{"slug": "orbstack", "name": "OrbStack", "category": "infra", "category_name": "Infrastructure and DevOps", "description": "Lightweight macOS app for running Docker containers and Linux virtual machines.", "recommenders": 17, "commenters": 21, "warners": 0, "score": 16.218, "rising": -1.58, "first": "2025-12-01", "latest": "2026-10-03", "why": "HN commenters recommend it as a faster, lighter replacement for Docker Desktop on Mac, and for running Linux machines that work with tools like Tailscale.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 17, "neutral": 4, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 2, 3, 1, 0, 1, 1, 3, 3, 2, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": ["Docker Desktop replacement", "Speed"], "caveat": "Cost", "short_quote": "Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/orbstack/orbstack", "official_url": "https://orbstack.dev", "pricing": "freemium", "aliases": ["OrbStack"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters recommend it as a faster, lighter replacement for Docker Desktop on Mac", "cites": [{"id": 787709745, "item_id": 49231859, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49231859", "by": "chrisldgk", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OrbStack is my go-to when it comes to running docker on Mac.", "excerpt": "It\u2019s sluggish, it\u2019s incredibly bloated with all the services that Docker (the company) wants to sell you and the UI is badly designed. OrbStack is my go-to when it comes to running docker on Mac. It also uses macOS native containerization APIs so containers will be a bit more performant than they would (at least use to) be on Docker Desktop. Another good approach if you\u2019re fine without a GUI or want to bring your own", "context": "", "use_case": "running Docker on Mac", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "My server is a phone now"}, {"id": 754441632, "item_id": 47152602, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47152602", "by": "nsbk", "date": "2026-02-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far.", "excerpt": "Another alternative (although Mac OS-only) is [0] OrbStack. Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far. [0]: https://orbstack.dev", "context": "has a dev team using it", "use_case": "containers on macOS", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build"}, {"id": 781194001, "item_id": 48824625, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48824625", "by": "david_p", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium)", "excerpt": "I will give this a try! Docker desktop on mac does not work well (uses lots of resources) and my current alternative is OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium).", "context": "", "use_case": "containers on Mac", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}, {"id": 775527568, "item_id": 48470473, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48470473", "by": "trueno", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "orbstack super owns and i use it every day.", "excerpt": "just dropping in to say orbstack super owns and i use it every day. huge respect to rethinking this experience, for a minute there i thought docker was just going to be the only path. i dont think ive looked back for docker since. orbstack just feels right, and damn its so fast and good with resources, and the UI is just insanely straight forward. props!", "context": "", "use_case": "containers and Linux machines on macOS", "switched_from": "Docker", "story": "macOS Container Machines"}]}, {"text": ", and for running Linux machines that work with tools like Tailscale.", "cites": [{"id": 773109745, "item_id": 48319359, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48319359", "by": "Bnjoroge", "date": "2026-05-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Both great products.", "excerpt": "I use Tailscale with orbstack machines which allows me to run two tailnets at once($dayjob and homelab). Both great products. https://bnjoroge.com/posts/connecting-to-multiple-tailscale-networks-on-a-single-host/", "context": "runs a day job and a homelab", "use_case": "Linux VMs on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Using Tailscale with an OrbStack VM on macOS"}, {"id": 773025825, "item_id": 48314114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48314114", "by": "sudosteph", "date": "2026-05-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the default setup doesn't really sandbox effectively", "excerpt": "I use tailscale with Orbstack so that my agents on the vm can use tailscale serve to share dashboards I can view on my phone. Works out nicely. One thing I noticed though, is that even if I set up the VM as a tagged device with limited access rules, if my host machine (the laptop) is connected as my user (which has less limited permissions), the vm uses my host's user permissions, which isn't really what I want. If I", "context": "", "use_case": "VM sandbox for agents", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Using Tailscale with an OrbStack VM on macOS"}, {"id": 764013297, "item_id": 47750831, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47750831", "by": "Imustaskforhelp", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend quickget for linux and orbstack for macos", "excerpt": "I feel like its a good approach, personally I am just using a 7$/yr vps or exe.dev (I had signed up on it since day one) If someone wishes to do something like this, I recommend quickget for linux and orbstack for macos although quickget can work on mac. I really like this project too https://github.com/losfair/bake", "context": "", "use_case": "VMs/containers on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Has anyone reconsidered Antivirus software after recent security news?"