The Docker Desktop alternative that's eight times quicker to start a container.

Kiri runs the containers you run today with the docker commands you already type. It is free at work, open source, and on a Mac it starts a container in 22 ms where Docker Desktop takes 178 ms.

Download Kiri See the numbers

In beta, signed and notarized on the Mac. Install it next to Docker Desktop and switch with docker context use kiri.

Measured

Eight times quicker than Docker Desktop.

Four engines on one Apple silicon Mac, each limited to the same 2 CPUs and 8 GB, driven by the same docker CLI with the same warm images. Medians, lower is better for times.

Measurement	Kiri	Docker Desktop	OrbStack	Colima
`docker run --rm alpine true`	22 ms	178 ms	279 ms	152 ms
`docker exec … true`	15.7 ms	47.7 ms	32.5 ms	36.8 ms
Container lifecycle through the Docker API	3.1 ms	163 ms	238 ms	88 ms
Containers started in parallel	88.9 /s	11.4 /s	8.2 /s	12.9 /s
200 MB out of a container	223 MB/s	45 MB/s	87 MB/s	63 MB/s
Bind mount read, 1 GB	1724 MB/s	1354 MB/s	3240 MB/s	5235 MB/s

2 November 2026, Kiri 0.1.13, Docker Desktop 4.90.0, OrbStack 2.2.4, Colima 0.10.3. Where another engine wins, the table says so: Colima reads bind mounts faster. On Windows Kiri starts a container in 78 ms against Docker Desktop's 491 ms. Method, every row and the caveats: benchmarks.

Side by side

Kiri, Docker Desktop, OrbStack and Colima.

Feature	Kiri	Docker Desktop	OrbStack	Colima
Mac	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows	Yes	Yes	No	No
Linux	Yes, no VM	In a VM	No	Yes
Free at work	Yes	Paid over 250 staff	Paid	Yes
Open source	Apache 2.0	No	No	MIT
Desktop app	Native	Electron	Native	CLI only
`docker`, Compose, buildx	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kubernetes	Yes	Yes	Yes	k3s
Public link to a container	Kiri Share	No	No	No
`docker run` on a Mac	22 ms	178 ms	279 ms	152 ms

Docker Desktop needs a paid subscription in companies with more than 250 employees or more than $10 million a year in revenue. OrbStack is free for personal use and paid for work. Checked November 2026; each project's own pages have the current terms.

Why switch

Everything you open Docker Desktop for.

Same commands

docker run, docker compose up, docker buildx build and the Docker Engine API, so your scripts, Makefiles, IDE and Testcontainers keep working.

No licence to buy

Kiri is free for any company of any size, under Apache 2.0. Nothing to count, nothing to renew.

One engine, three systems

The same Rust daemon on Mac, Windows and Linux. On Linux there is no VM at all: containers run straight on your kernel.

A native window

AppKit on the Mac, Win32 and WebView2 on Windows. No Electron. Containers, images, volumes, networks and Compose, with logs and a terminal.

Kubernetes when you want it

kiri k8s start gives you a single-node cluster in about 20 seconds, and stops when you stop it.

Light when idle

The VM gives unused memory back and sleeps after a minute idle. The daemon stays at about 15 MB.

Switching

Keep your commands. Change the engine.

Install Kiri
On a Mac, the app. On Windows, a per-user installer for WSL2. On Linux, a .deb or .rpm: curl -fsSL https://runkiri.com/install.sh | bash.
Bring your things over
Kiri moves images, volumes and containers over from Docker Desktop or OrbStack, so nothing is rebuilt. Keep the old one installed while you try it.
Run what you always run
```
$ docker compose up
```
Kiri adds a kiri docker context, so the docker CLI, Compose, buildx and your IDE talk to Kiri.

Questions

Asked often.

What is the best Docker Desktop alternative?

It depends on what you need, so we publish the numbers. On one Mac with the same 2 CPUs and 8 GB, Kiri started a container in 22 ms, Colima in 152 ms, Docker Desktop in 178 ms and OrbStack in 279 ms. Kiri is also the only one of the four that is free at work, open source and runs on Mac, Windows and Linux.

Is Kiri a drop-in replacement for Docker Desktop?

For the Docker side, yes: Kiri serves the Docker Engine API, so the docker CLI, Docker Compose, buildx and tools that use the Docker socket work unchanged. Kiri brings its own docker CLI, Compose and buildx, or leaves yours alone with Kiri Lite.

Is Kiri free for commercial use?

Yes. Kiri is free for personal and commercial use at any company size, and its code is open source under the Apache 2.0 licence.

Can I keep Docker Desktop installed?

Yes. Kiri uses its own socket and its own docker context called kiri, and doesn't take over as the default engine while Docker Desktop is there. It can also import your images, volumes and containers.

Does Kiri run on Windows?

Yes, inside WSL2 with a native Windows window. On one Windows PC Kiri started a container in 78 ms against Docker Desktop's 491 ms.