What is dockwatch?

Dockwatch is a self-hosted Docker container management tool with a web UI that helps users monitor and manage their Docker containers. It can check for and apply container image updates on a per-container schedule, send notifications for container state changes, updates, and resource usage via Notifiarr, Telegram, and Mattermost. Additional features include linking multiple Dockwatch instances to manage several Docker hosts, automatically restarting unhealthy containers, mass pruning orphan images/volumes/networks, grouping containers for easier management, an interactive shell in the web UI, and scheduled command execution. It runs as a Docker container requiring access to the Docker socket, with configuration via environment variables (PUID, PGID, TZ, DOCKER_HOST, DOCKER_API_VERSION, DISABLE_IPV6). The project is licensed under MIT and actively maintained by the Notifiarr organization.

Should you self-host dockwatch?

dockwatch scores 51/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #20 of 44 in Container Management. It has 341 GitHub stars.

It shipped 12 stable releases in the past year. The latest, v0.6.617, came out on 21 October 2026. New versions land roughly every 6 days.

Setup is moderate: expect some configuration beyond a single command. An official Docker image is available. It is MIT-licensed and written mostly in PHP.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is Portainer (77/100, 38 736 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See dockwatch vs Portainer side by side.