Instead of Docker Desktop: OrbStack

Why OrbStack is better

• OrbStack reports less than 0.1% background CPU on Apple Silicon and under 10 MB of disk out of the box, and it returns memory to macOS when containers stop.
• In OrbStack's own test from August 2023, provisioning a development environment took 17 minutes against 45 with Docker Desktop.
• Containers get automatic local domain names and HTTPS, and Kubernetes ClusterIP and LoadBalancer addresses are reachable from the Mac.
• OrbStack runs full Linux distros alongside containers, which Docker Desktop does not.

When to keep Docker Desktop

Keep Docker Desktop on Windows, where OrbStack does not run, and if you use Docker Extensions, Docker Scout or registry access controls that admins enforce through Docker's management console.

Switching

Install OrbStack and it offers to migrate containers, images and volumes from Docker Desktop. The docker and docker compose commands keep working unchanged. Quit Docker Desktop afterwards so the two do not fight over the Docker socket.

Watch out

OrbStack is closed source and macOS only, made by a small company. It is free for personal use but costs $8 per user per month for commercial use. Docker Desktop is also paid for companies with 250 or more employees or $10 million or more in revenue, so compare the two prices rather than assuming one is free.

Also worth a look

• Podman Desktop A free, open-source container GUI for Linux, macOS and Windows; pick it on Windows or when you need an open-source tool.

More newer, better container runtimes and Kubernetes distributions

• Kubernetes (kubeadm) →, use k3s