Docker vs Kubernetes: Complete Comparison Guide
Compare Docker and Kubernetes on containerization, orchestration, complexity, and scalability. Discover when you need Docker Compose versus full Kubernetes.
Docker
An open-source platform for building, distributing, and running applications in containers. Docker packages your application with all dependencies into an isolated, portable unit. With Docker Compose, you can easily define and manage multi-container applications.
Kubernetes
An open-source container orchestration platform originally developed by Google for automatically deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications. Kubernetes manages clusters of containers across multiple machines and provides self-healing, scalable infrastructure.
Comparison table
| Feature | Docker | Kubernetes |
|---|---|---|
| Primary function | Containerization — packaging and running applications | Orchestration — managing containers at scale across clusters |
| Complexity | Low — easy to set up and understand | High — steep learning curve with many concepts and configuration |
| Scaling | Manual or limited with Docker Compose | Automatic horizontal scaling based on load metrics |
| Availability | No built-in high availability | Built-in self-healing, rollouts, and load balancing |
| Networking | Simple bridge networking between containers | Advanced service mesh, ingress controllers, and DNS discovery |
Verdict
Docker and Kubernetes are not direct competitors but complementary technologies. Docker is essential for building and packaging containers — virtually every containerization workflow starts here. Kubernetes builds on this by adding orchestration: automatic scaling, self-healing, and management of large numbers of containers across clusters. For small projects, Docker with Compose is often sufficient. Once your application grows to multiple services with high availability requirements, Kubernetes becomes valuable. The real question is not which one to choose, but when you need Kubernetes on top of Docker.
Our recommendation
At MG Software, we start every project with Docker for containerization and reproducible development environments. For most client projects, we deploy to managed platforms like Vercel or Railway, making Kubernetes unnecessary. When clients run complex microservice architectures with specific scalability and compliance requirements, we recommend managed Kubernetes services like Google GKE or AWS EKS. We only advise self-managed Kubernetes when the team has the expertise to handle the operational complexity, as the overhead otherwise outweighs the benefits.
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