# Portainer vs Shields

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

| | Portainer | Shields |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 77/100 | 80/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 44 in Container Management | #6 of 166 in Developer Tools |
| GitHub stars | 38 747 ✓ | 27 334 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +185 ✓ | +128 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | 2.45.3 · 21 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Zlib | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | JavaScript |

## Which one should you pick?

Shields scores 80/100 against 77/100 for Portainer, so it is the safer default.

Portainer ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Shields.

## Details

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

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