Our take
Pick OrbStack if mac developers who will stay on Free at $0 for personal containers while they open a first nextbigthing group, then Pro at $8/user/month or $96/year when the work is commercial — not Enterprise first unless they need a custom quote. Pick Podman Desktop if developers who will stay on the Apache-2.0 desktop at $0 while they open a first EXITED Containers table — not OrbStack Pro first unless they need
Best for
OrbStack A local container window you start at a public $
Podman Desktop A local container list you run at a public $
Free plan
OrbStack $0 · card: personal, non-commercial use. Run containers, run Linux machines, community support. No card to try
Podman Desktop $0 · apache-2.0. Containers / Pods / Kubernetes / Extensions on the cover rail. No card
Lowest paid
OrbStack Pro $8/user/mo yearly
Podman Desktop Not published by the vendor
Runs where
OrbStack
Podman Desktop Hosted
Watch out
OrbStack Free is personal / non-commercial
Podman Desktop You still run an engine
Last checked
OrbStack 2026-10-23 · orbstack.dev/pricing
Podman Desktop 2026-10-23 · podman-desktop.io
mac developers who will stay on Free at $0 for personal containers while they open a first nextbigthing group, then Pro at $8/user/month or $96/year when the work is commercial — not Enterprise first unless they need a custom quote.
Read the OrbStack pagedevelopers who will stay on the Apache-2.0 desktop at $0 while they open a first EXITED Containers table — not OrbStack Pro first unless they need a paid Mac VM, and not Docker Pro first unless they need Docker Desktop’s commercial SKU.
Read the Podman Desktop page
