Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

DevBox VS Kata Containers

Compare DevBox VS Kata Containers and see what are their differences

DevBox logo DevBox

Everyday utilities for the everyday developer

Kata Containers logo Kata Containers

Lightweight virtual machines that seamlessly plug into the containers ecosystem.
  • DevBox Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-18
  • Kata Containers Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-07-03

DevBox features and specs

  • Streamlined Setup
    DevBox offers a streamlined setup process that helps developers get their environment running quickly without the hassle of configuring complex project settings.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    It supports multiple operating systems, allowing developers to work seamlessly across Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
  • Cloud Integration
    DevBox integrates well with cloud platforms, enabling easy deployment and testing of applications in scalable environments.
  • Pre-Built Environments
    Provides pre-built development environments which save time in configuration and ensure consistency across different development teams.
  • Collaboration Features
    DevBox includes collaboration tools that facilitate teamwork, making it easier to share settings and work in real-time with others.

Possible disadvantages of DevBox

  • Limited Customization
    Some users may find the customization options limited compared to manually setting up development environments, which could restrict specific needs or preferences.
  • Dependency on Internet Connection
    As DevBox relies on cloud-based solutions, a stable internet connection is essential, which might be a limitation in areas with poor network coverage.
  • Cost
    The subscription model or usage fees could be a concern for individual developers or smaller teams with limited budgets.
  • Learning Curve
    While DevBox simplifies some processes, new users might encounter a learning curve to fully understand and utilize its features effectively.
  • Potential Performance Bottlenecks
    Depending on the configuration and network speed, there might be performance issues, especially when working with large-scale projects or heavy computational tasks.

Kata Containers features and specs

  • Security
    Kata Containers offer enhanced security by providing hardware virtualization, which creates a secure boundary around each container. This isolation helps in protecting against attacks and vulnerabilities that might affect other containers.
  • Performance
    Kata Containers are designed to have low overhead compared to traditional virtual machines, allowing them to run with performance akin to native containers while still benefiting from hardware-based isolation.
  • Compatibility
    Kata Containers are compatible with the OCI container runtime specification, making it possible to integrate them with existing cloud-native tools and ecosystems like Kubernetes without significant changes.
  • Flexibility
    They offer a flexible choice for deploying containerized workloads that require the security of virtual machines, allowing organizations to meet both performance and security requirements effectively.

Possible disadvantages of Kata Containers

  • Complexity
    Implementing Kata Containers can introduce additional complexity compared to using regular containers, especially in managing the virtualization layer and ensuring smooth integration with existing container orchestration systems.
  • Resource Overhead
    Although they are lightweight compared to traditional VMs, Kata Containers still incur more overhead than standard containers, requiring more resources in terms of CPU and memory.
  • Maturity
    As a relatively newer technology, Kata Containers may not have the level of maturity and community support that more established container technologies enjoy, potentially leading to challenges in troubleshooting and support.
  • Infrastructure Requirements
    Running Kata Containers effectively may require specific hardware features like VT-x/AMD-V for hardware virtualization, which can limit deployment options on older or less capable hardware.

DevBox videos

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Kata Containers videos

Kata Containers and gVisor a Quantitative Comparison

More videos:

  • Review - Open Source Contribution - Kata Containers Unit Testing
  • Demo - Kata Containers Demo: A Container Experience with VM Security

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to DevBox and Kata Containers)
Developer Tools
73 73%
27% 27
Productivity
100 100%
0% 0
Containers As A Service
0 0%
100% 100
Software Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Kata Containers seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 6 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

DevBox mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of DevBox yet. Tracking of DevBox recommendations started around Aug 2021.

Kata Containers mentions (6)

  • Microsandbox: Virtual Machines that feel and perform like containers
    Can you explain how this compares to Kata Containers? [0] That also supports OCI to run microVMs. You can also choose different hypervisors such as firecracker to run it on. [0] https://katacontainers.io/. - Source: Hacker News / 7 days ago
  • Microsandbox: Virtual Machines that feel and perform like containers
    One can definitely build a container runtime that uses virtualization to protect the host For example there is Kata containers https://katacontainers.io/ This can be used with regular `podman` by just changing the container runtime so there’s no even need for any extra tooling In theory you could shove the container runtime into something like k8s. - Source: Hacker News / 7 days ago
  • Kubernetes Without Docker: Why Container Runtimes Are Changing the Game in 2025
    Kata Containers Containers in VMs, because sometimes isolation means business. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • WASM Will Replace Containers
    See https://katacontainers.io Turns out only containers is not secure enough. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Comparing 3 Docker container runtimes - Runc, gVisor and Kata Containers
    Although the documentation also mentions "youki", that is mentioned as a "drop-in replacement" of the default runtime basically doing the same, so let's stick with runc. The second runtime will be Kata runtime from Kata containers, since it runs small virtual machines which is good for showing how differently it uses the CPU and memory. This also adds a higher level of isolation with some downsides as well. And... - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing DevBox and Kata Containers, you can also consider the following products

Flox - Manage and share development environments with all the frameworks and libraries you need, then publish artifacts anywhere. Harness the power of Nix.

Docker - Docker is an open platform that enables developers and system administrators to create distributed applications.

Podman - Simple debugging tool for pods and images

OrbStack - Fast, light, simple Docker & Linux on macOS

devenv - Fast, Declarative, Reproducible, and Composable dev envs

FreeBSD Jails - Jails on the other hand permit software packages to view the system egoistically, as if each package had the machine to itself.