OrbStack is a fast, lightweight way to run Docker containers and Linux machines on a Mac. It is a drop-in replacement for Docker Desktop with a native Swift app and full command-line support.

Key features:

Run Docker containers with fast networking, bind mounts, port forwarding and VirtioFS file sharing.
Run full Linux machines from 16 distros, with SSH and remote VS Code editing.
Run x86 containers and Intel Linux machines on Apple silicon with Rosetta.
Run Kubernetes, use USB passthrough and isolated sandboxes for untrusted code.
Do everything from the command line, including copying files between Mac and Linux.
Manage containers and machines from the menu bar or Activity Monitor.

OrbStack uses less than 0.1% background CPU on Apple silicon and under 10 MB of disk out of the box. It is free for personal, non-commercial use, and Pro for business and commercial use costs $8 per user a month ($96 billed annually).