Colima
Hacker ApprovedRanked 5 of 14 container runtimes by recommenders
Free, open source Docker Desktop alternative for macOS that is easy to set up and reliable. Critics say it is slow.
Free, open source Docker Desktop alternative for macOS that is easy to set up and reliable. Critics say it is slow.
47 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 39
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 39 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Good Docker Desktop alternative
“Colima is a good alternative to Docker Desktop if you're looking”
Comment from 9 Mar 2026 in “A Decade of Docker Containers” “I ended up just going with buildx and Colima on macOS.”
Comment from 2 Jul 2026 in “Podman v6.0.0” “I switched to Colima instead and couldn't be happier.”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build” - Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Apple/macOS removed from official Unix registry”
- Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Codex just found a "workaround" of not having sudo on my PC”
- Comment from 10 Jun 2026 in “macOS Container Machines”
- Comment from 2 Jul 2026 in “Podman v6.0.0”
- Comment from 1 Apr 2026 in “Ask HN: What dev tools do you rely on that nobody talks about?”
Easy to install and use
“pretty dang easy to run a Linux container on MacOS using Colima”
Comment from 7 May 2026 in “I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook, and you can too” “colima makes it pretty easy, on macOS and linux at any rate.”
Comment from 15 Jul 2026 in “I tricked Claude into leaking your deepest, darkest secrets” “This is a super easy way to run linux VMs on Apple Silicon.”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Parallels Confirms MacBook Neo Can Run Windows in a Virtual Machine” - Comment from 2 Jul 2026 in “Podman v6.0.0”
- Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “OpenShell – A safe, private runtime for fleets of autonomous AI agents”
- Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “What Has Docker Become?”
- Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Docker 29 has changed its default image store for new installs”
Reliable with few issues
“Been using Colima to run mixed architecture container stacks in docker compose on my M3 Mac and the machine barely blinks.”
Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “Arm's Cortex X925: Reaching Desktop Performance” “been running on colima for years now and haven't had a single issue with it”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build” “i have had zero issues with colima”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build” - Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What alternatives to Docker Desktop are people using?”
- Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build”
Free and open source
“I would go with the Colima project as a open source solution for containers on mac.”
Comment from 7 Mar 2026 in “A Decade of Docker Containers” “With colima, it's all open source and easy to install/upgrade via homebrew.”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Docker 29 has changed its default image store for new installs”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Performance is slow
“Colima I appreciate for its full headless nature but it's severely behind in performance, sadly.”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Coasts – Containerized Hosts for Agents” “vscode extensions using ripgrep in parallel in the background (there are many!) are killing the vm.”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “WSL3 Performance is about 5-60% faster than WSL2 depending on the workload” Painful and inefficient to use
“relatively painful and inefficient (but usable)”
Comment from 2 May 2026 in “How fast is a macOS VM, and how small could it be?” “my experience using Colima at work was like pulling my own teeth out”
Comment from 7 May 2026 in “I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook, and you can too”
Other container runtimes people recommend
The four most recommended other container runtimes, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Podman | 276 | 93 | 75% | 12 | 1.5 yrs21 owners | Approved |
| OrbStack | 97 | 11 | 90% | 12 | 2 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Apple container | 56 | 28 | 67% | 11 | — | Approved |
| gVisor | 45 | 16 | 74% | 12 | — | Approved |
| ColimaThis page | 39 | 8 | 83% | 11 | — | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 52 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Even easier with https://colima.run/ if you're on MacOS”
“I also use colima mostly, it‘s great!”
“It has really nice integration with Incus as well, if you like persistent system containers.”
“Its called colima and its excellent.”
“vscode extensions using ripgrep in parallel in the background (there are many!) are killing the vm.”
“There are many good options for this”
“colima makes it pretty easy, on macOS and linux at any rate.”
“colima uses a full VM to host the containers, and you can further lock down the config to what is even allowed to vol mount”
“Colima just seems to be easier to work with using Docker.”
“colima which was better than Docker Desktop”
“I ended up just going with buildx and Colima on macOS.”
“found it works better than QEMU (better performance and resolved some bugs I was running into with the Supabase docker stack)”
“having multiple profiles is an absolute winner of a feature for me there”
“I'd rather use podman or colima”
“colima is a perfectly usable implementation of Docker for macOS, without the bloat of Docker Desktop.”
“I'm a new convert to Colima”
“orbstack and colima work well”
“I had immediately moved to Colima when I was considering options because of this.”
“my experience using Colima at work was like pulling my own teeth out”
“pretty dang easy to run a Linux container on MacOS using Colima”
“If you want a full VM, I would recommend Lima/Colima.”
“With colima, it's all open source and easy to install/upgrade via homebrew.”
“relatively painful and inefficient (but usable)”
“so I don't need docker desktop”
“Colima I appreciate for its full headless nature but it's severely behind in performance, sadly.”
“If you're on linux and have kvm, there's Lima and Colima too.”
“This is a super easy way to run linux VMs on Apple Silicon.”
“Colima is a good alternative to Docker Desktop if you're looking”
“I would go with the Colima project as a open source solution for containers on mac.”
“Been using Colima to run mixed architecture container stacks in docker compose on my M3 Mac and the machine barely blinks.”
“haven't looked back for a single second”
“At least in the initial test since I saw your comment a few hours ago, this is working great!”
“been running on colima for years now and haven't had a single issue with it”
“I switched to Colima instead and couldn't be happier.”
“i have had zero issues with colima”
“Colima is easier to manage.”
“On both Linux and MacOS, use this:”
“colima works pretty well for mac”
“Colima, Apple's own container tool, or just running a Linux VM in Lima”
“Colima -- or, apparently, Orbstack which I'm excited to try -- should make that moot.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.