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A Guide to Docker – How it Works and Pricing

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David Greaves
A Guide to Docker – How it Works and Pricing

While it is natural for potential users to be curious about the pricing of a cloud-based platform, it is necessary to know first what is Docker before plunging into the intricacies of Docker pricing.


What is Docker

Docker is a software platform where you can quickly build, test, and deploy applications. Docker segregates the software into standardized modules known as containers that have everything required by the Docker software to operate. By using Docker, it is possible to deploy and scale applications into any ecosystem and ensure that there will be no problems in running your code. Developers and system administrators get a highly reliable, low-cost way to build, ship, and run distributed applications at any scale by running Docker on AWS (Amazon Web Service).


Decker Pricing

On August 31, 2021, Docker introduced a paid plan for its popular Desktop application, a result of a major shakeup of its Subscription pricing.   

Docker pricing though was not standardized across sectors. Companies with more than 250 employees or $10 million in revenue were given till January 31, 2022, to sign up for a paid subscription if they wanted to continue using the application. However, it continued to be free for smaller businesses, personal use, education, and “non-commercial open-source projects”. This segment though makes up more than half of the current user base of the company.

The newly launched Docker pricing plans are Personal, Pro, Team, and Business, which correspondingly replaced the old free plans of Pro, Team, and Large. Now, while the Personal plan remains free, the Pro plan costs $5 a month for individuals, the Team plan costs $7 a month per user, and the Business plan starts at $21 per user per month.

In the structure of the current Docker pricing, the Pro and Team plans remain the same. However, large business users will have to opt for a paid subscription to get additional features like registry restrictions, single sign-on, and secure software supply chain management. Even in the changed Docker pricing structure, Docker Personal customers will get free access to Desktop, Docker CLI, Docker Compose, Docker Engine, Docker Hub, and Docker Official Images.


The Functioning of Docker

Docker is an operating system for containers and provides a standard way to run your code. Just as a virtual machine virtualizes server hardware, containers virtualize the operating system of a server. Each server has Docker installed on it that gives easy commands that can be used to build, start, or stop containers.

Using Docker has several cutting-edge functionalities. It allows you to ship code quickly, move code seamlessly, standardize application operations, and improve resource utilization. Docker offers a single object that can operate reliably at any location with its straightforward syntax giving users full control over the software. Both the Docker commercial and open-source solutions have the support of AWS, thereby having access to run containers on the Amazon Elastic Container Service.

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