Yacht - Launch Docker Apps Quick and Easy - Portainer Alternative

Just a little over 2 years ago, an idea was born to create a foundation to act as a one click deployment system for Docker applications. When the project started, it was only myself and SelfhostedPro who knew about it. SelfhostedPro would show me very early versions as ideas began to form.

What exactly is Yacht?

Yacht is web interface for managing docker containers with an emphasis on templating to provide 1 click deployments. Think of it like a decentralized app store for servers that anyone can make packages for. It's like a Heroku for people who want a little more intuitive access to their apps

Yacht and the Transformation

Today, Yacht has transformed into not only a Docker templating platform, but also a full fledged Docker management system. What once was a dream to make launching Docker apps easier became that and a side by side competitor with Portainer.

An alternative to Portainer

I said it, and yes, Yacht is a great alternative to Portainer. So much so that the lead developer of Portainer was questioning (on Reddit) why Selfhostedpro didn't just contribute to Portainer instead of creating his own application.

But, I digress. Portainer has become a hallmark in the industry of Docker and it is not easy trying to get people to try something new when Portainer works so good and is so well maintained.

My influence on Yacht

Not many people know I was offering ideas at the time and had heavy influence on how Yacht looks today. In fact, the main dashboard where you can see the containers and their resource usage, was influenced by myself. At the time I was using a Synology NAS for running some Docker containers and I really like how the containers are shown with resource usage and simple stats.

You can see the similarity here so when I spoke to the developer, I made it clear that Yacht has to have a dashboard like this. It's funny now that I look back at our time talking about Yacht as it formed into what it is today. We had many conversations talking about design and how it will function.

Yacht core functionality

With that being said, Yacht is still here to stay and was built for templates that allow you to launch Docker containers quick and easy.

Yacht comes shipped with a default template packed with over 100 apps ready to be deployed.

Yacht makes it easy to see everything about the containers you have running. Here on the container application info page, you can manage everything about the container and even view the logs.

The one click update feature will place a green dot next to every container that has an available update. This is one of my favorite features!

Click on the drop-down arrow and update the image. From there, you can also start, stop, and edit the container. The ports on the right side are also linked to the application and can be clicked to open them in a new tab.

You can easily prune unused images and volumes to save precious space on your system.

Final Notes and Thoughts

While Yacht will probably never replace Portainer, it still holds its own. It's one of those apps you just have to try, and I think if you do, you will find it very suitable as a Docker management solution.

If you find Yacht useful, be sure to give it a star on the Yacht Github repo!