Colima

Colima, short for Containers on Lima, is an MIT-licensed command-line tool that gives developers a local container runtime on macOS and Linux without Docker Desktop. It starts a Linux virtual machine through the Lima project and runs Docker, containerd or Incus inside it. Adding the kubernetes flag starts a k3s-based cluster. It works on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. It supports the vz and krunkit VM types and Rosetta 2 x86 emulation on macOS 13 or later. Since version 0.10 it can also run GPU-accelerated containers and AI models through Docker Model Runner or Ramalama on Apple Silicon. Recent releases added nested virtualization for krunkit and soft delete for Incus instances. Colima suits individual developers and engineering teams who want a scriptable, free replacement for Docker Desktop. Because it runs Docker Engine, existing docker and Compose commands work unchanged. There is no pricing at all: no paid tier, add-ons or commercial licence. You install it with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix or Mise. It is not hosting. It runs containers only on the local machine and offers no servers, regions, SLA or managed services. Its main limitation is that it has no graphical interface. Reviewers say it needs more manual setup than OrbStack or Rancher Desktop. In OrbStack's own comparison, Colima lacks two-way file sharing, IPv6, container domains and automatic updates, and a 2023 DDEV benchmark found it slower than OrbStack. Support comes only from the GitHub community.