Apptainer vs Shifter
| Apptainer | Shifter | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Paid from | Free | — |
| Open source | No | No |
| Platforms | api, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, Windows | Linux |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Rootless mode | Yes | — |
| Image building | Yes | No |
| Windows containers | No | — |
| Image format | both | docker |
| Runtime interface | other | other |
| Supported host OS | Linux; Windows via WSL2; macOS via Linux VM | Linux, including SUSE Linux, RHEL/CentOS/Scientific Linux, and Debian/Ubuntu |
Both are listed in Best Container Engines. On Samsung Mobile US Press, Apptainer scores higher on our published basis.