Comparison

Harbor vs Zot

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.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
★Harbor66
Zot54
Score
vioscaleAI score
Harbor66 / 100high · 77%
Zot54 / 100high · 75%
Pricing
Free tier
Harbor✓
Zot✓
Price level
Harborfree
Zotfree
Transparent
Harbor✓
Zot✓
Integrations
Count
Harbor6
Zot1
Reliability
Status page
Harbor✓
Zot–
Adoption
Dependent repos
Harbor31
Zot0
Github stars
Harbor29,540
Activity
Commits last 30d
Harbor58
Zot67
Release
Cadence days
Harbor3
Zot31
History
License
Language
Primary
HarborGo
ZotGo
Content
Faq

Capabilities

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

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

What each one is

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

Harbor

Leader

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.

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.

Harbor

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

Integrations

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

Harbor

Leader
8 total
  • Trivy
  • Cosign
  • Redis
  • Valkey
  • LDAP
  • Active Directory
  • Docker
  • Helm
Independently observed

Zot

1 total
  • Stacker
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Harbor 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.