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveat is cost, since it is freemium and some commenters say they don't pay for Docker tools", "cites": [{"id": 781194001, "item_id": 48824625, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48824625", "by": "david_p", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium)", "excerpt": "I will give this a try! Docker desktop on mac does not work well (uses lots of resources) and my current alternative is OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium).", "context": "", "use_case": "containers on Mac", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}, {"id": 781200640, "item_id": 48825040, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48825040", "by": "dllrr", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Worth the cost for me because it's so well integrated and fast and docker command compatible.", "excerpt": "I've been a fan of Orbstack for make 2 years or so. Worth the cost for me because it's so well integrated and fast and docker command compatible. I'll give this a try though.", "context": "", "use_case": "running containers on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}, {"id": 738089088, "item_id": 46130568, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46130568", "by": "colesantiago", "date": "2025-12-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "nobody I know pays for Orbstack or any of these docker tools", "excerpt": "Honestly what does enshittified this mean in this case? I can only assume it means \u201cpaid\u201d because nobody I know pays for Orbstack or any of these docker tools.", "context": "", "use_case": "running containers", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What alternatives to Docker Desktop are people using?"}]}, {"text": ", and it runs only on macOS.", "cites": [{"id": 754441632, "item_id": 47152602, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47152602", "by": "nsbk", "date": "2026-02-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far.", "excerpt": "Another alternative (although Mac OS-only) is [0] OrbStack. Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far. [0]: https://orbstack.dev", "context": "has a dev team using it", "use_case": "containers on macOS", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Docker Desktop replacement", "summary": "Several commenters switched from Docker Desktop and prefer it for running containers on Mac.", "quotes": [{"id": 787709745, "item_id": 49231859, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49231859", "by": "chrisldgk", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OrbStack is my go-to when it comes to running docker on Mac.", "excerpt": "It\u2019s sluggish, it\u2019s incredibly bloated with all the services that Docker (the company) wants to sell you and the UI is badly designed. OrbStack is my go-to when it comes to running docker on Mac. It also uses macOS native containerization APIs so containers will be a bit more performant than they would (at least use to) be on Docker Desktop. Another good approach if you\u2019re fine without a GUI or want to bring your own", "context": "", "use_case": "running Docker on Mac", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "My server is a phone now"}, {"id": 754441632, "item_id": 47152602, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47152602", "by": "nsbk", "date": "2026-02-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far.", "excerpt": "Another alternative (although Mac OS-only) is [0] OrbStack. Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far. [0]: https://orbstack.dev", "context": "has a dev team using it", "use_case": "containers on macOS", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build"}, {"id": 799071889, "item_id": 49941993, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49941993", "by": "jackjeff", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Orbstack is much nicer than Docker to host the containers.", "excerpt": "I do the same but I rely on devcontainers because editors like vscode, zed, etc\u2026 provide native support. It seems easier to use than asb. If you open a project using a devcontainer it prompts you to build one. As long as you install all the tools you need in it, it just works. Orbstack is much nicer than Docker to host the containers.", "context": "", "use_case": "hosting containers", "switched_from": "", "story": "Updates to Full Disk Access in macOS"}]}, {"label": "Speed", "summary": "Commenters describe it as noticeably faster and more performant than Docker Desktop.", "quotes": [{"id": 780274400, "item_id": 48767150, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48767150", "by": "satvikpendem", "date": "2026-07-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use OrbStack on macOS and it seems to be much faster", "excerpt": "How is Podman these days? I use OrbStack on macOS and it seems to be much faster, not sure how everything will shake out now that macOS 27 is adding (more) native and performant Linux containers, similar to WSL with