Comparison

Chainguard Registry vs Kraken

On the evidence we track, Chainguard Registry leads this comparison with a composite score of 59/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
★Chainguard Registry59
Kraken48
Score
vioscaleAI score
Chainguard Registry59 / 100medium · 71%
Kraken48 / 100medium · 72%
Pricing
Free tier
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken✓
Model
Chainguard Registryfreemium
Price level
Chainguard Registryhigh
Krakenfree
Starting price
Chainguard Registry$19,000
Kraken–
Transparent
Chainguard Registry✗
Kraken✓
Integrations
Count
Chainguard Registry19
Kraken5
Security
Certifications
Chainguard RegistryFIPS-validated
Kraken–
Disclosure policy
Chainguard Registry–
Kraken✓
Fedramp
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken–
Gdpr
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken–
Hipaa
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken–
Pci
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken–
Scorecard
Chainguard Registry–
Kraken4.6
Soc2
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken–
Reliability
Status page
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Chainguard Registry–
Kraken1
Github stars
Chainguard Registry–
Kraken6,743
Activity
Commits last 30d
Chainguard Registry–
Kraken29
Release
Cadence days
Chainguard Registry–
Kraken14
History
Chainguard Registry–
Kraken20 items
License
Spdx
Chainguard Registry–
Language
Primary
Chainguard Registry–
KrakenGo
Market
Availability
Kraken–
Content
Faq
Chainguard Registry7 items
Kraken6 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for container registries. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Deployment
Hosting
Chainguard RegistryCloud only
KrakenSelf-hosted only
Standards
OCI Distribution Spec compliant
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken-
Scope
Artifact types
Chainguard RegistryUniversal (images + language packages)
KrakenContainer images only
Security
Built-in vulnerability scanning
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken-
Image signing (Cosign/Notation)
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken-
SBOM generation / storage
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken-
Access
Fine-grained RBAC / robot accounts
Chainguard Registry-
Kraken-
Private repositories
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken✓
Distribution
Geo-replication / mirroring
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken✓
Pull-through cache / proxy
Chainguard Registry-
Kraken-
Integration
Native cloud IAM integration
Chainguard Registry-
Kraken-
Pricing
Pull-rate limits
Chainguard RegistryNone
Kraken-
UX
Web UI / console
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken-
Ops
High-availability deployment
Chainguard Registry-
Kraken✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Chainguard Registry

Leader

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.

Independently observed

Kraken

A peer-to-peer based Docker registry system designed for high-throughput distribution of container images across large clusters and hybrid cloud environments with built-in support for multi-cluster replication.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Chainguard Registry

Leader
from $19000/yrSubscriptionFree tier

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
as of verify ↗

Kraken

Open source
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken✗
CLI
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken✓
Self-hosted
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken✓
On-premise
Chainguard Registry✓
Kraken✗
Hybrid
Chainguard Registry✗
Kraken✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (1)
  • Harbor

Chainguard Registry

Leader
25 total - 24 not shared
  • Cursor
  • AWS Security Hub
  • Wiz
  • GitHub
  • GitHub Actions
  • npm
  • SAP Cloud Application Programming Model
  • Kubernetes
  • Kiro
  • Grype
  • Trivy
  • AWS Inspector
  • Anchore Enterprise
  • Snyk
  • GitLab
  • CrowdStrike
  • Qualys
  • JFrog Artifactory
  • Cloudsmith
  • Nexus
  • Google Artifact Registry
  • Docker Hub
  • Amazon ECR
  • Microsoft ACR
Independently observed

Kraken

5 total - 4 not shared
  • S3
  • GCS
  • ECR
  • HDFS
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Chainguard Registry or Kraken: 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.