Portainer vs Dockge (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.

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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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Security Considerations for Docker Management UIs

Exposing a Docker management interface is a high-stakes decision. The Docker socket (/var/run/docker.sock) grants root-equivalent access to the host system — any service that mounts it can execute arbitrary commands on the host, create containers with host namespace access, and escalate privileges. A compromised Docker management UI is equivalent to a compromised server.

Both Portainer and Dockge require the Docker socket to function, so the security perimeter is your authentication layer and network access controls. Neither tool should be exposed directly to the public internet.

Reverse proxy with authentication: The recommended architecture is to place Portainer or Dockge behind a reverse proxy (Nginx, Caddy, or Traefik) and restrict access to your IP or a VPN. Caddy's @remote_ip matcher lets you allowlist specific IPs with a few lines of configuration. For Portainer CE with its web UI, this is often sufficient for solo operators and small teams.

Portainer's internal RBAC: Portainer CE offers basic team and role management — admin vs. standard user — within the UI itself. Portainer Business Edition extends this with proper RBAC: roles like operator (can start/stop but not modify), developer (can modify stacks but not delete environments), and read-only (can view logs but not change anything). For teams with multiple members with different access requirements, the Business Edition's RBAC is genuinely valuable.

Network isolation for management services: A common homelab pattern is to run management tools like Portainer and Dockge on a management VLAN or at a management hostname that's only accessible from specific devices. Combined with Tailscale or WireGuard, your Docker management interface is only reachable when you're on the VPN — never exposed to the open internet regardless of firewall rules.

Regular updates: Both tools receive regular security updates. Portainer's security track record is good, but running outdated versions of any service with Docker socket access is high risk. Budget time for monthly update checks and promptly apply security releases.

Beyond Container Management: The Broader Self-Hosting Stack

Portainer and Dockge solve container lifecycle management, but a complete self-hosted infrastructure requires additional tooling. Understanding how these tools fit into the broader ecosystem helps you plan your infrastructure stack.

Reverse proxy and SSL termination: Traefik or Caddy typically handles routing traffic to your containers and managing SSL certificates. Traefik integrates directly with Docker — it discovers containers and automatically creates routes based on labels in your docker-compose files. This means adding a new service is as simple as adding a few labels to your compose file, with no manual DNS or certificate configuration. Portainer and Dockge both work seamlessly alongside Traefik.

Monitoring and observability: Running containers without monitoring means flying blind. The standard self-hosted monitoring stack — Prometheus, Grafana, and cAdvisor — integrates naturally with Docker. cAdvisor exports container metrics (CPU, memory, network) to Prometheus; Grafana provides dashboards. This stack runs as Docker Compose containers managed by Portainer or Dockge. For teams setting up full observability for their self-hosted stack, Coolify vs Caprover vs Dokploy covers tools that combine PaaS deployment with built-in monitoring — a higher-level abstraction than raw Docker management.

Deployment automation: Portainer and Dockge are manual management tools — they don't automate deployments from Git. For CI/CD integration, the typical pattern is: GitHub Actions pushes a new image to a container registry, then calls Portainer's API to update the stack. Portainer CE has a webhook URL per stack that triggers a redeploy when called, making GitHub Actions integration straightforward. Dockge doesn't have a webhook API, so automated deployments require SSH-based updates or running docker compose commands directly on the host.

For teams evaluating higher-level self-hosted PaaS options — platforms that handle deployments, SSL, domains, databases, and monitoring in an integrated way — Coolify vs Dokku covers two popular alternatives to raw Docker management that trade flexibility for convenience. The choice between Portainer/Dockge and a PaaS like Coolify ultimately comes down to how much control you want versus how much infrastructure you're willing to configure manually.

Upgrading and Backup Strategies

One operational detail that's easy to overlook when choosing a Docker management UI is how upgrades and backup/restore work in practice.

Dockge upgrades are simple because Dockge's only persistent state is the /app/data directory (which stores stack definitions, credentials, and configuration) and the /opt/stacks directory (which stores your actual compose files and .env files). Upgrading is: pull the new image, restart the container. If something goes wrong, roll back the image. Your compose files are plaintext on disk and don't depend on Dockge's internal database, so a failed upgrade never corrupts your stack definitions.

Portainer upgrades involve more steps because Portainer stores meaningful state in its Docker volume — environments, users, RBAC policies, stack definitions, registry credentials, and configuration. Before upgrading, back up this volume. The standard upgrade procedure is documented and reliable, but the state dependency means upgrades require more careful handling than Dockge's stateless-stack approach.

Backup strategy for both: Include the relevant Docker volumes in your backup routine. For Dockge, backup /opt/stacks (your compose files and .env files) — this is your complete Dockge state and can be used to restore on any server. For Portainer, backup the portainer_data volume using docker run --rm -v portainer_portainer_data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/portainer-backup.tar.gz /data. Store these backups off-server (S3, Backblaze B2, or similar). For a VPS running your entire homelab, a daily backup including both container configurations and Docker volumes is a complete disaster recovery plan.

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For teams evaluating their broader self-hosted infrastructure strategy — moving away from platforms like Heroku to own their deployment pipeline — the best open source alternatives to Heroku guide provides useful context on where Portainer, Dockge, and PaaS alternatives each fit.

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