags	none	none

How they relate

Podman replaces Docker Engine (Moby). Alternatives to Docker Engine (Moby) →
Drop-inDocker-compatible CLI, daemonless and rootless by default.

docker-v29.9.0-rc.12026-10-01v29.9.0-rc.1pre-release
client/v0.6.12026-10-01client: add WithHTTPRequestHook option. moby/moby#53671
api/v1.56.12026-10-01api/scripts: Allow isolated model generation with an API directory. moby/moby#53629
docker-v29.8.22026-09-30v29.8.2
v25.0.182026-09-30For a full list of pull requests and changes in this release, refer to the relevant GitHub milestone:

v5.8.82026-09-29This release addresses CVE-2026-94603, where a podman run on a checkpoint image (any image with the io.podman.annotatio…
v6.1.32026-09-29This release addresses CVE-2026-94603, where a podman run on a checkpoint image (any image with the io.podman.annotatio…
v5.8.72026-09-16This release addresses (CVE-2025-11395), where importing images containing crafted layer tarballs with the podman load…
v6.1.22026-09-16This release addresses (CVE-2025-11395), where importing images containing crafted layer tarballs with the podman load…
v6.1.12026-09-02This release addresses CVE-2026-17106, where a crafted tar archive could write outside the extraction directory through…

✓ signed The latest release, docker-v29.8.2, carries a signature GitHub verified.

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✓ signed The latest release, v6.1.3, carries a signature GitHub verified.

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