Comparison

Chainguard Registry vs Zot

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.

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★Chainguard Registry59
Zot54
Score
vioscaleAI score
Chainguard Registry59 / 100medium · 71%
Zot54 / 100high · 75%
Pricing
Free tier
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot✓
Model
Chainguard Registryfreemium
Price level
Chainguard Registryhigh
Zotfree
Starting price
Chainguard Registry$19,000
Zot–
Transparent
Chainguard Registry✗
Zot✓
Integrations
Count
Chainguard Registry19
Zot1
Security
Certifications
Chainguard RegistryFIPS-validated
Zot–
Fedramp
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot–
Gdpr
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot–
Hipaa
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot–
Pci
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot–
Scorecard
Chainguard Registry–
Zot8
Soc2
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot–
Trust center
Zot–
Reliability
Status page
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot–
Adoption
Dependent repos
Chainguard Registry–
Zot0
Github stars
Chainguard Registry–
Activity
Commits last 30d
Chainguard Registry–
Zot67
Release
Cadence days
Chainguard Registry–
Zot31
History
Chainguard Registry–
License
Spdx
Chainguard Registry–
Language
Primary
Chainguard Registry–
ZotGo
Market
Availability
Zot–
Content
Faq
Chainguard Registry7 items

Capabilities

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

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

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

Zot

A lightweight, self-contained registry for managing container images that fully implements OCI standards. It runs as a single binary without elevated privileges and includes built-in security scanning, access control, garbage collection, and image deduplication.

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 ↗

Zot

Open sourceFree tier
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✓
Zot✗
macOS
Chainguard Registry✗
Zot✓
Linux
Chainguard Registry✗
Zot✓
CLI
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot✓
Self-hosted
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot✓
On-premise
Chainguard Registry✓
Zot✗

Integrations

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

Chainguard Registry

Leader
25 total
  • 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
  • Harbor
  • Nexus
  • Google Artifact Registry
  • Docker Hub
  • Amazon ECR
  • +1 more
Independently observed

Zot

1 total
  • Stacker
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Chainguard Registry or Zot: 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.