CrateBay

Free, open-source desktop for containers and Linux VMs.
Lightweight Linux VMs, Docker containers, and Kubernetes — all in one app.

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Why CrateBay?

OrbStack is great, but it's closed-source and macOS-only. Docker Desktop is heavy and requires paid subscriptions. Podman Desktop and Rancher Desktop use Electron (300-500MB RAM). We believe developers deserve something better:

• Name meaning: CrateBay = crate (containers, and a nod to Rust crates) + bay (a home port for your VMs and dev environments)
• 100% free & open source — Apache 2.0, no license fees, no telemetry
• Rust + Tauri native — not Electron, idles at <200MB RAM
• VM + Containers unified — one tool for everything
• Cross-platform — macOS, Linux, and Windows

Comparison

	CrateBay	OrbStack	Docker Desktop	Podman Desktop	Colima
Open source	✅	❌	Partial	✅	✅
Free for commercial use	✅	❌	❌ (>250 employees)	✅	✅
GUI	Tauri (native)	Swift (native)	Electron	Electron	None
Idle RAM	<200 MB	<1 GB	3-6 GB	300-500 MB	~400 MB
macOS	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Windows	✅	❌	✅	✅	❌
Linux	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅
Docker management	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Linux VMs	✅	✅	❌	❌	Indirect
Kubernetes	✅ (K3s + Dashboard)	✅	✅	✅	✅ (K3s)
Auto port forwarding	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅
VirtioFS file sharing	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅
Tech stack	Rust	Swift	Go + Electron	Electron + TS	Go

Features

Feature	macOS	Linux	Windows	Status
Docker container management	✅	✅	✅	Working
Container log streaming	✅	✅	✅	Working
Container exec / terminal	✅	✅	✅	Working
Container env variable viewer	✅	✅	✅	Working
Dashboard & GUI	✅	✅	✅	Working
Image search (Docker Hub / Quay)	✅	✅	✅	Working
Local image management (list/remove/tag/inspect)	✅	✅	✅	Working
Import / Push images (docker load/push)	✅	✅	✅	Working
Package image from container (docker commit)	✅	✅	✅	Working
Docker volume management	✅	✅	✅	Working
Lightweight Linux VMs	✅ Virtualization.framework	✅ KVM	✅ Hyper-V	Working
VM console (serial output)	✅	✅	✅	Working
VM port forwarding	✅	✅	✅	Working
VM resource monitoring	✅	✅	✅	Working
OS image download & management	✅	✅	✅	Working
Rosetta x86_64 translation	✅ Apple Silicon	—	—	Working
VirtioFS file sharing	✅	✅ virtiofsd	✅ Plan 9/SMB	Working
K3s cluster management	✅	✅	📋	Working (Linux)
Kubernetes dashboard (pods/services/deployments)	✅	✅	✅	Working
Auto-update checker	✅	✅	✅	Working
CLI (VM + Docker + K3s + Mount)	✅	✅	✅	Working
Dark/Light theme + i18n	✅	✅	✅	Working

Platform Compatibility

• macOS: Supports Apple Silicon (M-series) and Intel (x86_64). Rosetta x86_64 is available only on Apple Silicon with macOS 13+.
• Windows: Targets Windows 10 and Windows 11. VM backend relies on Hyper-V (typically Pro/Enterprise/Education + Hyper-V enabled).
• Linux: VM backend relies on KVM (/dev/kvm required).

Tech Stack

• Core: Rust (cross-platform workspace)
• GUI: Tauri v2 + React (TypeScript)
• VM Engine: Virtualization.framework (macOS) / KVM (Linux) / Hyper-V (Windows)
• File Sharing: VirtioFS (macOS/Linux) / Plan 9 (Windows)
• x86 Emulation: Rosetta 2 (macOS Apple Silicon)
• Containers: Docker API via Bollard (direct socket connection)
• Kubernetes: K3s (on-demand download) + kubectl
• CLI: Rust (clap)
• IPC: gRPC (tonic + prost) — VM operations only; containers use direct Docker socket

Quick Start

CrateBay v1.0.0 is now available. Feedback and contributions are welcome!

# Build from source
git clone https://github.com/coder-hhx/CrateBay.git
cd CrateBay
cargo build --release

# CLI usage
cratebay status                              # Show platform info
cratebay image search nginx --source all --limit 20
cratebay image load ./image.tar
cratebay image push ghcr.io/owner/image:tag
cratebay docker run nginx:latest --name web --cpus 2 --memory 512 --pull
cratebay image pack-container web myorg/web:snapshot
cratebay docker login-cmd web
cratebay docker ps                           # List containers
cratebay vm create myvm --cpus 4 --memory 4096 --rosetta  # Create VM with Rosetta
cratebay mount add --vm myvm --tag code --host-path ~/code --guest-path /mnt/code

See Tutorial for detailed instructions.

Architecture

See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the full system design.

Key: Containers talk directly to Docker (lowest latency). VMs go through the CrateBay daemon (needs privileged lifecycle management). K8s queries use kubectl directly.

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

Apache License 2.0 — free for personal and commercial use.