compare

how portainer stacks up

Simpler to adopt. Faster to deploy. Easier to run.

Portainer doesn’t try to reinvent Kubernetes. It makes it usable, fast. Where others add layers, we remove friction. You get container management that’s ready on day one, simple enough for generalists, and powerful enough for the largest enterprises.

compare
platforms

See how Portainer compares to platforms like Rancher, OpenShift, SpectroCloud, and Mirantis. While others focus on cluster creation or full-stack lock-in, Portainer focuses on operational simplicity, letting your existing teams manage containers with less complexity, less cost, and more control.

Portainer
Rancher
OpenShift
Mirantis
Spectro Cloud
Primary Focus
Operational management of workloads
Cluster provisioning and control
Enterprise app platform
Secure runtimes and managed K8s
Full-stack K8s stack curation
Ideal Buyer Profile
IT Ops, DevOps, app teams
Infra/Platform engineers, SREs
Enterprise architects, regulated IT
Regulated industries, Docker EE alumni
Platform teams, edge builders
Kubernetes Expertise Assumed
Low to Medium
Medium to High
Medium to High
Medium
High
Deployment Model
Self-hosted
Self-hosted, hosted version available
Self-managed, cloud-managed
Self-managed or managed
SaaS, on-prem, edge
Typical Cost (USD)
$140–$500
/node/year
$1200-$5400
/node/year
$150–$500
/core/year
Typical: 16 cores
$1500–$2500
/node/year
$250–$500
/node/year

Portainer can also manage Rancher and Openshift environments.

see it in action

See the impact.
Skip the guesswork.

Try it. Test it. Compare it. See for yourself how Portainer simplifies operations, reduces overhead, and fits into your environment, whether you're migrating from a full-stack platform or just trying to get Kubernetes under control.

Request a Demo

Request a live demo from the Portainer team to explore how we simplify container management at scale.

Try the Calculator

Still not sure? Why not run the numbers? Project your potential savings with Portainer in just a few clicks.

Frequently asked questions

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Still have more questions? Our team are here to help.

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Testimonials

Words from Our clients

“Portainer helped us reduce our container deployment time by over 60%. What used to take hours now takes minutes — and the whole team can use it, not just our Kubernetes experts.”
Smiling professional in light shirt with crossed arms against dark background
Name Surname
Position, Company name
“Portainer helped us reduce our container deployment time by over 60%. What used to take hours now takes minutes — and the whole team can use it, not just our Kubernetes experts.”
Smiling professional in light shirt with crossed arms against dark background
Name Surname
Position, Company name
“Portainer helped us reduce our container deployment time by over 60%. What used to take hours now takes minutes — and the whole team can use it, not just our Kubernetes experts.”
Smiling professional in light shirt with crossed arms against dark background
Name Surname
Position, Company name
“Portainer helped us reduce our container deployment time by over 60%. What used to take hours now takes minutes — and the whole team can use it, not just our Kubernetes experts.”
Smiling professional in light shirt with crossed arms against dark background
Name Surname
Position, Company name
"We shaved a good two years off the adoption of containerization because we had Portainer."
Jason Plumhoff, Lead Developer and Software Architect
"Within a week of having Portainer, we’ve been able to take deployment workflows from 2 hours to fully deploy, to 5 minutes."
Jim Bruce, Director of Technology
"I am able to quickly look at what’s going on, get a holistic view of everything. Very quickly I look at the stack and services – instead of digging up docker commands, it’s all automated."
Joshua O'Brien, Systems Engineer
“It has taken time and some effort, but immediately the 20 users are already seeing major productivity gains."
Adefemi Ayaji, Application Platform Owner, Global
“Portainer allows us to manage all our Docker containers and Swarm orchestration. It has proven to be a robust, light and easy to use product."
Rodrigo Ramirez, Senior Director of Software
"With Portainer, deployment time has decreased significantly. It takes very little time for developers to publish the apps into our production environment using the GUI”.
Suat Urgurlu, Associate Director, Technology Solutions & IT Security
“Portainer has been our "go to" solution for deploying and managing software on our swapping stations.”
Azriel Samson, Director of Software Systems
“In the past, we had to go to Africa and install research tools on a server there and in most of the cases that never really worked because then something crashed and the people were gone. With Portainer, we just take a container and put it somewhere else.”
Christof Lorenz, Scientific Data Manager
“It’s actually quite easy. We never did it because we thought it would require a lot of Kubernetes knowledge, but it doesn’t.”
Remy Simons
"Per day, I spent an hour or two easily on deployments and now with Portainer and full use, that'll probably go down to at most 5-10 minutes."
Zoe Matre, DevOps Manager
Volkswagen partnered with Portainer to help securely manage their apps on their Shopfloor Integration Management (SIM) infrastructure.
"Portainer is responsible for dropping my workload between 15 and 20% because I’m not going out and touching individual servers.”
Elliot Francis, Principal Software Engineer