# LXD vs Portainer

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | LXD | Portainer |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 70/100 | 77/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 15 in Virtualization | #1 of 44 in Container Management |
| GitHub stars | 4 844 | 38 737 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +13 | +188 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 19 | 21 ✓ |
| Latest release | lxd-6.10.1 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ | 2.45.3 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Zlib |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Portainer scores 77/100 against 70/100 for LXD, so it is the safer default.

Portainer ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 19 for LXD.

Portainer is growing faster right now (+188 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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