# GitHub Container Registry vs Harbor

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Harbor

| Attribute | GitHub Container Registry | Harbor |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 37.2 (74% (medium)) | 65.8 (77% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 58 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 31 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 29,540 |
| content.faq | `[{"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}]` | `[{"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,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | 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 | `{"web_ui":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":"Jira"},{"name":"npm"},{"name":"GitHub Packages","native":true},{"name":"Docker","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 |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://ghcr.io","retrievedAt":"2026-09-04T13:22:59.458Z"}` | `{"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 | - | 3 |
| release.history | - | `[{"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 | - | 7.5 |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"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 | GitHub Container Registry | Harbor |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | - | Self-hosted only |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| OCI Distribution Spec compliant | - | ✓ |
| **Scope** |  |  |
| Artifact types | - | 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 2026-10-16T18:58:00.750Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*