Portainer vs Yacht vs Dockge: Best Docker Management UI for a Homelab Server
Once you’ve got more than two or three Docker Compose stacks running on a homelab or small-office server, SSH-ing in to run docker compose up -d and tailing logs by hand starts to wear thin. A web UI for managing containers is usually the next thing people reach for — and Portainer, Yacht, and Dockge are the three names that come up most.
Search intent
Someone searching “Portainer vs Yacht vs Dockge” already runs Docker (probably via Compose) on a homelab or small-office server and wants a web-based way to see what’s running, start/stop stacks, and pull updates without a terminal session every time.
Quick take
- Want the most complete, actively developed tool with room to grow into RBAC/Kubernetes later: Portainer (Community Edition, free)
- Want the lightest, purpose-built tool that just manages Compose stacks well: Dockge
- Skip Yacht — active development stalled and it’s missing the Compose support both of the above have
The three options
Portainer is the most established of the three and the only one still under active, well-resourced development. Community Edition (CE) is free and open source, and covers Docker standalone, Docker Swarm, and Kubernetes — container start/stop/restart, image builds, log streaming, volume/network management, and basic access control. Business Edition (BE) is also free for up to 3 nodes with no time limit, adding RBAC, GitOps deployment, registry management, audit logs, and SSO on top of CE — most homelab and small-office setups fit inside that 3-node free tier without ever needing a paid plan. Paid BE tiers start at Starter ($105/month or $1,045/year, 5-15 nodes, capped to organizations under $50M revenue) and Scale ($209/month or $2,095/year, 5-35 nodes), with a separate $155/year Home & Student plan for up to 15 nodes on strictly non-commercial use. For a single homelab server or small-office box, none of the paid tiers are relevant — CE or the free BE tier covers it.
Dockge is a newer, purpose-built Compose stack manager from Louis Lam — the same developer behind Uptime Kuma, which shows in the UI’s clean, reactive style. It’s free, open source, and deliberately narrow in scope: it manages compose.yaml files through a web interface (create, edit, start, stop, update stacks) and stores those files as plain YAML on disk, so you can still use the Docker CLI directly on the same stacks without Dockge getting in the way. It doesn’t try to cover Kubernetes, Swarm, or fine-grained RBAC — it does one job, container-stack management via Compose, and does it with a lighter footprint than Portainer.
Yacht is an older Docker container UI built around app templates — a curated catalog you deploy from, similar in spirit to Portainer’s app templates feature. The problem is maintenance: development has stalled since 2023, it never gained native Compose support, and it carries a heavier Python-based backend and larger image size than its feature set justifies. It’s still free and technically functional, but there’s no real reason to pick it over Portainer or Dockge for a new setup in 2026.
Which one should you actually pick?
- Running a handful of Compose stacks on one homelab or small-office server: Dockge — lightest footprint, does exactly this job, and nothing else to configure.
- Want one tool that can also grow into Kubernetes, multi-node RBAC, or GitOps later without switching tools: Portainer CE/BE — the free tier (CE, or BE under 3 nodes) covers nearly every homelab/small-office case.
- Already have Portainer running and it’s meeting your needs: no reason to switch — this comparison mainly matters when picking a tool for the first time.
- Considering Yacht: don’t, unless you’re maintaining an existing Yacht install — pick Portainer or Dockge for anything new.
- Haven’t picked hardware to run this on yet: see best mini PC for a homelab server — either tool runs comfortably on the lower end of that lineup.
Mini PC / homelab server hardware placeholder — swap for a real hardware affiliate link once a program is confirmed, for readers who need a box to run Docker on before installing either tool.
Bottom line
Portainer and Dockge are both free, actively maintained, and cover the vast majority of homelab/small-office needs without hitting a paywall — Dockge for a lean, Compose-only setup, Portainer CE/BE for a tool that scales up if your setup grows past a single node. Yacht’s stalled development and missing Compose support make it a pass for any new install in 2026.