ArduMaker vs Portainer

Verdict

11–5

ArduMaker wins

Criteria won: ArduMaker 8, Portainer 2. Tied on 3.

Only criteria that resolve to yes, partial or no are counted. Price has no single winner: it depends on each case.

Comparison table

Quick summary

ArduMaker

• Who it is for: People who need the server and everything around the containers: domains, SSL, databases, email and backups.
• Biggest strength: The VPS, HTTPS publishing, databases and the full weekly backup are already handled, and you can run them over MCP with OAuth too.

Portainer

• Who it is for: Ops teams managing containers on one or many hosts, including Kubernetes clusters and edge devices.
• Biggest strength: A very complete UI for Docker and Kubernetes across many environments at once, free in Community Edition and with fine-grained access control in Business Edition.

The main difference: Portainer manages the container layer on servers you install and expose yourself; ArduMaker delivers the whole server and also handles publishing, data and backups.

Key differences

The container layer vs the whole server

Portainer installs with a docker run command that mounts the Docker socket and serves the UI on port 9443 with a self-signed certificate. It assumes the host, Docker and networking already exist. ArduMaker starts from the VPS: it installs the Docker daemon in one click and publishes each app on its domain.

Putting an app on the internet

Portainer has no reverse proxy or certificates for your apps: its docs suggest deploying Traefik with Let's Encrypt and labels on each service. On ArduMaker, a Docker app with a port is published over HTTPS and the URL appears once the link responds.

Configuration backups vs server backups

Portainer's backup stores its database and stack files, but not containers, images or volumes, which you have to back up another way. ArduMaker takes a full VPS backup every 7 days, keeps the last 4 and lets you download it.

Many environments and Kubernetes

Portainer manages many hosts, Swarm and Kubernetes clusters, and edge devices through agents. Its 3.0 release, an STS version, moves to a Kubernetes-first codebase, while Docker stays on the 2.x line (2.39 LTS). ArduMaker offers no Kubernetes or autoscaling: each VPS changes plan from the panel.

Pricing and costs

Portainer Community Edition costs nothing and Business Edition is free up to 3 nodes. For commercial use with more nodes, Starter is from $105 a month or $1,045 a year (5, 10 or 15 nodes, up to 16 vCPUs per node) and Scale from $209 a month or $2,095 a year. None of them include the servers, the proxy, backup storage or the time spent maintaining Docker and the OS. On ArduMaker you pay a fixed plan with the VPS and the panel included.

Assumptions: Prices from Portainer's licensing docs, checked on October 17, 2026, in US dollars with no taxes stated. Home & Student ($155/year, up to 15 nodes) is for non-commercial use only. Server costs are not included. ArduMaker: list price of the entry plan.

Real-world scenarios

Several clients' Docker servers in one panel

On ArduMaker: You create one VPS per client in the same company and decide which members see each one with allow and exclude lists.

On Portainer: You install Portainer Server on one host and the agent on each server (port 9001), or the Edge Agent when you can't open ports, and group them into environments.

A Compose stack that follows Git

On ArduMaker: You deploy the Compose file as a Docker app, or the GitHub repo with its Dockerfile; for code without Docker, the GitHub deploy publishes on every push.

On Portainer: You create the stack from the Git repo, turn on GitOps updates by polling with an interval and, in Business Edition, a webhook to trigger the redeploy.

Publishing an app with a domain and HTTPS

On ArduMaker: You set the Docker app's port and publish it over HTTPS on its subdomain or your own domain, with no proxy to set up.

On Portainer: You deploy Traefik with an acme.json file, define the Let's Encrypt resolver and add labels to each service, then point DNS.

Giving support staff limited access

On ArduMaker: You add the person as a company member with a role per project and limit which VPS they can see.

On Portainer: With Business Edition you assign the Helpdesk or Read-only role on an environment; Community Edition has no roles that fine-grained.

An AI agent that inspects containers

On ArduMaker: You connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor to the MCP server over OAuth, and sensitive actions ask for human approval.

On Portainer: You run Portainer's MCP with uvx or in a container and give it an API key, knowing it is no longer supported.

When Portainer is the better fit

• You manage many Docker hosts, Swarm clusters or Kubernetes from a single UI.
• You need fine-grained roles per environment (Operator, Helpdesk, Read-only) and fleet governance in Business Edition.
• You run edge or industrial devices with Edge Agents that need no open ports.
• You already have servers, a proxy and certificates in place and just need a UI for the containers.
• You want a free, open source tool that works on any provider or on your own hardware.

When ArduMaker is the better fit

• You don't have a server and don't want to install Docker, a proxy and certificates yourself.
• You want backups of the whole server, not just the panel's configuration.
• You need databases with a manager, GitHub deploys on every push and email on your domain.
• You'd rather have the platform maintain the panel.
• You want an AI agent to work through MCP with OAuth and human approval.

How to migrate from Portainer to ArduMaker

What you manage in Portainer is containers and Compose stacks, so migrating means moving those Compose files, their variables and their volumes to the VPS. Keep your current servers running until you have verified everything.

1. Take inventory: Go through each environment in Portainer and note stacks, standalone containers, environment variables, ports, volumes and your proxy rules.
2. Create the VPS: Pick an ArduMaker plan with the RAM and disk your containers use today and wait until it is active.
3. Export the Compose files: Copy each stack's file from Portainer's editor; Git-based ones are already in their repo. Remove the Traefik labels, because the VPS will handle publishing.
4. Move the databases: Open the database container's console and take a dump with pg_dump or mysqldump. Create the database in the ArduMaker panel and restore the dump, or keep it as a container inside the app.
5. Copy the volumes: Pack each volume's data into a tar file and upload it to the VPS, into the app's data folder or the volume its Compose file defines.
6. Deploy the apps: Create each Docker app from its image or Compose file, load the variables and use a token if the image comes from a private registry.
7. Domains and SSL: Lower the TTL, point the DNS records at the VPS and publish each app with its port; the certificate is issued when you publish.
8. Verify and roll back if needed: Check each app's status and logs in the VPS Docker tab. If something fails, point DNS back to your servers, and shut them down only once everything works.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Portainer data checked on 2026-10-17 on its official pages. Prices change: confirm them before deciding. Logos belong to their owners and are shown only to identify each service.

• Portainer Docs: precios de Business Edition
• Portainer Docs: instalar Community Edition con Docker en Linux
• Portainer Docs: crear un stack desde Git con GitOps
• Portainer Docs: ajustes y copia de la configuración
• Portainer Docs: roles RBAC de Business Edition
• Portainer Docs: Portainer detrás de Traefik con Let's Encrypt
• Portainer en GitHub: servidor MCP oficial
• Portainer en GitHub: plantillas de apps oficiales

Keep reading

• Docker
• Docker
• GitHub deploys
• Domains and SSL
• Backups
• MCP server for AI agents

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