Distribution vs zot
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
zot
Production-ready vendor-neutral OCI registry
| Feature | Distribution | zot |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,623 | ★ 2,799 |
| First released | 2015 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Docker Hub | Docker Hub, Harbor |
What are Distribution and zot?
Distribution
Distribution is the reference implementation of the OCI registry and the engine behind Docker Registry. It provides a simple, scalable self-hosted container image registry.
- OCI-compliant registry
- Pluggable storage backends
- Lightweight and fast
- Foundation of many registries
zot
zot is an OCI-native container image registry focused exclusively on the OCI spec. It supports image signing, vulnerability scanning, and a web UI for browsing repositories.
- OCI-only registry
- Built-in image scanning
- Web UI included
- Image signing support
Distribution vs zot: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Distribution is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for zot. Distribution is the more established project (first released 2015), while zot arrived in 2019. Distribution has the considerably larger community, at 10,623 GitHub stars versus 2,799.
Why pick each one
Choose Distribution if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
Choose zot if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
Frequently asked questions
Is Distribution or zot better?
Neither is universally better. Distribution has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Distribution and zot free and open-source?
Yes. Distribution is licensed under Apache-2.0 and zot under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Distribution and zot with Docker?
Distribution: yes. zot: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Distribution or zot?
Distribution has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for zot. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.