# Arcane vs Portainer

> Two self-hosted [Container Management projects](https://selfhost.directory/container-management), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Arcane | Portainer |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 76/100 | 77/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #2 of 44 in Container Management | #1 of 44 in Container Management |
| GitHub stars | 8 101 | 38 737 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +532 ✓ | +188 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 31 ✓ | 21 |
| Latest release | v2.17.1 · 25 Oct 2026 ✓ | 2.45.3 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Zlib |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Portainer scores 77/100 against 76/100 for Arcane, so it is the safer default.

Arcane ships more often: 31 stable releases in the past year, against 21 for Portainer.

Arcane is growing faster right now (+532 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Arcane](https://selfhost.directory/project/arcane) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/arcane.md)
- [Portainer](https://selfhost.directory/project/portainer) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/portainer.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/arcane-vs-portainer