micro-VMs.", "context": "macOS user", "use_case": "containers on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Podman v6.0.0"}, {"id": 781200640, "item_id": 48825040, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48825040", "by": "dllrr", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Worth the cost for me because it's so well integrated and fast and docker command compatible.", "excerpt": "I've been a fan of Orbstack for make 2 years or so. Worth the cost for me because it's so well integrated and fast and docker command compatible. I'll give this a try though.", "context": "", "use_case": "running containers on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}, {"id": 775527568, "item_id": 48470473, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48470473", "by": "trueno", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "orbstack super owns and i use it every day.", "excerpt": "just dropping in to say orbstack super owns and i use it every day. huge respect to rethinking this experience, for a minute there i thought docker was just going to be the only path. i dont think ive looked back for docker since. orbstack just feels right, and damn its so fast and good with resources, and the UI is just insanely straight forward. props!", "context": "", "use_case": "containers and Linux machines on macOS", "switched_from": "Docker", "story": "macOS Container Machines"}]}, {"label": "Docker compatibility", "summary": "It works with Docker commands, docker compose and related tooling.", "quotes": [{"id": 781200640, "item_id": 48825040, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48825040", "by": "dllrr", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Worth the cost for me because it's so well integrated and fast and docker command compatible.", "excerpt": "I've been a fan of Orbstack for make 2 years or so. Worth the cost for me because it's so well integrated and fast and docker command compatible. I'll give this a try though.", "context": "", "use_case": "running containers on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}, {"id": 744080848, "item_id": 46505053, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46505053", "by": "jimmydoe", "date": "2026-01-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Orbstack to run docker compose for worktree each with a distinct domain", "excerpt": "> What would you want from a multi-agent IDE I use Orbstack to run docker compose for worktree each with a distinct domain ( previously using Colima + Cloudflared for same reason ). Not that this has to be done by IDE, but not bad if that's offered.", "context": "", "use_case": "docker compose per worktree", "switched_from": "Colima", "story": "Show HN: Agentastic.dev is Ghostty and Git worktrees = multi-agent CC/Codex IDE"}, {"id": 788073313, "item_id": 49254582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49254582", "by": "jbverschoor", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Compatible with Orbstack", "excerpt": "I wrote https://github.com/jrz/container-shell which I use daily for both claude and other things. Compatible with Orbstack", "context": "", "use_case": "container runtime", "switched_from": "", "story": "Docker Sandboxes \u2013 Disposable, isolated sandboxes for AI agents"}]}, {"label": "Linux machines", "summary": "Its Linux VMs are used for networking setups, local VMs and agent sandboxes.", "quotes": [{"id": 773109745, "item_id": 48319359, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48319359", "by": "Bnjoroge", "date": "2026-05-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Both great products.", "excerpt": "I use Tailscale with orbstack machines which allows me to run two tailnets at once($dayjob and homelab). Both great products. https://bnjoroge.com/posts/connecting-to-multiple-tailscale-networks-on-a-single-host/", "context": "runs a day job and a homelab", "use_case": "Linux VMs on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Using Tailscale with an OrbStack VM on macOS"}, {"id": 764013297, "item_id": 47750831, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47750831", "by": "Imustaskforhelp", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend quickget for linux and orbstack for macos", "excerpt": "I feel like its a good approach, personally I am just using a 7$/yr vps or exe.dev (I had signed up on it since day one) If someone wishes to do something like this, I recommend quickget for linux and orbstack for macos although quickget can work on mac. I really like this project too https://github.com/losfair/bake", "context": "", "use_case": "VMs/containers on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Has anyone reconsidered Antivirus software after recent security news?"