Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Joyent VS Buildah

Compare Joyent VS Buildah and see what are their differences

Joyent logo Joyent

Joyent provides cloud infrastructure solutions and big data analytics that power real-time web and mobile applications.

Buildah logo Buildah

Buildah is a web-based OCI container tool that allows you to manage the wide range of images in your OCI container and helps you to build the image container from the scratch.
  • Joyent Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-21
  • Buildah Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-05-27

Joyent features and specs

  • Scalability
    Joyent provides a highly scalable cloud infrastructure, allowing businesses to easily adjust resources according to demand, which is crucial for businesses experiencing variable loads.
  • Performance
    Offers high-performance computing options with smart technology, enabling efficient and powerful processing capabilities that are beneficial for demanding applications.
  • Security
    Joyent includes built-in security features and compliance with industry standards, ensuring that user data is protected and regulatory requirements are met.
  • Open-source Support
    Joyent is known for its support of open-source technology, making it appealing for developers looking for versatility and innovation in their projects.
  • Container-native Approach
    Supports Docker natively, which makes it easier for development teams to deploy, manage and scale applications using container technology.

Possible disadvantages of Joyent

  • Market Position
    Compared to other market leaders like AWS or Azure, Joyent has a smaller market share, which might limit community support or integration options.
  • Feature Set
    Might have fewer features and services compared to larger providers, which could limit options for businesses looking for specific cloud functionalities.
  • Complexity
    New users might find Joyent's interface and platform services complex and challenging to navigate compared to more user-friendly alternatives.
  • Pricing Transparency
    Potential users may find it difficult to estimate costs upfront as Joyent's pricing can be complex, requiring careful analysis to avoid unexpected expenses.
  • Limited Global Presence
    Joyent has a more limited global infrastructure compared to its larger competitors, which could impact performance and latency for a worldwide user base.

Buildah features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Buildah is a tool focused solely on building OCI and Docker-compatible containers, which makes it less resource-intensive compared to other container building solutions that include additional components like container runtimes.
  • Daemon-less
    Unlike Docker, Buildah does not require a running daemon, meaning it can be used in environments where a daemon is not desired or feasible, enhancing security and reducing footprint.
  • Flexibility
    Buildah provides flexibility by allowing precise control over container image creation, enabling advanced scenarios like building images from scratch, adding content at various stages, and using alternative base images.
  • Security
    Running without a daemon improves security by minimizing attack surfaces and permissions needed for building images, allowing for container creation and management by unprivileged users.
  • Integration with Podman
    Buildah integrates well with Podman, allowing users to manage containers and images without requiring additional integrations, as both are part of the same toolset for comprehensive container management.

Possible disadvantages of Buildah

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Users already familiar with Docker might find Buildahโ€™s command-line interface and functionality to be different, necessitating a learning curve to effectively utilize its capabilities.
  • Less Mature Ecosystem
    Compared to Docker, Buildah has a smaller community and fewer integrations with third-party tools or cloud platforms, potentially limiting its use in complex or niche scenarios.
  • Lack of Windows Support
    As of now, Buildah primarily supports Linux platforms, which can be a limitation for developers using or targeting Windows environments.
  • Limited GUI Tools
    Buildah primarily operates through a command-line interface, with fewer graphical user interface options available, which might not appeal to users who prefer visual management tools.
  • Documentation Gaps
    Although improving, Buildahโ€™s documentation can be less comprehensive and more challenging to navigate than Docker's, potentially making troubleshooting or advanced usage more difficult.

Joyent videos

Joyent Retrospective

More videos:

  • Review - Joyent - Technology Introduction

Buildah videos

How to Build a Container Image Using Buildah

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Joyent and Buildah)
Developer Tools
46 46%
54% 54
Cloud Computing
29 29%
71% 71
Cloud Hosting
42 42%
58% 58
Containers And Microservices

User comments

Share your experience with using Joyent and Buildah. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Joyent and Buildah

Joyent Reviews

Alternatives to Amazon's Cloud Services (AWS)
I first used Joyent back in 2007 when they offered free hosting for the emerging Facebook application platform. It's grown a lot since then to offer a variety of cloud services that you can run on your hardware or theirs.

Buildah Reviews

We have no reviews of Buildah yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Buildah seems to be a lot more popular than Joyent. While we know about 14 links to Buildah, we've tracked only 1 mention of Joyent. 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.

Joyent mentions (1)

  • Is there a USB image for current builds for install and test new things
    What is the difference between official NetBSD binary packages built from the stable branch, and this from joyent.com. Source: over 4 years ago

Buildah mentions (14)

  • Podman vs. Docker: Containerization Tools Comparison
    Modern Docker releases use BuildKit, an efficient builder developed by Docker, whereas Podman uses Red Hat's Buildah. However, both solutions output OCI-compliant images, so there's no practical difference between the two for standard build workflows. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Dockerfmt: A Dockerfile Formatter
    I suspect that the GP was really asking "why not use a different tool", like buildah , buildpacks , nix ,. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Top 8 Docker Alternatives to Consider in 2025
    Buildah specializes in building OCI-compliant container images, offering a more granular and secure approach to image creation compared to traditional Dockerfile builds. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • How to Create a CI/CD Pipeline with Docker
    Lockdown your Dockerized build environments --- Because privileged mode is insecure, you should restrict your CI/CD environments to known users and projects. If this isn't feasible, then instead of using Docker, you could try using a standalone image builder like Buildah to eliminate the risk. Alternatively, configuring rootless Docker-in-Docker can mitigate some --- but not all --- of the security concerns... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Ko: Easy Go Containers
    In my experience, not using docker to build docker images is a good idea. E.g. buildah[0] with chroot isolation can build images in a GitLab pipeline, where docker would fail. It can still use the same Dockerfile though. If you want to get rid of your Dockerfiles anyway, nix can also build docker images[1] with all the added benefits of nix (reproducibility, efficient building and caching, automatic layering,... - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Joyent and Buildah, you can also consider the following products

CoreOS - CoreOS platform provides the components needed to build distributed systems to support application containers.

Podman - Simple debugging tool for pods and images

OpenShift Container Platform - Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform is the secure and comprehensive enterprise-grade container platform based on industry standards, Docker and Kubernetes.

containerd - An industry-standard container runtime with an emphasis on simplicity, robustness and portability

Amazon ECS - Amazon EC2 Container Service is a highly scalable, high-performanceโ€‹ container management service that supports Docker containers.

BuildKit - BuildKit is an open-source toolkit manager application that allows you to build the artifacts in a minimum time frame and helps you to gather the garbage automatically.