LXC vs Incus

LXC8.7Visit Incus8.5Visit

Higher score LXC #5 in Container Runtime Software 8.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 4 features Visit LXC

vs

Incus #7 in Container Runtime Software 8.5/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 4 features Visit Incus

• LXC fits best

  Linux system containers

• Incus fits best

  Linux system containers and virtual machines

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Side by side

Feature	LXC 8.7/10 Visit ↗	Incus 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.7	8.5
Ranking	#5 in Container Runtime Software	#7 in Container Runtime Software
Best for	Linux system containers	Linux system containers and virtual machines
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Platforms	Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Community, Docs, Email	Community, Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features LXC 1/4 · Incus 1/4
Rootless mode	✓	✓
OCI support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Desktop GUI	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Windows containers	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Runtime mode	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Host platforms	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Unprivileged containers with user namespaces and UID/GID mappings Deep Linux isolation through namespaces, cgroups, and security controls Stable C API, language bindings, networking, images, and packaging	Combines system containers, OCI applications, and virtual machines Adds clustering, snapshots, migration, storage, and network management Integrates with Ansible, Terraform, OpenTofu, Packer, and Kubernetes Cluster API
Cons	Linux hosts only Low-level runtime requires more platform knowledge than hosted tools Does not establish Kubernetes CRI or core OCI/Docker image support	The Incus daemon runs on Linux Windows and macOS support is for clients, not the server Its broad scope may exceed the needs of app-container-only deployments
Our verdict	LXC is an open-source userspace interface for Linux kernel containment features, aimed at teams and developers who need system or application containers on Linux hosts. It provides command-line tools, an API, language bindings,… Read the review →	Incus is an open-source manager for system containers, OCI application containers, and virtual machines. It is aimed at developers, infrastructure teams, and production environments that need to run and manage Linux systems or virtual… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• LXC — where it wins

  • Unprivileged containers with user namespaces and UID/GID mappings
  • Deep Linux isolation through namespaces, cgroups, and security controls
  • Stable C API, language bindings, networking, images, and packaging

  Where it doesn't

  • Linux hosts only
  • Low-level runtime requires more platform knowledge than hosted tools
  • Does not establish Kubernetes CRI or core OCI/Docker image support

• Incus — where it wins

  • Combines system containers, OCI applications, and virtual machines
  • Adds clustering, snapshots, migration, storage, and network management
  • Integrates with Ansible, Terraform, OpenTofu, Packer, and Kubernetes Cluster API

  Where it doesn't

  • The Incus daemon runs on Linux
  • Windows and macOS support is for clients, not the server
  • Its broad scope may exceed the needs of app-container-only deployments

• LXC8.7/10 · Free plan

  A mature, open-source choice for Linux system containers and host-level control.

  Visit LXCFull verdict →
• Incus8.5/10 · Free plan

  A broad Linux-focused runtime for system containers, OCI apps, and virtual machines.

  Visit IncusFull verdict →