Best Free Container Engines of 2025

Kubernetes serves as a powerful foundation for transformative ideas. It enables developers to innovate and deliver projects more rapidly through the premier hybrid cloud and enterprise container solution. Red Hat OpenShift simplifies the process with automated installations, updates, and comprehensive lifecycle management across the entire container ecosystem, encompassing the operating system, Kubernetes, cluster services, and applications on any cloud platform. This service allows teams to operate with speed, flexibility, assurance, and a variety of options. You can code in production mode wherever you prefer to create, enabling a return to meaningful work. Emphasizing security at all stages of the container framework and application lifecycle, Red Hat OpenShift provides robust, long-term enterprise support from a leading contributor to Kubernetes and open-source technology. It is capable of handling the most demanding workloads, including AI/ML, Java, data analytics, databases, and more. Furthermore, it streamlines deployment and lifecycle management through a wide array of technology partners, ensuring that your operational needs are met seamlessly. This integration of capabilities fosters an environment where innovation can thrive without compromise.

Ambassador Edge Stack, a Kubernetes-native API Gateway, provides simplicity, security, and scalability for some of the largest Kubernetes infrastructures in the world. Ambassador Edge Stack makes it easy to secure microservices with a complete set of security functionality including automatic TLS, authentication and rate limiting. WAF integration is also available. Fine-grained access control is also possible. The API Gateway is a Kubernetes-based ingress controller that supports a wide range of protocols, including gRPC, gRPC Web, TLS termination, and traffic management controls to ensure resource availability.

Turbo enables you to effortlessly publish and oversee all your enterprise applications from one centralized location to various platforms and devices. Schedule a demonstration with our team to witness Turbo’s capabilities firsthand. You can deploy customized containerized applications across desktops, on-premises servers, as well as public and private cloud environments. The student digital workspace ensures that applications are accessible on every campus and personal device. Deliver applications universally from a unified, adaptable container environment, allowing for easy migration across devices and platforms via robust APIs and connectors. You can deploy applications to both managed and BYOD PCs without requiring any installations. Turbo Application Server facilitates streaming to HTML5, Mac, and mobile devices seamlessly. Additionally, you can publish applications to existing Citrix and VMware VDI setups. Dynamically image applications on non-persistent Windows Virtual Desktop instances, enhancing flexibility. Furthermore, course applications can be integrated directly within major LMS systems like Canvas and Blackboard. The platform also provides an authoring environment for the creation of your own containerized applications and components, giving users even more control over their digital resources. This streamlined approach not only offers convenience but also enhances productivity across various educational and professional settings.

Mesos operates on principles similar to those of the Linux kernel, yet it functions at a different abstraction level. This Mesos kernel is deployed on each machine and offers APIs for managing resources and scheduling tasks for applications like Hadoop, Spark, Kafka, and Elasticsearch across entire cloud infrastructures and data centers. It includes native capabilities for launching containers using Docker and AppC images. Additionally, it allows both cloud-native and legacy applications to coexist within the same cluster through customizable scheduling policies. Developers can utilize HTTP APIs to create new distributed applications, manage the cluster, and carry out monitoring tasks. Furthermore, Mesos features an integrated Web UI that allows users to observe the cluster's status and navigate through container sandboxes efficiently. Overall, Mesos provides a versatile and powerful framework for managing diverse workloads in modern computing environments.

Sandboxie is a software that offers sandbox-based isolation for 32- and 64-bit Windows NT-based systems. It has been under the development of David Xanatos since its transition to open-source status; prior to that, it was managed by Sophos, which obtained it from Invincea, the company that previously acquired it from its original creator, Ronen Tzur. By creating an isolated operating environment, Sandboxie allows users to run or install applications without making permanent changes to the local or mapped drives. This virtual isolation enables safe testing of untrusted applications and secure web browsing. Following its open-source release, Sandboxie is available in two versions: the classic build featuring a MFC-based user interface and the Plus build that comes with enhanced features and a completely new Q't based interface. Most of the new functionalities are directed towards the Plus version, but many can also be accessed in the classic version by modifying the sandboxie.ini file. This flexibility makes it easier for users to benefit from updates while still maintaining a preference for the traditional interface.

Podman is a container engine that operates without a daemon, designed for the development, management, and execution of OCI Containers on Linux systems. It enables users to run containers in both root and rootless modes, effectively allowing you to think of it as a direct replacement for Docker by using the command alias docker=podman. With Podman, users can manage pods, containers, and container images while offering support for Docker Swarm. We advocate for the use of Kubernetes as the primary standard for creating Pods and orchestrating containers, establishing Kubernetes YAML as the preferred format. Consequently, Podman facilitates the creation and execution of Pods directly from a Kubernetes YAML file through commands like podman-play-kube. Additionally, it can generate Kubernetes YAML configurations from existing containers or Pods using podman-generate-kube, streamlining the workflow from local development to deployment in a production Kubernetes environment. This versatility makes Podman a powerful tool for developers and system administrators alike.

Cloudfleet provides a Kubernetes experience that spans from datacenters to the cloud and edge, ensuring it meets its intended purpose. With just-in-time infrastructure, automated updates, and sophisticated permissions management, users can effortlessly oversee their clusters through a unified interface. As a comprehensive multi-cloud and hybrid Kubernetes solution, Cloudfleet streamlines the setup of your infrastructure by enabling automatic server provisioning across both on-premises settings and a dozen different cloud service providers, enhancing efficiency and flexibility for your operations. This approach not only minimizes the complexity of managing diverse environments but also empowers users to focus more on their core objectives.