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Cloud · head to head

containerd vs Nebula

containerd logo

containerd

Cloud

Industry-standard container runtime, and the engine inside Docker

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Nebula logo

Nebula

Networking

Certificate based overlay network from Slack, with identity and firewall rules carried in the certificate

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: containerd not a developer-facing tool: there is no build command and the CLI is deliberately minimal, so it needs companions like nerdctl or Buildah; Nebula the open source project has no user interface, no enrolment workflow and no revocation service, so certificate issuing, distribution and expiry become scripts you write and then have to keep working.
  • They diverge on capability: containerd covers Full container lifecycle, Nebula covers Certificate carried identity.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which containerd and Nebula actually diverge.

Attributes where containerd and Nebula differ
AttributecontainerdNebula
PlatformsLinux, WindowsLinux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD
CategoryCloudNetworking

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in containerd

  • Full container lifecycle
  • CRI support
  • OCI compliant
  • Snapshotter plugins
  • Namespaces
  • Stable API

Only in Nebula

  • Certificate carried identity
  • Group based host firewall
  • Lighthouse discovery
  • Noise protocol encryption
  • Unsafe routes
  • Managed option

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

containerd

  • Running the container runtime under a Kubernetes cluster after the Docker shim removalnot Nebula
  • Building a platform or PaaS that needs to execute containersnot Nebula
  • Reducing the moving parts on nodes that only ever run Kubernetes workloadsnot Nebula
  • Embedding container execution inside another productnot Nebula

Nebula

  • Flattening a network across several clouds and datacentres without VPC peering or route tablesnot containerd
  • Very large fleets where a central policy service on the connection path is unacceptablenot containerd
  • Environments that already run an internal certificate authority and want the network to use itnot containerd
  • Replacing per host iptables rules with policy written against roles that follow the hostnot containerd

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

containerd

  • Not a developer-facing tool: there is no build command and the CLI is deliberately minimal, so it needs companions like nerdctl or Buildah
  • Debugging is lower-level than Docker, and error messages assume knowledge of the runtime internals
  • Documentation is aimed at platform engineers, so newcomers usually find Docker or Podman material more useful
  • No image building at all — that is out of scope by design

Nebula

  • The open source project has no user interface, no enrolment workflow and no revocation service, so certificate issuing, distribution and expiry become scripts you write and then have to keep working.
  • Revoking a compromised host means distributing a blocklist entry to every other host and reloading them, which is a fleet wide operation rather than a click, and easy to get wrong under pressure.
  • Changing a host group membership means reissuing and redeploying its certificate, so policy changes are a deployment rather than a configuration edit.
  • There is no identity provider integration or single sign on in the open source version, so it maps well to servers and badly to a fleet of user laptops.
  • NAT traversal is best effort and hosts behind symmetric NAT need a relay configured deliberately, so connectivity failures show up as intermittent rather than immediate and are awkward to diagnose.

Pricing, plan by plan

containerd

Free
  • containerdFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

Nebula

Free
  • NebulaFree
    • Full functionality under the MIT licence
    • No host limit
    • You operate the certificate authority and lighthouses
  • Defined Networking$undefined/month
    • Hosted control plane and enrolment
    • Managed certificate lifecycle and revocation
    • Policy and DNS interface

Which should you pick?

Choose containerd if

  • You need full container lifecycle.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows.
  • You also want cri support.
containerd review

Choose Nebula if

  • You need certificate carried identity.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD.
  • You also want group based host firewall.
Nebula review

Questions people ask

Is containerd or Nebula better?
Neither clearly leads. containerd starts at Free and Nebula at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, containerd or Nebula?
containerd starts at Free and Nebula at Free.
Does containerd or Nebula run on more platforms?
containerd runs on Linux, Windows. Nebula runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD.
Can I use containerd for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is containerd best used for?
containerd is most often used for running the container runtime under a kubernetes cluster after the docker shim removal, building a platform or paas that needs to execute containers, reducing the moving parts on nodes that only ever run kubernetes workloads, embedding container execution inside another product. Of those, running the container runtime under a kubernetes cluster after the docker shim removal and building a platform or paas that needs to execute containers are not what Nebula is typically brought in for.
What can containerd do that Nebula cannot?
containerd covers Full container lifecycle, CRI support, OCI compliant, Snapshotter plugins. Nebula covers Certificate carried identity, Group based host firewall, Lighthouse discovery, Noise protocol encryption.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

containerd: Is containerd free?

Yes. It is an open-source CNCF graduated project with no licence fee.

Nebula: Does it use WireGuard?

No. Nebula predates the common WireGuard mesh tools and uses the Noise protocol framework with its own certificate format.

containerd: Do I need containerd if I use Docker?

You already have it. Docker uses containerd underneath to run containers; it is not an alternative you install separately.

Nebula: Can I run it without Defined Networking?

Yes, entirely. Defined Networking sells the control plane conveniences, not the network itself.

containerd: Why did Kubernetes drop Docker for containerd?

Kubernetes talks to runtimes through the Container Runtime Interface. Docker did not speak CRI natively and needed a shim, so Kubernetes removed the shim and talks to containerd directly, which Docker was already using anyway.

Nebula: How do I revoke a host?

Add its certificate fingerprint to the blocklist in the configuration of the other hosts and reload them. There is no online revocation check.

containerd: Can containerd build images?

No. Image building is deliberately out of scope. Tools such as Buildah, BuildKit or Docker handle that.

Nebula: Is it a good fit for laptops?

Less so than the identity provider based tools. There is no single sign on, so every laptop needs a certificate issued and renewed by whatever process you build.

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