Chainguard Registry vs Harbor
On the evidence we track, Harbor leads this comparison with a composite score of 66/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.
Capabilities
Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for container registries. “-” means undocumented, not absent.
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
Chainguard Registry
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.
Harbor
LeaderA self-hosted Docker Distribution extension that provides centralized storage for container images and Helm charts with integrated security features including image signing, vulnerability scanning, user authentication, access control, and cross-registry replication.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
Chainguard Registry
Free tier with 5 images. Paid plans from $19K/year for catalog access.
- FreeFree
- 5 images per organization
- Base, Application, and AI/ML images
- No CVE remediation SLA
- Catalog$19K/year for team of 10 (full container catalog access)
- 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
- +3 more
- Per-ImageContact sales
- Flexible licensing by image count and type (base, app, AI/ML, FIPS)
- CVE remediation SLA
- Libraries-
- Python, Java, JavaScript libraries
- Unlimited applications per language with no metering
- Cross-compatibility across Linux distributions
- Virtual MachinesContact sales
- Minimal hardened OS images for general use or language runtimes
- CVE remediation SLA
- Multi-cloud and on-premises support
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
- Trivy
Chainguard Registry
- Cursor
- AWS Security Hub
- Wiz
- GitHub
- GitHub Actions
- npm
- SAP Cloud Application Programming Model
- Kubernetes
- Kiro
- Grype
- AWS Inspector
- Anchore Enterprise
- Snyk
- GitLab
- CrowdStrike
- Qualys
- JFrog Artifactory
- Cloudsmith
- Harbor
- Nexus
- Google Artifact Registry
- Docker Hub
- Amazon ECR
- Microsoft ACR
Harbor
Leader- Cosign
- Redis
- Valkey
- LDAP
- Active Directory
- Docker
- Helm
Chainguard Registry or Harbor: which one depends on you
A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.
Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works
Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.