Portainer vs Dockge
Portainer vs Dockge in 2026: compose-file handling, single containers, multi-host agents, Kubernetes and Swarm, RBAC, Business Edition pricing and release cadence.
Quick Answer
Dockge is the pick if everything you run is a docker compose stack and you want a fast UI that leaves your compose.yaml files on disk where the CLI can still use them. Portainer is the pick if you also need to manage single containers, networks, volumes, Swarm or Kubernetes, or want users, teams and Git-driven deployments; its Business Edition is free for up to 3 nodes.
Last updated October 24, 2026. Covers Portainer 2.45.3 LTS (22 Oct 2026) and Portainer's October 2026 pricing (Starter, Scale, Home & Student, free 3-node Business Edition), and Dockge 1.5.0 with master-branch activity through October 2026.
| Feature | Portainer | Dockge |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | CE: zlib; BE: commercial | MIT |
| Latest Release (Oct 2026) | 2.45.3 LTS (22 Oct 2026) | 1.5.0 (30 Mar 2025); master active in 2026 |
| Pricing | CE free; BE free for 3 nodes; Starter $1,045/yr (5 nodes) 8/10 | Free 10/10 |
| What It Manages | Containers, images, networks, volumes, stacks, Kubernetes workloads | docker compose stacks only |
| Compose File Storage | Managed by Portainer (data volume / Git clone) | Plain files in your stacks directory |
| Manage Standalone Containers / Networks / Volumes | ||
| Multiple Docker Hosts | Agent and Edge Agent environments | Multiple agents (1.4.0+) |
| Swarm / Kubernetes / Podman | Swarm, Kubernetes and Podman supported | Podman via podman-docker; no Swarm or Kubernetes |
| Deploy from Git | Yes, with polling (webhooks in BE) | Not a listed feature |
| Users and Access Control | Users and teams; RBAC in Business Edition | No users/teams or RBAC listed in README |
| Web Terminal | Container console | Yes (console opt-in since 1.5.0) |
| Default UI Port | 9443 (HTTPS, self-signed) | 5001 |
Portainer
Container management platform with a free Community Edition (zlib licence) and a commercial Business Edition, covering Docker Standalone, Swarm, Podman and Kubernetes environments from one web UI.
Pros
- Manages everything Docker exposes, not just stacks: containers, images, networks, volumes, registries and secrets
- One UI for Docker Standalone, Swarm, Podman and Kubernetes, with agents or Edge Agents for remote environments
- Stacks can come from a web editor, an uploaded file, a Git repository or a custom template, with Git polling for automatic updates
- Business Edition is free for up to 3 nodes with no time limit, and Home & Student covers 15 nodes for US$155 a year
- Frequent, dated releases: 2.45.3 LTS shipped on 22 Oct 2026, with a documented LTS/STS cadence
- RBAC, LDAP/OAuth, activity logs and fleet policies for teams that need them (Business Edition)
Cons
- Stacks are managed through Portainer's UI and data volume (Git deploys are cloned there), not as a folder of compose files you edit over SSH
- Commercial plans start at $1,045 a year for 5 nodes (Starter) and $2,095 for 5 nodes (Scale)
- Role-based access control and stack webhooks are Business Edition features, not in CE
- Heavier UI with a lot of enterprise and Kubernetes surface a homelab user will never touch
- Product direction has moved toward Kubernetes fleet governance; Docker-only users are no longer the headline audience
Best For
Anyone who manages more than compose stacks: mixed standalone containers, several hosts, Swarm or Kubernetes, or teams that need per-user access.
Dockge
MIT-licensed, self-hosted docker compose stack manager from the author of Uptime Kuma, with an interactive compose.yaml editor, live output and a web terminal, that keeps stacks as normal files on disk.
Pros
- File-based: stacks stay in /opt/stacks/<name>/compose.yaml, so you can keep using docker compose on the CLI and back them up like any folder
- Reactive UI with real-time pull, up and down progress and terminal output
- Converts a docker run command into a compose.yaml
- Multiple agents (since 1.4.0) let one Dockge instance manage stacks on several Docker hosts
- Tiny setup: one container on port 5001, MIT licence, runs on Docker 20+ or Podman with podman-docker, on amd64, arm64 and armv7
- Free with no editions or node limits
Cons
- Compose only: its FAQ says to use Portainer or the Docker CLI for single containers or networks
- Last tagged release is 1.5.0 from 30 Mar 2025; newer work on master (resource stats, container control buttons, XSS fixes) is not in a release yet
- Existing stacks must be moved into the stacks directory before Dockge can manage them
- No Swarm or Kubernetes, and no Windows support yet per the README
- The console feature is disabled by default since 1.5.0 for security and needs DOCKGE_ENABLE_CONSOLE=true
Best For
Homelab and single-VPS users who define every service as a compose stack and want a clean UI without giving up their files or the CLI.
