# Distribution vs Harbor

| Attribute | Distribution | Harbor |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 63.5 (77% (high)) | 65.8 (77% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 69 | 58 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 2,403 | 31 |
| adoption.github_stars | 10,649 | 29,540 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Open-source registry implementing OCI Distribution Spec version 1.0.1 that enables you to store and distribute container images with full control over your distribution pipeline. It is indexed under Container Registries.","source":"https://distribution.github.io/distribution/","question":"What is Distribution?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Distribution is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://distribution.github.io/distribution/","question":"Is Distribution free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Distribution supports Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://distribution.github.io/distribution/","question":"What platforms does Distribution support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Distribution can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://distribution.github.io/distribution/","question":"Can Distribution be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Distribution is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution","question":"Is Distribution open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"Harbor is an open source registry that secures artifacts with policies and role-based access control, ensures images are scanned and free from vulnerabilities, and signs images as trusted. It is indexed under Container Registries.","source":"https://goharbor.io","question":"What is Harbor?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Harbor is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://goharbor.io","question":"Is Harbor free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Harbor supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://goharbor.io","question":"What platforms does Harbor support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Harbor can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://goharbor.io","question":"Can Harbor be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 4 integrations for Harbor, including Trivy, Cosign, Redis and Valkey. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://goharbor.io","question":"What does Harbor integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Harbor is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor","question":"Is Harbor open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A cloud-based container image registry where developers can publish, discover, and collaborate on containerized applications. Includes user management, access controls, automated builds, and webhooks for integration into development workflows. | A 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"rbac":true,"web_ui":true,"hosting":"self","sbom_support":false,"image_signing":true,"oci_compliant":true,"private_repos":true,"artifact_types":"images","cloud_iam_native":false,"high_availability":true,"vulnerability_scanning":true}` | `{"rbac":true,"web_ui":true,"hosting":"self","image_signing":true,"oci_compliant":true,"private_repos":true,"artifact_types":"images_helm","high_availability":true,"pull_through_cache":true,"replication_mirroring":true,"vulnerability_scanning":true}` |
| integrations.count | 2 | 6 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"GitHub","native":true,"direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Webhooks","native":true,"direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Warp terminal","native":false}]` | `[{"name":"Trivy"},{"name":"Cosign"},{"name":"Redis"},{"name":"Valkey"},{"name":"LDAP","native":true,"category":"auth","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Active Directory","native":true,"category":"auth","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Docker","native":true,"direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Helm","native":true,"direction":"outbound"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://distribution.github.io/distribution/","retrievedAt":"2026-09-11T16:12:43.477Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://goharbor.io","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T15:18:28.787Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 55 | 3 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v3.1.2","date":"2026-09-24T12:21:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.1.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v3.1.1","date":"2026-05-01T15:51:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v3.1.0","date":"2026-04-06T17:09:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v3.0.0","date":"2025-04-03T06:25:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v3.0.0-rc.4","date":"2025-03-22T14:59:29Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.0.0-rc.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v3.0.0-rc.3","date":"2025-02-11T16:21:07Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.0.0-rc.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v3.0.0-rc.2","date":"2024-12-18T15:23:19Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.0.0-rc.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v3.0.0-rc.1","date":"2024-11-07T21:04:41Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.0.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v3.0.0-beta.1","date":"2024-07-10T13:22:40Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.0.0-beta.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v3.0.0-alpha.1","date":"2023-12-19T16:03:36Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.0.0-alpha.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v2.8.3","date":"2023-10-02T18:23:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.8.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v2.8.2","date":"2023-05-11T10:47:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.8.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v2.8.2-beta.2","date":"2023-05-09T23:32:56Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.8.2-beta.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v2.8.2-beta.1","date":"2023-05-09T22:42:12Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.8.2-beta.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v2.8.1","date":"2022-03-08T18:19:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v2.8.0","date":"2022-02-07T15:53:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v2.8.0-beta.1","date":"2022-01-21T16:49:13Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.8.0-beta.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v2.7.1","date":"2019-01-17T23:22:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v2.7.0","date":"2018-12-04T00:20:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/releases/tag/v2.7.0-rc.0","date":"2018-09-28T23:23:36Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.7.0-rc.0"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.14.6-rc1","date":"2026-10-13T05:53:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.6-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.4","date":"2026-10-09T03:28:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.15.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.4-rc1","date":"2026-10-08T12:46:11Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.4-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.3","date":"2026-10-06T13:11:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.15.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.14.5","date":"2026-10-06T15:47:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.13.6","date":"2026-10-06T15:48:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.13.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.3-rc2","date":"2026-09-24T02:31:00Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.3-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.3-rc1","date":"2026-09-11T02:50:26Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.3-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.2","date":"2026-07-02T10:04:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.15.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.2-rc3","date":"2026-07-02T03:31:08Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.2-rc3"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.2-rc2","date":"2026-06-27T08:03:52Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.2-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.2-rc1","date":"2026-06-17T07:35:43Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.2-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.14.4","date":"2026-05-11T04:08:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.14.4-rc1","date":"2026-05-10T03:47:44Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.4-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.1","date":"2026-05-06T08:48:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.15.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.1-rc2","date":"2026-05-06T08:24:03Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.1-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.1-rc1","date":"2026-04-29T08:21:43Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.1-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.0","date":"2026-03-20T04:36:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.0-rc4","date":"2026-03-19T08:37:39Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.0-rc4"},{"url":"https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/tag/v2.15.0-rc3","date":"2026-03-17T06:27:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.0-rc3"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 7.6 | 7.5 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":4,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fdistribution%2Fdistribution%2Fv3&per_page=100","last_12m":3,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` | `{"count":1,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fgoharbor%2Fharbor%2Fsrc&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Container Registries)

| Capability | Distribution | Harbor |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Self-hosted only | Self-hosted only |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| OCI Distribution Spec compliant | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Scope** |  |  |
| Artifact types | Container images only | Images + Helm/OCI artifacts |
| **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 | - | - |
| **UX** |  |  |
| Web UI / console | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| High-availability deployment | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T02:48:42.035Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*