# MacOS vs Portainer

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

| | MacOS | Portainer |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 76/100 | 77/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #2 of 15 in Virtualization | #1 of 44 in Container Management |
| GitHub stars | 21 690 | 38 737 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +116 | +188 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 | 21 ✓ |
| Latest release | v3.12 · 21 Aug 2026 | 2.45.3 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | Zlib |
| Main language | Shell | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

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

Portainer ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 18 for MacOS.

If you want the quickest setup, Portainer is easier to run; MacOS needs more configuration.

## Details

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

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