}, {"id": 775528544, "item_id": 48470534, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48470534", "by": "TheTaytay", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "We love OrbStack too! Thank you for it,", "excerpt": "We love OrbStack too! Thank you for it, I wanted to make its VM/machine our default secure agent sandbox, but I couldn\u2019t figure out how to isolate this VM from the host properly. This thread prompted me to find the issue though, and I saw this was recently implemented! https://github.com/orbstack/orbstack/issues/169", "context": "", "use_case": "secure agent sandbox VM", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS Container Machines"}]}, {"label": "Low resource use", "summary": "Commenters say it uses far fewer resources than Docker Desktop.", "quotes": [{"id": 781194001, "item_id": 48824625, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48824625", "by": "david_p", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium)", "excerpt": "I will give this a try! Docker desktop on mac does not work well (uses lots of resources) and my current alternative is OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium).", "context": "", "use_case": "containers on Mac", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}, {"id": 775527568, "item_id": 48470473, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48470473", "by": "trueno", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "orbstack super owns and i use it every day.", "excerpt": "just dropping in to say orbstack super owns and i use it every day. huge respect to rethinking this experience, for a minute there i thought docker was just going to be the only path. i dont think ive looked back for docker since. orbstack just feels right, and damn its so fast and good with resources, and the UI is just insanely straight forward. props!", "context": "", "use_case": "containers and Linux machines on macOS", "switched_from": "Docker", "story": "macOS Container Machines"}]}, {"label": "Simple UI", "summary": "Users call the interface slick and very straightforward.", "quotes": [{"id": 775527568, "item_id": 48470473, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48470473", "by": "trueno", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "orbstack super owns and i use it every day.", "excerpt": "just dropping in to say orbstack super owns and i use it every day. huge respect to rethinking this experience, for a minute there i thought docker was just going to be the only path. i dont think ive looked back for docker since. orbstack just feels right, and damn its so fast and good with resources, and the UI is just insanely straight forward. props!", "context": "", "use_case": "containers and Linux machines on macOS", "switched_from": "Docker", "story": "macOS Container Machines"}, {"id": 781194001, "item_id": 48824625, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48824625", "by": "david_p", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium)", "excerpt": "I will give this a try! Docker desktop on mac does not work well (uses lots of resources) and my current alternative is OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium).", "context": "", "use_case": "containers on Mac", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Cost", "summary": "It is freemium and paid, and one commenter says nobody they know pays for such tools.", "quotes": [{"id": 781194001, "item_id": 48824625, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48824625", "by": "david_p", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium)", "excerpt": "I will give this a try! Docker desktop on mac does not work well (uses lots of resources) and my current alternative is OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium).", "context": "", "use_case": "containers on Mac", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}, {"id": 781200640, "item_id": 48825040, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48825040", "by": "dllrr", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Worth the cost for me because it's so well integrated and fast and docker command compatible.", "excerpt": "I've been a fan of Orbstack for make 2 years or so. Worth the cost for me because it's so well integrated and fast and docker command compatible. I'll give this a try though.", "context": "", "use_case": "running containers on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}, {"id": 738089088, "item_id": 46130568, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46130568", "by": "colesantiago", "date": "2025-12-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "nobody I know pays for Orbstack or any of these docker tools", "excerpt": "Honestly what does enshittified this mean in this case? I can only assume it means \u201cpaid\u201d because nobody I know pays for Orbstack or any of these docker tools.", "context": "", "use_case": "running containers", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What alternatives to Docker Desktop are people using?"}]}, {"label": "Sandbox isolation", "summary": "Isolating its VMs from the host for agent sandboxing took extra work or was missing until recently.", "quotes": [{"id": 775528544, "item_id": 48470534, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48470534", "by": "TheTaytay", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "We love OrbStack too! Thank you for it,", "excerpt": "We love OrbStack too! Thank you for it, I wanted to make its VM/machine our default secure agent sandbox, but I couldn\u2019t figure out how to isolate this VM from the host properly. This thread prompted me to find the issue though, and I saw this was recently implemented! https://github.com/orbstack/orbstack/issues/169", "context": "", "use_case": "secure agent sandbox VM", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS Container Machines"}, {"id": 773025825, "item_id": 48314114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48314114", "by": "sudosteph", "date": "2026-05-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the default setup doesn't really sandbox effectively", "excerpt": "I use tailscale with Orbstack so that my