Files on disk versus a platform database
The biggest difference is where your stacks live. Dockge stores each stack as an ordinary compose.yaml under a stacks directory, /opt/stacks by default, one folder per stack. Its README puts it bluntly: Dockge won't kidnap your compose files. You can SSH in and run docker compose up in the same folder, commit the directory to Git, or back it up with restic, and Dockge shows the same state. The catch is that the stacks path inside the container must match the host path exactly, and existing stacks must be moved into that directory and picked up with Scan Stacks Folder. Portainer treats stacks as objects it owns. You create them in a web editor, by upload, from a Git repository or from a template, and Portainer manages the definition through its own database and data volume; Git deployments are cloned into that volume. Environment variables are stored in Portainer and can be referenced from the compose file. That is convenient when the UI is the only way anyone touches the server, and it enables features such as Git polling and redeploys. It is less convenient if you want to edit files over SSH, because the copy that matters is Portainer's. If you already think of your homelab as a folder of compose files, Dockge matches that model.
Scope: one job versus the whole Docker API
Dockge focuses on compose stacks: create, edit, start, stop, restart, delete and update images, with an interactive editor, live logs and a docker run to compose converter. Its FAQ answers the obvious question directly: to manage a single container, use Portainer or the Docker CLI; if you also need to manage networks or single containers, Dockge is not a Portainer replacement. Portainer covers far more ground. On Docker it manages containers, images, networks, volumes, registries and stacks. It also manages Swarm clusters, Podman, and Kubernetes clusters, where it can deploy applications from forms, manifests or Helm charts. Remote environments connect through the Portainer Agent on port 9001 or the Edge Agent, which needs no inbound ports. Dockge added multi-host support in 1.4.0 through agents, so one interface can manage stacks on several Docker hosts. That closes much of the gap for a small homelab with two or three machines. It does not add Swarm or Kubernetes, and the README lists Windows as not supported yet. In short, Dockge is a better compose editor; Portainer is a container platform.
Pricing and editions
Dockge has no editions: it is MIT-licensed, free and has no node limits. Portainer has two products. Community Edition is open source under the zlib licence and free. Business Edition adds features such as role-based access control, LDAP and OAuth, activity logs, fleet governance and stack webhooks. Portainer's features page says Business Edition is free for up to 3 nodes, with no time or feature limits, which is enough for many homelabs. Beyond that, Portainer's pricing page lists paid tracks billed annually and priced by node, where a node is any machine running Portainer Server or managed by it. Starter costs $1,045 a year for 5 nodes, $1,840 for 10 or $2,375 for 15, is limited to one licence per company, and comes with community support and up to 16 vCPUs per node. Scale costs $2,095 for 5 nodes, $4,195 for 10 or $5,965 for 15, with 9x5 next-business-day support and up to 24 vCPUs per node; 20 and 25 nodes are quoted on request. Enterprise is custom. For non-commercial use, Home & Student gives 15 nodes with all Business features for US$155 a year. For a personal server, the honest comparison is Dockge versus Portainer CE or the free 3-node Business Edition, and all three cost nothing.
Maintenance and release cadence
Release cadence is where the two differ most in 2026. Portainer publishes LTS and STS releases on a schedule and lists the Docker, Kubernetes and Podman versions each one was tested against. 2.45.3 LTS shipped on 22 October 2026, tested with Docker 28.5.1 and 29.8.1, Kubernetes 1.34 to 1.36 and Podman 5.8.5. The 2.39 LTS line was still receiving patches as recently as 2.39.8 in September. Dockge's last tagged release is 1.5.0, published on 30 March 2025. It bundled Docker client 28.0.4 and Compose 2.34.0, fixed a security advisory, and turned the console off by default. The repository is not dead: commits in April 2026 added resource usage stats and container control buttons and fixed XSS warnings, and CI changes landed in October 2026, with about 24,700 GitHub stars. But anyone pulling louislam/dockge:1 is running the 2025 code, not what is on master. That matters mostly for security and Docker compatibility. Dockge talks to the Docker socket, so a bundled client that falls far behind the engine, or an unreleased fix, is a real consideration. Check the releases page before you standardise on it.
Verdict
Choose Dockge if all your services are docker compose stacks on one or a few hosts and you want your compose.yaml files to remain the source of truth on disk; it is lighter and nicer for that one job. Accept that releases are infrequent and check the repo before relying on new features. Choose Portainer if you need anything beyond compose: standalone containers, networks and volumes, Swarm or Kubernetes, Git-based deployments, or more than one person with different permissions. Portainer CE is free; Business Edition is free for 3 nodes and Home & Student is US$155 a year for 15 non-commercial nodes. Dockge's own FAQ says the two can run side by side, and many homelabs do exactly that.