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Commonly confused · DevOps & Automation

Docker vs Kubernetes: What's the Difference?

Docker is a platform for building container images and running containers on a host. Kubernetes is an orchestration system that schedules, scales, heals, and networks containers across a cluster of many hosts. They are complementary rather than competitors.

vs

Kubernetes

Full definition
DockerKubernetes
Primary roleBuild, package, and run containersOrchestrate containers across a cluster
ScopeSingle host (Swarm adds clustering)Many nodes
Unit of workContainerPod (one or more containers)
Self-healingRestart policies onlyReschedules failed pods, maintains desired replicas
ScalingManual or via Compose/SwarmHorizontal Pod Autoscaler, declarative replicas
Config filesDockerfile, compose.yamlYAML manifests (Deployment, Service, etc.)
Runtime relationshipUses containerd underneathUses a CRI runtime such as containerd or CRI-O
Remember it

Docker builds and runs the shipping containers; Kubernetes runs the port.

Exam tip

Know that a Dockerfile builds an image and a Kubernetes Deployment manages replicas of pods. Kubernetes removed dockershim in v1.24 but still runs Docker-built (OCI) images.

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