Keep the Docker tools. Lose the waiting.

Podman asks you to swap docker for podman and hope the compatibility layer covers the rest. Kiri keeps the real docker CLI, Compose and buildx and replaces only the engine underneath, with one small Rust daemon.

Download Kiri See the numbers

Free and open source under Apache 2.0, like Podman. We haven't benchmarked Podman yet; the numbers below are the engines we have measured.

Side by side

Kiri and Podman Desktop, side by side.

Feature	Kiri	Podman Desktop	Docker Desktop	OrbStack
Mac	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Linux	Yes, no VM	Yes	In a VM	No
Free at work	Yes	Yes	Paid over 250 staff	Paid
Open source	Apache 2.0	Apache 2.0	No	No
Desktop app	Native	Electron	Electron	Native
`docker`, Compose, buildx	Yes	Through its Docker API layer	Yes	Yes
Kubernetes	Yes	Through kind or Minikube	Yes	Yes
Public link to a container	Kiri Share	No	No	No
`docker run` on a Mac	22 ms	Not measured yet	178 ms	279 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.

Measured

What we've measured so far.

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.

Why Kiri

Docker compatible because it is Docker's API.

No aliasing

No alias docker=podman, no flags that behave a little differently. Kiri serves the Docker Engine API the docker CLI was written for.

Compose and buildx as they are

docker compose and docker buildx run unchanged, multi-platform builds included.

Like Podman, no stack of daemons

Kiri uses no containerd, shims or runc either: one daemon creates each container with one clone3.

A native window

AppKit on the Mac, Win32 and WebView2 on Windows, rather than Electron.

Linux without a VM

On Linux Kiri runs straight on your kernel as a systemd service, for x86-64 and ARM.

Share and names

Apps open at myapp.kiri.local with HTTPS, and Kiri Share puts any container on a public link.

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 a good alternative to Podman Desktop?

If you want the Docker tools without Docker Desktop, Kiri runs the real docker CLI, Compose and buildx on its own engine, free and open source, on Mac, Windows and Linux.

Is Kiri daemonless like Podman?

Kiri has one daemon, but none of the usual stack: no dockerd, containerd, shims or runc, and no process stays behind for each container.

Is Kiri faster than Podman?

We haven't measured Podman yet, so we don't claim it. On one Mac Kiri ran docker run in 22 ms, against 152 ms for Colima, 178 ms for Docker Desktop and 279 ms for OrbStack.

Can I run Podman and Kiri on the same machine?

Yes. Kiri uses its own socket and its own docker context called kiri.