Portainer vs Dockge: Docker Container Management UI 2026

TL;DR

Portainer (zlib license, ~31K GitHub stars) is the fully-featured Docker/Kubernetes management UI — multi-host, RBAC, registries, secrets, Swarm, and an enterprise edition. Dockge (MIT, ~12K stars, by the creator of Uptime Kuma) is a minimal, beautiful Docker Compose stack manager — opinionated, fast, and friction-free. For homelabs and solo devs managing Compose stacks: Dockge. For teams, multi-host, or Kubernetes: Portainer.

Key Takeaways

• Portainer: zlib, ~31K stars — full-featured, multi-host, optional Enterprise tier
• Dockge: MIT, ~12K stars — Compose-only, zero-config, beautiful UI
• Portainer CE is free — business edition adds SSO/RBAC/audit logs ($)
• Dockge is Compose-first — no Swarm, no Kubernetes, no bare container UI
• Resource use: Dockge ~50MB RAM; Portainer ~200MB RAM
• Best of both: Many homelabs run both — Dockge for Compose stacks, Portainer for advanced needs

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Portainer vs Dockge at a Glance

Feature	Portainer CE	Portainer BE	Dockge
License	zlib	Proprietary	MIT
GitHub Stars	~31K	—	~12K
Multi-host	✅	✅	❌ (single host)
Docker Compose	✅	✅	✅ (primary focus)
Docker Swarm	✅	✅	❌
Kubernetes	✅	✅	❌
RBAC / Teams	Limited	✅ Full RBAC	❌
SSO / OAuth	❌	✅	❌
Audit logs	❌	✅	❌
Registry management	✅	✅	❌
Secrets management	✅	✅	❌
Stack editor	✅	✅	✅ (excellent)
Real-time logs	✅	✅	✅
Terminal (exec)	✅	✅	✅
RAM (idle)	~200MB	~200MB	~50MB
Price	Free	$2/node/mo	Free

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Option 1: Dockge — Compose-First Simplicity

Dockge is built by Louis Lam (also creator of Uptime Kuma). It does one thing extremely well: managing Docker Compose stacks through a clean, fast web UI.

Dockge Docker Setup

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  dockge:
    image: louislam/dockge:latest
    container_name: dockge
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "5001:5001"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - ./data:/app/data
      # Where Dockge stores your stacks:
      - /opt/stacks:/opt/stacks
    environment:
      DOCKGE_STACKS_DIR: /opt/stacks

mkdir -p /opt/stacks
docker compose up -d

Visit http://your-server:5001 → create admin account → start managing stacks.

How Dockge Works

Each stack is a directory in /opt/stacks:

/opt/stacks/
  uptime-kuma/
    compose.yaml
  paperless/
    compose.yaml
    .env
  jellyfin/
    compose.yaml

Dockge gives each stack:

• Start / Stop / Restart buttons
• Real-time logs streamed in the UI
• In-browser compose editor with syntax highlighting
• Container terminal (exec into any container)
• CPU/RAM stats per container

Dockge UI Features

• Compose editor: Edit your compose.yaml directly in the browser
• Stack status: Green/red health indicators per service
• Logs: Tail logs per service in real-time
• Env file editor: Edit .env files per stack
• One-click operations: Recreate, pull (update), down

What Dockge Doesn't Do

• No multi-host — single Docker socket only
• No Kubernetes
• No Docker Swarm
• No RBAC — single admin account
• No registry management
• No bare container management (containers not in a Compose stack are read-only)

If you only run Compose stacks on a single server: Dockge is perfect.

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Option 2: Portainer CE — Full-Featured Management

Portainer Community Edition is a comprehensive Docker/Kubernetes management platform. Free for up to 3 nodes.

Portainer Docker Setup

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  portainer:
    image: portainer/portainer-ce:latest
    container_name: portainer
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "9000:9000"     # HTTP
      - "9443:9443"     # HTTPS
      - "8000:8000"     # Edge agent tunnel
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - portainer_data:/data

volumes:
  portainer_data:

docker compose up -d

Visit https://your-server:9443 → create admin account → add environments.

