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Docker vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL] comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Docker
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (1st), Container Management (6th), Software Supply Chain Security (2nd), AI Software Development (16th)
Nutanix Kubernetes Engine N...
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

ER
Senior QA and Developer
Local container testing has boosted development speed but still needs lower battery and memory use
The main thing that really frustrates me about Docker is how much battery power it consumes on a Macintosh. I really am not a fan of that, which leads me to not want to run Docker 24/7 because I do not want my laptop battery to be exhausted by Docker instances running or even the Docker CLI or UI being booted up. I tend to not have it running until I need it, and then I run it and close it. It would be really nice if it did not consume as much battery as it does currently. Docker can definitely be improved by reducing the battery and CPU load that it impacts on a Macintosh. If it were possible for me to run Docker without panicking about the battery running out, that would be excellent. I believe battery is the biggest issue with Docker. The other issue is memory. It seems to consume a lot of memory, and I am not a fan of that. This means that I need to have a really powerful, high-specification Macintosh with a lot of battery and a lot of memory for it to work reliably. I do not always have access to that. If Docker could consume less battery and less memory, that would be magnificent.
reviewer2741271 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nutanix Administrator at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Has provided seamless upgrade experiences and robust technical support
I have heard there are many features added in NKP that are not available in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE, such as load balancer features. The unified control plane feature is not being used in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE. We are currently using a third-party tool for load balancing, but going forward, NKP will include load balancer, ingress, and egress features, making infrastructure management much easier. There is no auto-scaling feature in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE; however, NKP offers it. In NKE, we created additional worker nodes and increased CPU and RAM capacity, but it required manual intervention. Concerning policy-driven governance in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE, we have the ability to implement RBAC at the cluster level, which helps maintain security by not granting full admin privileges to every end user, thus restricting access effectively.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The initial setup was easy, and you are only required to run commands."
"The solution is lightweight which is valuable, and the ease of deploying on any cloud is valuable."
"It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Docker is highly scalable."
"We are able to stop our containers or stop the service with a single command."
"Using Docker has allowed me to test faster, and software development has moved faster."
"Docker has relieved a lot of the pressure, including the fact that I no longer have to provide everything from scratch."
"We use Docker to facilitate deployment, updates, and management."
"I would recommend using this product, it's very good."
"We can do a lot of provisioning."
"The solution provides no downtime features. If we face issues, we create a new port, deploy it there, and then drop the existing one. This way, we avoid NKE downtime on our website."
"The most valuable features of the Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) are its simplicity and efficiency during the initial cluster creation phase."
"My experience with Nutanix's technical support is excellent."
"The platform is valuable due to its ease of use and quick deployment capabilities."
"Nutanix's support is really good."
"Karbon is embedded in the hypervisor, there are no deployment costs and the administration is via Prism Central."
 

Cons

"Docker could improve by having security vulnerability reports."
"Docker could improve by having more advanced features."
"If you install Docker on a host, it creates its own firewalls. It can become an issue. Usually, when you want to install Docker, you need to restart the firewall or restart the active tables on the machine, but this is not the case with Kubernetes. It uses the default set up by the next administrator, but with Docker, you have to restart the firewall and restart Docker before the firewall on the system will be okay. If you do not the rules will not be created."
"If you install Docker on a host, it creates its own firewalls. It can become an issue."
"Stability is an area with a shortcoming."
"Docker could improve by providing the ability to use the GPU for parallel processing. If there was the capability of using the GPU it would improve the machine learning that I want to use."
"I would like to see better management layers."
"I would like to see a single package image orchestration bundled together. Although Docker has ways to implement, it is not as flexible as Kubernetes."
"I would like to have more nodes for availability and storage."
"There have been cases where we've deployed with Karbon and haven't seen that it includes errors."
"The product lacks some virtualization capabilities, making it an area for improvement where the solution can focus on providing users with more virtualization capabilities related to disk systems."
"NKE could benefit from additional features that support more advanced Kubernetes functionalities and configurations."
"I have issues with the product's interoperability."
"GUI lacks sufficient information to help with understanding the installation and process."
"There have been challenges related to software bugs, especially regarding long-term licensing options and issues within our customer network."
"Areas for improvement in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) include upgrading management capabilities and enhancing the user interface for improved usability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For commercial use, it's about $30 per month. The license itself isn't expensive, but if there are many users, the price becomes high."
"It's an open-source solution, so it doesn't cost anything"
"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs."
"Regarding pricing, we primarily use AWS for our deployments since we have funding for it. We don't spend much on Docker-specific services, just the containerization product. Docker Hub isn't particularly expensive either, so overall, the pricing is pretty reasonable."
"Customers pay for the license through a yearly subscription model, where they pay per license. This means that the license is based on a subscription, and the customer pays annually for each license they use."
"Docker is cost-effective and open-source."
"Since Docker is an open-source solution, it is free of cost."
"I would rate the pricing of Docker as ten out of ten"
"The product's licenses are included in the software version deployed in our data center."
"I rate the product price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"I rate NKE's pricing a six out of ten."
"While deploying Kubernetes clusters on Nutanix is cost-effective, there may be additional costs for remote branch offices where Kubernetes is less common."
"The platform is averagely priced. I rate the pricing as four out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise35
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Docker?
My experience with Docker's pricing, setup costs, and licensing as an architect involves mainly using the free community version for creating containers, while costs for enterprise environments dep...
What needs improvement with Docker?
In my opinion, Docker could improve the experience of container management and monitoring by simplifying the configuration of complex environments and offering more intuitive tools, as I still some...
What is your primary use case for Docker?
I have been using Docker since 2017, when I needed to create some APIs to carry out integrations between systems, specifically to create an API layer to use with two main tools: Salesforce and Sens...
What needs improvement with Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?
In terms of features, I cannot comment technically, but the real value is the consolidated out-of-the-box solution that Nutanix offers. Nutanix has built great branding and a lot of credibility and...
What is your primary use case for Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?
I have experience with OpenShift, Kubernetes, and Nutanix, as we are one of the largest Nutanix resellers in the Middle East. We handle Kubernetes on the cloud as well, so we manage most of the Kub...
What advice do you have for others considering Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?
I don't have a technical role, but we are a system integrator, so we sell solutions such as OpenShift and Kubernetes as part of the sales team. We are a reseller called eSky IT, and I serve as the ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Nutanix Karbon
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen
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