A container runtime functions similarly to the latter—it’s software that runs and manages the components required to run containers. As mentioned above, these tools make it easier to securely execute and efficiently deploy containers, and are a key component of container management. As containers themselves have evolved and changed, so have their runtimes.

Podman is a daemonless, open source, Linux native tool designed to make it easy to find, run, build, share and deploy applications using Open Containers Initiative (OCI) Containers and Container Images. Podman provides a command line interface (CLI) familiar to anyone who has used the Docker Container Engine.

Docker is a tool designed to make it easier to create, deploy, and run applications by using containers. Containers allow a developer to package up an application with all of the parts it needs, such as libraries and other dependencies, and deploy it as one package.