Quay vs Azure Container Registry

Quay9.3Visit Azure Container Registry8.6Visit

Higher score Quay #2 in Container Registries 9.3/10 Free plan · 30-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Quay

vs

Azure Container Registry #9 in Container Registries 8.6/10 Paid ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Azure ACR

• Quay fits best

  Open-source teams needing hosted or self-hosted options

• Azure Container Registry fits best

  Azure-native development teams

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Side by side

Feature	Quay 9.3/10 Visit ↗	Azure Container Registry 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.6
Ranking	#2 in Container Registries	#9 in Container Registries
Best for	Open-source teams needing hosted or self-hosted options	Azure-native development teams
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	Free plan · 30-day trial	—
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	30 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Phone, Tickets, Community, Docs	Tickets, Community, Docs
Integrations	5 integrations	6 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Quay 4/4 · Azure Container Registry 4/4
Image scanning	✓	✓
OCI artifacts	✓	✓
Immutable tags	✓	✓
Retention policies	✓	✓
Specs
Replication scope	Multi-region	Global
Included storage	Not checked yet	10 GB
Maximum image size	Not checked yet	195 GB
Our review
Pros	Automated vulnerability scanning with Clair OCI 1.1 referrers, immutable tags, and retention policies Mirroring and geo-replication for distributed repositories	ACR Tasks provides cloud-based container image builds. Supports signing, verification, scanning, locking, and retention policies. Integrates with AKS, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, and Key Vault.
Cons	Project Quay and hosted Quay.io require a deployment choice Advanced controls may exceed basic image-storage needs Self-hosted deployment adds operational responsibility	There is no free plan. Geo-replication and Private Link support require Premium. Scanning uses a separately licensed Microsoft Defender for Cloud integration.
Our verdict	Quay is a container registry for developers and organizations that build, store, organize, scan, and distribute container images and other OCI artifacts. It supports web and API access, as well as self-hosted deployment. Project Quay is… Read the review →	Azure Container Registry is a managed private registry for Docker container images and other OCI artifacts. It suits development teams and organizations deploying workloads on Azure, particularly those connecting container storage to Azure… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Quay — where it wins

  • Automated vulnerability scanning with Clair
  • OCI 1.1 referrers, immutable tags, and retention policies
  • Mirroring and geo-replication for distributed repositories

  Where it doesn't

  • Project Quay and hosted Quay.io require a deployment choice
  • Advanced controls may exceed basic image-storage needs
  • Self-hosted deployment adds operational responsibility

• Azure Container Registry — where it wins

  • ACR Tasks provides cloud-based container image builds.
  • Supports signing, verification, scanning, locking, and retention policies.
  • Integrates with AKS, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, and Key Vault.

  Where it doesn't

  • There is no free plan.
  • Geo-replication and Private Link support require Premium.
  • Scanning uses a separately licensed Microsoft Defender for Cloud integration.

• Quay9.3/10 · Free plan · 30-day trial

  A flexible registry for teams that need hosted convenience or self-hosted control.

  Visit QuayFull verdict →
• Azure Container Registry8.6/10 · Paid

  A capable Azure-focused registry with builds, security controls, and Premium geo-replication.

  Visit Azure ACRFull verdict →