agents on the vm can use tailscale serve to share dashboards I can view on my phone. Works out nicely. One thing I noticed though, is that even if I set up the VM as a tagged device with limited access rules, if my host machine (the laptop) is connected as my user (which has less limited permissions), the vm uses my host's user permissions, which isn't really what I want. If I", "context": "", "use_case": "VM sandbox for agents", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Using Tailscale with an OrbStack VM on macOS"}]}, {"label": "macOS only", "summary": "It is available only on macOS.", "quotes": [{"id": 754441632, "item_id": 47152602, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47152602", "by": "nsbk", "date": "2026-02-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far.", "excerpt": "Another alternative (although Mac OS-only) is [0] OrbStack. Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far. [0]: https://orbstack.dev", "context": "has a dev team using it", "use_case": "containers on macOS", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build"}]}], "who": [{"by": "satvikpendem", "context": "macOS user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48767150", "date": "2026-07-02"}, {"by": "Bnjoroge", "context": "runs a day job and a homelab", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48319359", "date": "2026-05-28"}, {"by": "nsbk", "context": "has a dev team using it", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47152602", "date": "2026-02-25"}], "tags": ["for macOS users", "for Docker users", "for agent sandboxes", "for teams", "for iOS development"], "use_cases": ["containers on macos", "hosting containers", "container runtime", "ios development sandboxes", "running docker on mac", "running containers on mac"], "compared": [{"slug": "docker-desktop", "name": "Docker Desktop", "co": 6, "switched_from": 3, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "docker", "name": "Docker", "co": 2, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "colima", "name": "Colima", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "tailscale", "name": "Tailscale", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "apple-container", "name": "Apple container", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "podman", "name": "Podman", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48469658", "title": "macOS Container Machines", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46115185", "title": "Ask HN: What alternatives to Docker Desktop are people using?", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49239751", "title": "Docker Sandboxes \u2013 Disposable, isolated sandboxes for AI agents", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48821848", "title": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48272545", "title": "Show HN: Using Tailscale with an OrbStack VM on macOS", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49937631", "title": "Updates to Full Disk Access in macOS", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 799071889, "item_id": 49941993, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49941993", "by": "jackjeff", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Orbstack is much nicer than Docker to host the containers.", "excerpt": "I do the same but I rely on devcontainers because editors like vscode, zed, etc\u2026 provide native support. It seems easier to use than asb. If you open a project using a devcontainer it prompts you to build one. As long as you install all the tools you need in it, it just works. Orbstack is much nicer than Docker to host the containers.", "context": "", "use_case": "hosting containers", "switched_from": "", "story": "Updates to Full Disk Access in macOS"}, {"id": 788073313, "item_id": 49254582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49254582", "by": "jbverschoor", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Compatible with Orbstack", "excerpt": "I wrote https://github.com/jrz/container-shell which I use daily for both claude and other things. Compatible with Orbstack", "context": "", "use_case": "container runtime", "switched_from": "", "story": "Docker Sandboxes \u2013 Disposable, isolated sandboxes for AI agents"}, {"id": 787951520, "item_id": 49246970, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49246970", "by": "katspaugh", "date": "2026-08-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "later switched to OrbStack for iOS development", "excerpt": "Looks cool! I took a similar approach with https://runmachine.dev/ but later switched to OrbStack for iOS development.", "context": "", "use_case": "iOS development sandboxes", "switched_from": "runmachine", "story": "Docker Sandboxes \u2013 Disposable, isolated sandboxes for AI agents"}, {"id": 787709745, "item_id": 49231859, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49231859", "by": "chrisldgk", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OrbStack is my go-to when it comes to running docker on Mac.", "excerpt": "It\u2019s sluggish, it\u2019s incredibly bloated with all the services that Docker (the company) wants to sell you and the UI is badly designed. OrbStack is my go-to when it comes to running docker on Mac. It also uses macOS native containerization APIs so containers will be a bit more performant than they would (at least use to) be on Docker Desktop. Another good approach if you\u2019re fine without a GUI or