# OrbStack

> Fast, lightweight Docker Desktop alternative for running containers and Linux machines

Source: https://optioncmd.com/orbstack
Website: https://orbstack.dev/?utm_source=optioncmd
Pricing: Freemium
Categories: [Developer tools](https://optioncmd.com/categories/developer-tools.md)
Listed: 2026-10-25
Updated: 2026-10-25

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).

## More developer tools

- [Cursor](https://optioncmd.com/cursor.md): AI coding app with agents that plan, write and test code, plus a CLI and cloud agents
- [Ghostty](https://optioncmd.com/ghostty.md): Fast, cross-platform terminal emulator with platform-native UI and GPU acceleration
- [ForkLift](https://optioncmd.com/forklift.md): Dual-pane file manager and file transfer client for SFTP, S3, cloud drives and more
- [iTerm2](https://optioncmd.com/iterm2.md): Free, open source Terminal replacement for macOS developers and power users
- [Visual Studio Code](https://optioncmd.com/visual-studio-code.md): Free, open source code editor from Microsoft with built-in AI coding agents
- [Transmit](https://optioncmd.com/transmit.md): File transfer app for FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3 and cloud services, with sync
- [Tower](https://optioncmd.com/tower.md): Git client for Mac with drag and drop, undo, interactive rebase, stacked branches and pull requests
- [Zed](https://optioncmd.com/zed.md): Fast open-source code editor with multiplayer collaboration and optional AI agents and edit predictions
- [Proxyman](https://optioncmd.com/proxyman.md): Native HTTP(S) debugging proxy for capturing, inspecting and mocking network traffic
- [LM Studio](https://optioncmd.com/lm-studio.md): Desktop app for running open-source LLMs locally, now with Bionic, an agent for documents and code