Install Docker on macOS 2026: Desktop, Colima, and Podman

Three ways to run Docker on macOS in 2026. All work on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel Macs.

Option 1: Docker Desktop

The official Docker experience. Best UI, best integration, most polished.

Install

Via Homebrew:

brew install --cask docker

Or download from docker.com/products/docker-desktop — choose Apple Silicon or Intel chip.

Verify

docker --version
# Docker version 27.x.x

docker compose version
# Docker Compose version v2.x.x

docker run hello-world
# Hello from Docker!

Configure resources

Docker Desktop runs a Linux VM under the hood. Default resources are conservative:

Settings → Resources:

For AI/ML workloads or large multi-container stacks, allocate more memory.

Licensing

Docker Desktop requires a paid subscription ($5-24/user/month) for:

• Companies with 250+ employees
• Companies with over $10M annual revenue

Free for personal use, open-source projects, small businesses, and education.

If your company needs a free alternative, use Colima or Podman below.

Option 2: Colima (free, lightweight)

Colima is a free, open-source Docker runtime for macOS. It creates a minimal Linux VM using Lima and exposes the Docker socket. No UI, no licensing restrictions.

Install

# Install Colima and Docker CLI
brew install colima docker docker-compose

Start

# Start with default resources (2 CPU, 2 GB RAM)
colima start

# Or customize resources
colima start --cpu 4 --memory 8 --disk 100

# For Apple Silicon — use native ARM64 VM
colima start --arch aarch64 --cpu 4 --memory 8

Verify

docker context use colima
docker run hello-world

Why Colima

• Free — no licensing restrictions, Apache 2.0
• Lightweight — minimal VM, fast startup (~10 seconds)
• Docker-compatible — uses the official Docker CLI
• Kubernetes built-in — colima start --kubernetes gives you a local k3s cluster

# Start Colima with Kubernetes
colima start --kubernetes --cpu 4 --memory 8

# kubectl is ready
kubectl get nodes

Manage Colima

# Check status
colima status

# Stop VM
colima stop

# Delete and recreate
colima delete
colima start --cpu 6 --memory 12

# SSH into the VM
colima ssh

Option 3: Podman Desktop (Docker-free)

Podman is a daemonless, rootless container runtime. Podman Desktop provides a GUI similar to Docker Desktop but fully free.

Install

# CLI only
brew install podman
podman machine init
podman machine start

# Or install Podman Desktop (GUI)
brew install --cask podman-desktop

Docker compatibility

# Drop-in replacement
alias docker=podman

# Everything works
podman run hello-world
podman compose up -d

Podman vs Docker on macOS

Troubleshooting

Docker daemon not running

# Docker Desktop
# Open the app — it must be running for the daemon

# Colima
colima start  # restart the VM

# Podman
podman machine start

Slow volume mounts

macOS file sharing between host and container VM can be slow for large projects:

# Docker Desktop: enable VirtioFS
# Settings → General → "Use VirtioFS" ✅

# Colima: use virtiofs mount type
colima start --mount-type virtiofs

# For node_modules or build artifacts, use named volumes instead of bind mounts
docker volume create myapp-node-modules
docker run -v myapp-node-modules:/app/node_modules myapp

Apple Silicon ARM64 vs x86 images

Some images are not available for ARM64. Docker and Podman can emulate x86:

# Run x86 image on Apple Silicon
docker run --platform linux/amd64 some-x86-only-image

# Build multi-arch images
docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 -t myapp .

Port conflicts

# Check what is using a port
lsof -i :8080

# Kill the process
kill -9 $(lsof -ti :8080)

My recommendation

• Docker Desktop if your company is licensed and you want the best experience
• Colima if you want free, lightweight, Docker-compatible — my default choice on macOS
• Podman if you want rootless containers and Docker-free architecture

All three run the same OCI containers. Your images and Compose files work across all of them.

Related

• Podman vs Docker 2026
• Docker Cheat Sheet
• Podman Cheat Sheet
• Buildah Cheat Sheet
• Containerd vs CRI-O 2026