Portainer

What it is for

Portainer is a container-management UI for Docker, Kubernetes, and Podman: you open Home, see standalone-local Up, and Community is $0 up to 3 nodes. Use it when the job is environments you start at a public $, not when you need Podman Desktop’s local-only machine only.

Soft-note: Community free up to 3 nodes + Business Starter $1,045/yr + Scale $2,095/yr + Enterprise custom. Distinct from Podman Desktop and Docker.

What makes it unique: the cover is Portainer’s official Home environments list (13 TOTAL / 11 UP / 2 DOWN / 3 UNASSIGNED, standalone-local unix:///var/run/docker.sock, podman-edge-agent, CONTAINERS / NODES / CPUS / MEMORY) from the docs Home still (2.41.1-home.png) — not the PORTAINER.IO wordmark. The standalone-local row itself is ops of Home.

Key features

• Home environments — standalone-local / edge-agent / Podman rows (cover still; docs Home). One desk. Cover 13 TOTAL sits here.
• Containers — add / publish ports from the left menu (docs containers). Containers, not a Starter tile.
• Docker + Kubernetes + Podman — environment types on Home (cover). Runtimes, not a $1,045 meter.
• Kubeconfig — download from Home (cover). A kubeconfig, not Get Started.
• Access control — restrict who can manage a container (Portainer 101). ACL, not Enterprise SSO as a desk.
• GitOps — deploy from git on Business (docs). GitOps, not a Scale tile.

Get 3 nodes free / Contact sales are CTAs (not desks). Community / Starter / Scale tiles stay in Pricing. Any “AI” assistant copy stays off Key features as an AI extra.

Who it's for

Best fit: operators who will stay on Community at $0 (up to 3 nodes) while they add a first standalone-local environment, then Business Starter at $1,045/year when they need more nodes / RBAC — not Enterprise first unless they need a custom contract.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) from portainer.io/pricing and the homepage “Get 3 nodes free”.

• Community (CE) — $0. Home / hobby: up to 3 nodes. OSS at github.com/portainer/portainer.
• Business Starter — $1,045/year.
• Business Scale — $2,095/year.
• Enterprise — custom. Do not invent an Enterprise $.

Confirm checkout. Node counts and Business add-ons are on the live cards.

Limitations / costs

• Community caps at 3 nodes. More nodes start at Business Starter $1,045/yr.
• A management UI, not Podman Desktop’s Apache-2.0 local machine. For that desktop see Podman Desktop.
• Business $ is yearly, not a printed monthly seat.
• CE is OSS; Business is not the same binary. The GitHub CTA is the CE repo.

Alternatives

• Podman Desktop — a local containers/K8s desktop when you want Apache-2.0 $0, not Portainer’s Home 13 TOTAL.
• Docker — a containers list when you want Personal $0 / Pro $9, not a 3-node Community Home.

Official tutorial

Official Portainer IO channel video: Portainer 101 - How to deploy a container on Docker using Portainer (oEmbed author: Portainer IO). First-party how-to; the Home environments still is the cover. We also resolved Portainer Demo: Kubernetes the "easy" way (R7_EGo9Zd7s) on the same channel. We searched @PortainerIO (200; product) and @portainer (200; a different “Portainer” channel).

Written path: portainer.io/pricing plus docs Home and github.com/portainer/portainer.

Website

https://www.portainer.io/

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is Portainer’s official docs Home environments list (standalone-local / Podman edge-agent / 13 TOTAL) — not the PORTAINER.IO wordmark. Dollars checked on portainer.io/pricing (Community 3 nodes free; Business Starter $1,045/yr; Scale $2,095/yr). Tutorial oEmbed author: Portainer IO (@PortainerIO). GitHub: portainer/portainer.

Last verified

2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.