want to bring your own", "context": "", "use_case": "running Docker on Mac", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "My server is a phone now"}, {"id": 781200640, "item_id": 48825040, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48825040", "by": "dllrr", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Worth the cost for me because it's so well integrated and fast and docker command compatible.", "excerpt": "I've been a fan of Orbstack for make 2 years or so. Worth the cost for me because it's so well integrated and fast and docker command compatible. I'll give this a try though.", "context": "", "use_case": "running containers on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}, {"id": 781194001, "item_id": 48824625, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48824625", "by": "david_p", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium)", "excerpt": "I will give this a try! Docker desktop on mac does not work well (uses lots of resources) and my current alternative is OrbStack (very slick, uses far less resources, but freemium).", "context": "", "use_case": "containers on Mac", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Show HN: Davit, a Apple Containers UI"}, {"id": 780274400, "item_id": 48767150, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48767150", "by": "satvikpendem", "date": "2026-07-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use OrbStack on macOS and it seems to be much faster", "excerpt": "How is Podman these days? I use OrbStack on macOS and it seems to be much faster, not sure how everything will shake out now that macOS 27 is adding (more) native and performant Linux containers, similar to WSL with micro-VMs.", "context": "macOS user", "use_case": "containers on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Podman v6.0.0"}, {"id": 775528544, "item_id": 48470534, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48470534", "by": "TheTaytay", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "We love OrbStack too! Thank you for it,", "excerpt": "We love OrbStack too! Thank you for it, I wanted to make its VM/machine our default secure agent sandbox, but I couldn\u2019t figure out how to isolate this VM from the host properly. This thread prompted me to find the issue though, and I saw this was recently implemented! https://github.com/orbstack/orbstack/issues/169", "context": "", "use_case": "secure agent sandbox VM", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS Container Machines"}, {"id": 775527568, "item_id": 48470473, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48470473", "by": "trueno", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "orbstack super owns and i use it every day.", "excerpt": "just dropping in to say orbstack super owns and i use it every day. huge respect to rethinking this experience, for a minute there i thought docker was just going to be the only path. i dont think ive looked back for docker since. orbstack just feels right, and damn its so fast and good with resources, and the UI is just insanely straight forward. props!", "context": "", "use_case": "containers and Linux machines on macOS", "switched_from": "Docker", "story": "macOS Container Machines"}, {"id": 775524224, "item_id": 48470264, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48470264", "by": "egernst", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Big fan of OrbStack", "excerpt": "Thanks for the info kdrag0n! Big fan of OrbStack; good call out on dynamic memory. If the guest image has /sbin/init, we use that. We'd recommend using a base image for the guest that includes systemd. ie: https://github.com/apple/container/blob/main/docs/container-machine.md#bring-your-own-container-machine-image", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux containers and machines", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS Container Machines"}, {"id": 773109745, "item_id": 48319359, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48319359", "by": "Bnjoroge", "date": "2026-05-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Both great products.", "excerpt": "I use Tailscale with orbstack machines which allows me to run two tailnets at once($dayjob and homelab). Both great products. https://bnjoroge.com/posts/connecting-to-multiple-tailscale-networks-on-a-single-host/", "context": "runs a day job and a homelab", "use_case": "Linux VMs on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Using Tailscale with an OrbStack VM on macOS"}, {"id": 773025825, "item_id": 48314114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48314114", "by": "sudosteph", "date": "2026-05-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the default setup doesn't really sandbox effectively", "excerpt": "I use tailscale with Orbstack so that my agents on the vm can use tailscale serve to share dashboards I can view on my phone. Works out nicely. One thing I noticed though, is that even if I set up the VM as a tagged device with limited access rules, if my host machine (the laptop) is connected as my user (which has less limited permissions), the vm uses my host's user permissions, which isn't really what I want. If I", "context": "", "use_case": "VM sandbox for agents", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Using Tailscale with an OrbStack VM on macOS"}, {"id": 764013297, "item_id": 47750831, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47750831", "by": "Imustaskforhelp", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend quickget for linux and orbstack for macos", "excerpt": "I feel like its a good approach, personally I am just using a 7$/yr vps or exe.dev (I had signed up on it since day one) If someone wishes to do something like this, I recommend quickget for linux and orbstack for macos although quickget can work on mac. I really like this project too https://github.com/losfair/bake", "context": "", "use_case": "VMs/containers on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Has anyone reconsidered Antivirus software after recent security news?"