# Chainguard Registry vs GitHub Container Registry

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Chainguard Registry

| Attribute | Chainguard Registry | GitHub Container Registry |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 59.3 (71% (medium)) | 37.2 (74% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A distribution of minimally-configured container images and software packages that receive frequent security updates from source code. All artifacts include SBOMs and provenance documentation to support supply chain security and compliance verification. It is indexed under Container Registries.","source":"https://www.chainguard.dev/unchained/unlock-the-full-chainguard-containers-catalog-now-with-a-catalog-pricing-option","question":"What is Chainguard Registry?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Chainguard Registry does not publish its prices. Pricing is quoted on request, across 2 plans (Catalog Pricing and Per-Image Pricing), so the figure depends on your seat count and requirements. We record this as a pricing-transparency signal rather than guessing a number. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.chainguard.dev/unchained/unlock-the-full-chainguard-containers-catalog-now-with-a-catalog-pricing-option","question":"How much does Chainguard Registry cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Chainguard Registry supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.chainguard.dev/unchained/unlock-the-full-chainguard-containers-catalog-now-with-a-catalog-pricing-option","question":"What platforms does Chainguard Registry support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Chainguard Registry, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.chainguard.dev/unchained/unlock-the-full-chainguard-containers-catalog-now-with-a-catalog-pricing-option","question":"Can Chainguard Registry be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 12 integrations for Chainguard Registry, including Cursor, AWS Security Hub, Wiz, GitHub, npm, SAP Cloud Application Programming Model, Kubernetes and Kiro, plus 4 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.chainguard.dev/unchained/unlock-the-full-chainguard-containers-catalog-now-with-a-catalog-pricing-option","question":"What does Chainguard Registry integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR for Chainguard Registry. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Chainguard Registry not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.chainguard.dev","question":"What security certifications does Chainguard Registry have?","confidence":0.48},{"answer":"Chainguard Registry is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States.","source":"https://www.chainguard.dev/unchained/unlock-the-full-chainguard-containers-catalog-now-with-a-catalog-pricing-option","question":"Where is Chainguard Registry available?","confidence":0.5}]` | `[{"answer":"GitHub Actions enables automated workflows for building, testing, and deploying code directly from GitHub. It supports multiple programming languages and operating systems, with flexible execution options including GitHub-hosted runners or self-hosted infrastructure deployed in cloud or on-premises environments. It is indexed under Container Registries.","source":"https://ghcr.io","question":"What is GitHub Container Registry?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"GitHub Container Registry offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://ghcr.io","question":"Is GitHub Container Registry free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"GitHub Container Registry supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://ghcr.io","question":"What platforms does GitHub Container Registry support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. GitHub Container Registry can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://ghcr.io","question":"Can GitHub Container Registry be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 3 integrations for GitHub Container Registry, including Jira, npm and GitHub Packages. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://ghcr.io","question":"What does GitHub Container Registry integrate with?","confidence":0.6}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A registry service providing pre-hardened container images, language libraries, and VM images built with security-first design and continuously patched against vulnerabilities. Designed to reduce engineering overhead and ensure compliance without manual security management. | A workflow automation platform integrated with GitHub that allows you to automatically build, test, and deploy code directly from your repository. Supports multiple programming languages and execution environments including containers, virtual machines, and various operating systems. |
| features.capabilities | `{"web_ui":true,"hosting":"cloud","sbom_support":true,"image_signing":true,"oci_compliant":true,"private_repos":true,"artifact_types":"universal","pull_rate_limits":"none","replication_mirroring":true,"vulnerability_scanning":true}` | `{"web_ui":true}` |
| integrations.count | 19 | 2 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Cursor"},{"name":"AWS Security Hub"},{"name":"Wiz"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"GitHub Actions"},{"name":"npm"},{"name":"SAP Cloud Application Programming Model"},{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"Kiro","native":true},{"name":"Grype"},{"name":"Trivy"},{"name":"AWS Inspector"},{"name":"Anchore Enterprise"},{"name":"Snyk","native":true,"category":"security"},{"name":"GitLab","native":true,"category":"security"},{"name":"CrowdStrike","native":true,"category":"security"},{"name":"Qualys","native":true,"category":"security"},{"name":"JFrog Artifactory","native":true,"category":"artifact-management"},{"name":"Cloudsmith","native":true,"category":"artifact-management"},{"name":"Harbor","native":true,"category":"artifact-management"},{"name":"Nexus","native":true,"category":"artifact-management"},{"name":"Google Artifact Registry","native":true,"category":"artifact-management"},{"name":"Docker Hub","native":true,"category":"artifact-management"},{"name":"Amazon ECR","native":true,"category":"artifact-management"},{"name":"Microsoft ACR","native":true,"category":"artifact-management"}]` | `[{"name":"Jira"},{"name":"npm"},{"name":"GitHub Packages","native":true},{"name":"Docker","native":false}]` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","features":["5 images per organization","Base, Application, and AI/ML images","No CVE remediation SLA"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"5 container images for testing and production deployment","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"images":"5"}},{"free":false,"name":"Catalog","summary":"$19K/year for team of 10 (full container catalog access)","features":["Full access to 3,000+ images","Unlimited pulls with no metering","CVE remediation SLA (7 days critical, 14 days high/medium/low)","SLSA L3 hardened infrastructure","Sigstore signed artifacts with build-time SBOMs and attestations","STIG-hardened and FIPS-validated images","Private APK Repository (10,000+ packages)","Custom Assembly tooling"],"minSeats":10,"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":19000,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Full access to 3,000+ container images with enterprise CVE remediation SLA","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Per-Image","features":["Flexible licensing by image count and type (base, app, AI/ML, FIPS)","CVE remediation SLA"],"description":"Licensed by number and type of container images used","contactSales":true},{"free":false,"name":"Libraries","features":["Python, Java, JavaScript libraries","Unlimited applications per language with no metering","Cross-compatibility across Linux distributions"],"description":"Language library packages licensed by developer tier","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Virtual Machines","features":["Minimal hardened OS images for general use or language runtimes","CVE remediation SLA","Multi-cloud and on-premises support"],"description":"Hardened VM images with enterprise support","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free tier with 5 images. Paid plans from $19K/year for catalog access.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.chainguard.dev/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-10-05T10:10:26.962Z","startingPrice":{"amount":19000,"period":"year","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"hybrid","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://ghcr.io","retrievedAt":"2026-09-04T13:22:59.458Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | high | low |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":19000,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | no | no |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.certifications | `[{"name":"FIPS-validated","status":"active"}]` | - |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.trust_center | https://www.chainguard.dev/unchained/ | - |

## Capabilities (Container Registries)

| Capability | Chainguard Registry | GitHub Container Registry |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud only | - |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| OCI Distribution Spec compliant | ✓ | - |
| **Scope** |  |  |
| Artifact types | Universal (images + language packages) | - |
| **Security** |  |  |
| Built-in vulnerability scanning | ✓ | - |
| Image signing (Cosign/Notation) | ✓ | - |
| SBOM generation / storage | ✓ | - |
| **Access** |  |  |
| Fine-grained RBAC / robot accounts | - | - |
| Private repositories | ✓ | - |
| **Distribution** |  |  |
| Geo-replication / mirroring | ✓ | - |
| Pull-through cache / proxy | - | - |
| **Integration** |  |  |
| Native cloud IAM integration | - | - |
| **Pricing** |  |  |
| Pull-rate limits | None | - |
| **UX** |  |  |
| Web UI / console | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| High-availability deployment | - | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:02:59.268Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*