Harbor vs Quay
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Harbor
Cloud-native container registry with security
VS
Quay
Enterprise-grade container image registry
| Feature | Harbor | Quay |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 29,113 | ★ 2,815 |
| First released | 2016 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Docker Hub, Artifactory | Docker Hub, Harbor |
Why pick each one
Choose Harbor if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 29.1k GitHub stars
Choose Quay if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Harbor or Quay better?
Harbor is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Quay if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Harbor and Quay free and open-source?
Yes. Harbor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Quay under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Harbor and Quay with Docker?
Harbor: yes. Quay: yes.