nerdctl vs Podman

nerdctl vs Podman
Fact	nerdctl	Podman
Language	Go	Go
Licence	Apache-2.0	Apache-2.0
Stars	10k	33k
Latest	v2.4.1	v6.1.3
Last push	2026-10-05	2026-10-06
Release cadence	about 37 days between releases	about 7 days between releases
Active contributors	36 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

Both replace Docker Engine (Moby). Alternatives to Docker Engine (Moby) →
Full replacementnerdctlA Docker-compatible command line for containerd.
Drop-inPodmanDocker-compatible CLI, daemonless and rootless by default.

v2.4.12026-10-02nerdctl cp:
v2.4.02026-09-20This release improves compatibility with Docker v29.
v2.4.0-rc.02026-09-18This release improves compatibility with Docker v29.pre-release
v2.4.0-beta.02026-08-24This is the first beta release of nerdctl v2.4.0.pre-release
v2.3.52026-07-20Cherry-picks from main to release/2.3

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, v2.4.1, 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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