Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Up by apex VS containerd

Compare Up by apex VS containerd and see what are their differences

Up by apex logo Up by apex

Deploy serverless apps and APIs in seconds to AWS Lambda

containerd logo containerd

An industry-standard container runtime with an emphasis on simplicity, robustness and portability
  • Up by apex Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-26
  • containerd Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-15

Up by apex features and specs

  • Simplicity
    Up offers a simple way to deploy serverless applications without needing to manage infrastructure. It uses a single configuration file and a few commands to get applications running.
  • Multi-language support
    Up supports multiple programming languages, allowing developers to use the same tool across different projects and stack types.
  • Environment Management
    Up provides built-in support for managing different environments (development, staging, production) which helps streamline the deployment process.
  • Automatic SSL
    Up automatically provisions SSL certificates for custom domains, ensuring secure communication without additional configuration.
  • Zero-downtime deployments
    Up deploys new versions of an application without any downtime, providing a seamless update process for end-users.

Possible disadvantages of Up by apex

  • AWS dependency
    Up is heavily dependent on AWS services like Lambda and API Gateway, which might not be ideal for organizations using a different cloud provider.
  • Limited customization
    While simplicity is a benefit, it also means that Up might not offer the same level of customization and control as other deployment platforms.
  • Learning curve
    Although Up aims for simplicity, developers who are not familiar with serverless concepts or AWS services might face a learning curve initially.
  • Cost considerations
    Since Up relies on AWS managed services, it can incur additional costs, especially at scale, which might be a consideration for some organizations.
  • Community and support
    As a relatively new tool, Up might not have the same extensive community and support options as more established platforms.

containerd features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Containerd focuses on providing core container primitives, making it lightweight and efficient compared to more comprehensive container management platforms.
  • CNCF Graduated
    Being a CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation) graduated project means containerd has undergone rigorous scrutiny and is recognized as stable and secure.
  • Highly Modular
    Containerd provides a well-defined API with gRPC, making it highly modular and allowing for fine-grained control over container lifecycle management.
  • Kubernetes Integration
    Containerd acts as the default container runtime for Kubernetes via the CRI (Container Runtime Interface) plugin, ensuring excellent synergy with Kubernetes-managed environments.
  • Vendor-Neutral
    Containerd is an open-source project that is vendor-neutral, promoting community collaboration and reducing vendor lock-in.
  • Wide Industry Support
    Spearheaded initially by Docker, containerd has received wide support from tech giants like Google and Alibaba, ensuring a broad and robust adoption across the industry.

Possible disadvantages of containerd

  • Limited to Container Management
    Unlike platforms like Docker, containerd focuses solely on container lifecycle management and does not offer advanced networking, storage solutions, or orchestration engines.
  • Complex Integration
    While offering a high level of control, containerd’s modularity can translate into higher complexity when it comes to integrating it with other tools, such as monitoring and logging systems.
  • Fewer Features Out-of-the-Box
    Containerd provides fewer features out-of-the-box compared to more comprehensive container management systems, which may require additional components to achieve a similar feature set.
  • Steeper Learning Curve
    Due to its focus on being a low-level runtime, containerd can have a steeper learning curve for users not familiar with container runtime internals.

Analysis of Up by apex

Overall verdict

  • Up by Apex is a robust and reliable tool for deploying serverless applications, especially for users who seek simplicity and efficiency in their deployment processes.

Why this product is good

  • Up by Apex is considered good because it offers a simple and efficient way to deploy and manage serverless applications. It provides developers with a streamlined workflow, integrates seamlessly with AWS Lambda, and supports a variety of languages. Furthermore, it gives users fine-grained control over their infrastructure, with features like zero-downtime deployments and automated scaling.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for an easy-to-use deployment tool for AWS Lambda
  • Teams aiming to implement serverless architectures
  • Projects that require fast deployment times and low overhead
  • Users who need a consistent and repeatable deployment process

Up by apex videos

Up explained by an idiot

More videos:

  • Review - Up [Movie Review]
  • Review - Why Pixar's Up is a Masterpiece! (Video Essay-Disney Movie Masterpiece Series)

containerd videos

Deep Dive: containerd - Derek McGowan, Docker & Phil Estes, IBM Cloud

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Up by apex and containerd)
Developer Tools
51 51%
49% 49
Cloud Computing
18 18%
82% 82
Productivity
100 100%
0% 0
Cloud Storage
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Up by apex and containerd

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containerd Reviews

5 Container Alternatives to Docker
containerd is described as “an industry-standard container runtime with an emphasis on simplicity, robustness and portability.” An incubating project of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, containerd is available as a daemon for Linux or Windows.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, containerd seems to be a lot more popular than Up by apex. While we know about 55 links to containerd, we've tracked only 3 mentions of Up by apex. 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.

Up by apex mentions (3)

  • Streamline Your Serverless Development with These Top 10 Powerhouse Tools
    Apex is an open-source tool that makes it easy to build and deploy serverless applications on AWS. It's a great tool for any serverless developer, as it simplifies the process of building and deploying serverless applications, making it easier to focus on writing code. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: Does anyone else find the AWS Lambda developer experience poor?
    I can also recommend serverless.com framework for local development and running lambdas offline. AWS provides a docker image for emulating DynamoDB which works great for local dev and will commonly be paired with lambdas. Another option I have used recently for implementing node web services is https://github.com/apex/up which also has a nice local dev experience. - Source: Hacker News / about 4 years ago
  • JavaScript Influencers to Follow in 2021🤩
    Projects: apex/up, git-extras, koajs/koa, clibs/clib, commander.js. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

containerd mentions (55)

  • Kubernetes Without Docker: Why Container Runtimes Are Changing the Game in 2025
    Containerd Official Site The runtime powering most cloud K8s clusters and your future mental breakdowns. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Creating containers with containerd on ARM
    Also, Containers are the tool when you want to speed your process of updating your software and get modularity and portability when deploying your solutions. In this post you will learn how containerd together with nerdctl can help you with this use case scenario. Check their official websites for more info https://containerd.io and https://github.com/containerd/nerdctl. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Beyond Docker - A DevOps Engineer's Guide to Container Alternatives
    Having operated large Kubernetes clusters, one learns to love the focused approach of containerd. A light-weight, high-performance container runtime, it powers a lot of container platforms, including indirectly, Kubernetes. From my experience, containerd really does one thing and does it well: it runs containers efficiently. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Top 8 Docker Alternatives to Consider in 2025
    Containerd operates as a fundamental container runtime that manages the complete container lifecycle, functioning at a lower level than Docker while providing core container operations. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • You run containers, not dockers - Discussing Docker variants, components and versioning
    So once we had a single binary, then "Docker, Inc" started separating the functionalities into multiple binaries on Linux. That was the beginning the of dependencies and components we have today, except that these dependencies are now not limited to Docker. Containerd can also be the container runtime of Kubernetes. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Up by apex and containerd, you can also consider the following products

Serverless - Toolkit for building serverless applications

Podman - Simple debugging tool for pods and images

Nimbella - Simple serverless cloud for developers

CRI-O - Lightweight Container Runtime for Kubernetes

Render UIKit - React-inspired Swift library for writing UIKit UIs

rkt - App Container runtime