HTTPS with Caddy

portainer.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:9443 {
        transport http {
            tls_insecure_skip_verify
        }
    }
}

Portainer CE Key Features

Environments (multi-host):

Portainer Server
  ├── local (Docker socket)
  ├── prod-server (Portainer Agent on remote host)
  ├── staging (Portainer Agent)
  └── k8s-cluster (Kubernetes kubeconfig)

Connect remote Docker hosts via the Portainer Agent:

# On the remote host:
services:
  portainer_agent:
    image: portainer/agent:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "9001:9001"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - /var/lib/docker/volumes:/var/lib/docker/volumes

Then in Portainer → Environments → Add → Agent → enter remote-host:9001.

Stacks (Compose in Portainer):

1. Stacks → Add Stack
2. Name: jellyfin
3. Paste or upload your docker-compose.yml
4. Set environment variables
5. Deploy

Portainer stores stacks in its database — editable and redeployable from the UI.

Registries:

1. Registries → Add Registry
2. Add Docker Hub, GitHub Container Registry, or private registry
3. Pull images from private registries without manual docker login

Volumes and Networks:

Browse and manage volumes (inspect, download, delete) and networks from the UI.

Container Console (Exec):

Click any container → Console → Connect: full terminal in the browser.

---

Multi-Host Setup with Portainer Edge Agent

For servers behind firewalls (no inbound access):

# On edge server (outbound only):
services:
  portainer_edge_agent:
    image: portainer/agent:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      EDGE: "1"
      EDGE_ID: "your-edge-id"
      EDGE_KEY: "your-edge-key"      # Generated in Portainer UI
      EDGE_INSECURE_POLL: "1"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - /var/lib/docker/volumes:/var/lib/docker/volumes

The edge agent polls Portainer server — no inbound firewall rules needed.

---

Portainer Business Edition

Portainer BE adds:

• Full RBAC: Teams with granular permissions per environment
• SSO: LDAP, Active Directory, OAuth (GitHub, Google, Okta)
• Audit logs: Full history of who did what
• Registry access control: Per-team registry permissions
• Nomad support: HashiCorp Nomad environments
• Async edge updates: Queue updates for intermittently connected edge devices

Free for up to 5 business nodes (generous for small teams). Pricing: ~$2/node/month.

---

Running Both Together

Many homelab setups run both:

services:
  dockge:
    image: louislam/dockge:latest
    ports:
      - "5001:5001"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - ./dockge-data:/app/data
      - /opt/stacks:/opt/stacks

  portainer:
    image: portainer/portainer-ce:latest
    ports:
      - "9443:9443"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - portainer_data:/data

Use Dockge for: Day-to-day Compose stack management (fast, beautiful) Use Portainer for: Volumes, networks, images, Swarm/K8s, remote hosts

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Decision Guide

Choose Dockge if:

• You only run Docker Compose stacks
• Single server homelab
• You want minimal UI with no bloat
• You like Uptime Kuma's UI style
• You don't need RBAC or multi-user

Choose Portainer CE if:

• You manage multiple Docker hosts
• You use Docker Swarm or Kubernetes
• You need to manage volumes, networks, images via UI
• You want a registry manager
• You need container-level operations (not just stacks)

Choose Portainer BE if:

• Small team with multiple users and roles
• Need SSO (LDAP/OAuth)
• Require audit logs for compliance
• Managing enterprise/production infrastructure

---

HTTPS with Caddy (Both)

dockge.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:5001
}

portainer.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:9443 {
        transport http {
            tls_insecure_skip_verify
        }
    }
}

---

Maintenance

# Update Dockge:
docker compose pull dockge
docker compose up -d dockge

# Update Portainer:
docker stop portainer
docker rm portainer
docker pull portainer/portainer-ce:latest
docker compose up -d portainer

# Backup Portainer data:
tar -czf portainer-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz \
  $(docker volume inspect portainer_portainer_data --format '{{.Mountpoint}}')

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See all open source Docker and container management tools at OSSAlt.com/categories/devops.