Dory

Docker & Linux containers, native to your Mac.
A free, open-source alternative to Docker Desktop and OrbStack. One lightweight SwiftUI app that runs every container in a single shared VM, for a fraction of the memory.

⭐ If Dory saves you memory (or money), please star the repo. It genuinely helps others find it.

Why Dory

• One VM, all your containers. Dory builds on Apple's open-source container stack and boots a single persistent Linux micro-VM that runs everything, instead of one VM per container. Measured ~4.7× less idle memory than per-container VMs (2 containers: ~122 MB vs ~574 MB), and the gap widens with every container you add (methodology).
• Small and silent, permanently. A ~6 MB native app with ~0% idle CPU. No indexers, no phone-home, no fans. That's a design constraint, not a version note.
• Free for everyone, forever. No per-seat license, no "commercial use" tier, no account, no sign-in. GPL-3.0, full source right here. (A sourced comparison exists if you want one, so judge for yourself.)
• Your docker CLI just works. Dory serves the Docker API on ~/.dory/dory.sock and registers a dory Docker context. docker run, docker compose, your existing scripts and tools drive it unchanged.
• Native, not Electron. One Swift/SwiftUI app: menu-bar agent + full dashboard, launch animation to launch-at-login, light and dark. No Chromium, no Node, no telemetry.

What you get

Docker, complete

• Containers with live stats, logs, embedded terminal, env inspection; create / start / stop / restart / delete from the UI or CLI.
• Images: pull, build from a context folder, run, prune, registry sign-in, full inspect.
• Volumes (with a file browser) and networks (subnet / gateway / attached-container inspect).
• Compose: up / down with .env + variable interpolation, depends_on ordering, and service_healthy waiting.

Kubernetes, one click

• k3s inside the shared VM with selectable Kubernetes versions.
• Cluster browser: pods, deployments, services, config maps, secrets, ingresses, all with live health, pod exec, scale / restart / rollout controls, and kubectl apply from the app.

Linux machines

• Full Ubuntu / Debian / Fedora / Alpine / Arch VMs with snapshots, terminal access, and use-case recipes (Node, Python, Go, Rust, …) that provision the machine ready-to-code, plus a composer to hand-pick runtimes, tools, and packages.
• Your home directory is shared into the engine, so docker run -v ~/project:/app just works.

Networking that disappears

• Published ports on localhost, automatic *.dory.local domains for every container, and local HTTPS issued by a local CA. All consent-gated, nothing installed silently.
• x86/amd64 images run on Apple silicon via emulation.

Zero-friction start

• First launch walks you through everything, including a one-click install of Apple's open-source container toolchain if it's missing.
• Migration imports your images and containers from Docker Desktop or OrbStack.

See COMPATIBILITY.md for the honest, per-feature status matrix.

Install

brew install --cask Augani/dory/dory

…or download the notarized .dmg from Releases, drag Dory to Applications, and open it. First launch guides you through the rest.

Engine backends

Dory selects a backend automatically; DORY_RUNTIME overrides it. All share one ContainerRuntime protocol.

DORY_RUNTIME	Backend	Model
shared (default on supported hosts)	Shared VM	One persistent dockerd-in-VM for all containers (OrbStack-style). Standalone: no Docker required. Requires macOS 26+ on Apple silicon.
apple	Apple container	One lightweight micro-VM per container. Requires macOS 26+ on Apple silicon.
docker	Docker Engine API	Transparent proxy to an existing Docker-compatible socket (Docker Desktop, OrbStack, Colima, Rancher Desktop, Podman). Works on older macOS and Intel when the host engine does.
mock	Mock	In-memory sample data for UI development.

Requirements

This release: Dory's own engine requires Apple silicon. The low-memory dory-hv engine is a from-scratch Apple-silicon (ARM) hypervisor, so the self-contained, memory-efficient experience is Apple silicon only for now. Native Intel support is planned for a later update — see below.

• Apple silicon, macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later — full experience: Dory's own bundled engine, one shared VM, low memory, Kubernetes, Linux machines, *.dory.local domains. Nothing else to install.
• Intel Macs — Dory runs as a native front-end (app, CLI, and docker context) for a Docker-compatible engine you install separately (Colima, Docker Desktop, Rancher Desktop, Podman, or OrbStack). There is no bundled engine on Intel yet; a native Intel engine (via Virtualization.framework) is on the roadmap for a later update.
• Xcode 27 or later (to build from source).

Build & run from source

scripts/build.sh        # compile-check
scripts/test.sh         # full test suite
scripts/shot.sh         # build, launch, and screenshot the window

Or open Dory.xcodeproj in Xcode and Run.

Optional system integration

These need a one-time admin grant (the same one OrbStack asks for) and are run by you, never silently:

scripts/enable-networking.sh    # *.dory.local domains + trust the local CA
scripts/enable-kubernetes.sh    # bootstrap k3s in the shared VM

Architecture

Dory.app (SwiftUI)
      │
      ▼
ContainerRuntime protocol ──► { Shared VM · Apple container · Docker API · Mock }
      │
      ├─ doryd shim          Docker REST API over ~/.dory/dory.sock
      ├─ Compose engine      YAML → dependency DAG → reconcile
      ├─ engine services     health state machine · event synthesis · anon-volumes
      └─ Net                 LocalCA (TLS) · DomainRouter (*.dory.local) · port forwarding

Everything is dependency-light: the HTTP / unix-socket transport, YAML parser, and Docker-API client and server are hand-rolled, so the build stays small and deterministic. The Packages/ContainerizationEngine package links Apple's containerization framework to boot the Linux VM in-process.

What's next

Portable dev machines you can back up and restore, remote access to your engine, and sandboxed environments for AI agents. Follow the releases, and open an issue if you want to shape what comes first.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

GPL-3.0 © 2026 Dory contributors.