Open-source, cross-platform container and image management.
CrateBay is a desktop alternative to Docker Desktop and OrbStack. It focuses on local container workflows: browse and remove images, search registries, pull new images, create containers, inspect logs, and manage a built-in runtime across macOS, Linux, and Windows.
The CLI and built-in runtime form the minimum usable unit: the desktop app is a visual control plane on top of the same core container operations. External Docker-compatible endpoints are supported as explicit compatibility overrides, but the built-in runtime is the default path.
- Open source — MIT licensed and free to use
- Cross-platform — macOS, Linux, and Windows
- Built-in runtime — starts a local VM-backed container engine when needed
- Image-first workflow — search, pull, inspect, tag, and remove images from one UI
- Container management — create, start, stop, inspect, exec, and view logs
- Pod grouping — manage Docker network based pods for related containers
- Registry mirrors — configure mirror hosts for faster Docker Hub pulls
cd crates/cratebay-gui
pnpm install
pnpm tauri devCLI examples:
cratebay runtime start
cratebay image search alpine
cratebay image pull alpine:latest
cratebay run alpine:latest -- echo hello
cratebay run --network none --read-only --memory 512 alpine:latest -- sh -lc "pwd && id"
cratebay run --entrypoint /bin/sh alpine:latest -- -lc "echo from custom entrypoint"
cratebay --json run --max-output-bytes 1048576 alpine:latest -- sh -lc "echo bounded output"
cratebay --json run --no-propagate-exit-code alpine:latest -- sh -lc "exit 42"
cratebay image preload-bundled
cratebay image export --output alpine.tar alpine:latest
cratebay image import alpine.tar
cratebay pod create demo-pod
cratebay container create demo --image alpine:latest --entrypoint /bin/sh --command "sleep 3600" --pod demo-pod --publish 8080:80 --volume "$PWD:/workspace:ro"
cratebay image pack-container demo cratebay/demo:latest
cratebay image tag cratebay/demo:latest cratebay/demo:dev
cratebay container list --allThe CrateBay desktop app provides:
- Containers — lifecycle actions, templates, logs, terminal access, and resource details
- Images — local image list, registry search, pull progress, inspect, tag, export, import, and delete
- Pods — network-based container grouping inside Containers
- Runtime — start/stop/restart the built-in engine and configure HTTP proxy settings
- Settings — language, theme, registry mirrors, and runtime connectivity
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CrateBay │
│ │
│ ┌──────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────┐ │
│ │ GUI App │ │ cratebay-cli │ │
│ │ Tauri + React│ │ command line │ │
│ └──────┬───────┘ └──────────┬────────────┘ │
│ └───────────────┬───────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ┌──────────▼──────────┐ │
│ │ cratebay-core │ │
│ │ Docker + storage │ │
│ └──────────┬──────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ┌──────────▼──────────┐ │
│ │ Built-in Runtime │ │
│ │ macOS: VZ │ │
│ │ Linux: KVM/QEMU │ │
│ │ Windows: WSL2 │ │
│ └─────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Tech stack: Tauri v2 | React 19 | Rust | bollard | SQLite
| CrateBay | Docker Desktop | OrbStack | Podman Desktop | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open source | MIT | No | No | Yes |
| Cross-platform | macOS/Win/Linux | macOS/Win/Linux | macOS only | macOS/Win/Linux |
| Built-in runtime | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image management | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Container logs/exec | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | Free | Free / paid tiers | Free / paid tiers | Free |
v0.9.0 focuses on image management, pod grouping, container lifecycle, one-shot CLI runs, and the built-in runtime.