}, {"id": 754441632, "item_id": 47152602, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47152602", "by": "nsbk", "date": "2026-02-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far.", "excerpt": "Another alternative (although Mac OS-only) is [0] OrbStack. Some devs in my team are running it as a more performant alternative to Docker Desktop for Mac and they are very happy so far. [0]: https://orbstack.dev", "context": "has a dev team using it", "use_case": "containers on macOS", "switched_from": "Docker Desktop", "story": "Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build"}, {"id": 747834384, "item_id": 46739649, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46739649", "by": "darkteflon", "date": "2026-01-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Orbstack - which I\u2019m running for Docker anyway - makes it trivial.", "excerpt": "I can definitely see this working for some people and have tried it in the past. Orbstack - which I\u2019m running for Docker anyway - makes it trivial. However, without wanting to get off-topic, I\u2019ve carefully considered my needs and I know what they are, and I think there are quite a lot of people in my situation. Enough to warrant asking for peoples\u2019 thoughts.", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux VM on macOS and Docker", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What's the best virtual Linux desktop experience on macOS for devs?"}, {"id": 747718385, "item_id": 46732399, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46732399", "by": "JakaJancar", "date": "2026-01-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "OrbStack \u2014 I believe a single person initially \u2014 managed to build a better product. I love this outcome.", "excerpt": "They enshittified/Dropboxified their core Docker Desktop app so much that OrbStack \u2014 I believe a single person initially \u2014 managed to build a better product. I love this outcome.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "What Has Docker Become?"}, {"id": 747101505, "item_id": 46693844, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46693844", "by": "johnj-hn", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use orbstack", "excerpt": "I use orbstack but I wouldn\u2019t say it was any inspiration for Luxury Yacht. I was inspired by https://infra.app which was my favorite app for managing k8s resources before it got abandoned.", "context": "", "use_case": "containers and local Kubernetes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Luxury Yacht is a desktop app for managing Kubernetes clusters"}, {"id": 744080848, "item_id": 46505053, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46505053", "by": "jimmydoe", "date": "2026-01-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Orbstack to run docker compose for worktree each with a distinct domain", "excerpt": "> What would you want from a multi-agent IDE I use Orbstack to run docker compose for worktree each with a distinct domain ( previously using Colima + Cloudflared for same reason ). Not that this has to be done by IDE, but not bad if that's offered.", "context": "", "use_case": "docker compose per worktree", "switched_from": "Colima", "story": "Show HN: Agentastic.dev is Ghostty and Git worktrees = multi-agent CC/Codex IDE"}, {"id": 738089088, "item_id": 46130568, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46130568", "by": "colesantiago", "date": "2025-12-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "nobody I know pays for Orbstack or any of these docker tools", "excerpt": "Honestly what does enshittified this mean in this case? I can only assume it means \u201cpaid\u201d because nobody I know pays for Orbstack or any of these docker tools.", "context": "", "use_case": "running containers", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What alternatives to Docker Desktop are people using?"}, {"id": 737917216, "item_id": 46119826, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46119826", "by": "server_man3000", "date": "2025-12-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Orbstack has not yet been enshittified yet", "excerpt": "Orbstack has not yet been enshittified yet", "context": "", "use_case": "Docker Desktop alternative", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What alternatives to Docker Desktop are people using?"}, {"id": 737879120, "item_id": 46117445, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46117445", "by": "mr_o47", "date": "2025-12-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Checkout Orbstack Its available on MacOS", "excerpt": "Checkout Orbstack Its available on MacOS", "context": "", "use_case": "Docker Desktop alternative on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What alternatives to Docker Desktop are people using?"}]}