Why I Ditched Docker Desktop for OrbStack (And Never Looked Back)

After years of tolerating Docker Desktop's sluggish performance on my MacBook Pro, I finally made the switch to OrbStack. Three months later, I can confidently say it's one of the best decisions I've made for my development workflow. Here's my honest experience and the numbers to back it up.

The Breaking Point with Docker Desktop

We've all been there. You open your laptop, ready to dive into some code, and Docker Desktop decides it needs 2+ minutes to "start the engine." Meanwhile, your fans spin up like a jet engine, and Activity Monitor shows Docker consuming 4GB+ of RAM just sitting idle.

For me, the final straw was when I noticed my M2 MacBook Pro's battery draining 40% faster on days I was running Docker. That's when I discovered OrbStack.

What is OrbStack?

OrbStack is a native macOS application that runs Docker containers and Linux machines. Unlike Docker Desktop (which is built with Electron and runs a full Linux VM), OrbStack is built specifically for macOS with a focus on performance and efficiency.

My Real-World Performance Comparison

I ran the same development stack (Node.js API + PostgreSQL + Redis + Nginx) on both Docker Desktop and OrbStack for a week each. Here's what I found:

Startup Time

Docker Desktop: 47 seconds (cold start)
OrbStack:       2 seconds (cold start)

That's not a typo. OrbStack starts in 2 seconds. The difference is immediately noticeable - you open your laptop and you're ready to work.

Memory Usage (Idle)

Docker Desktop: 3.8 GB RAM
OrbStack:       380 MB RAM

OrbStack uses 10x less memory when idle. This is because of its dynamic memory allocation - it only uses what it needs and releases memory back to the system.

CPU Usage (Running 5 Containers)

Docker Desktop: 8-15% constant background CPU
OrbStack:       0.1-0.5% background CPU

My laptop no longer sounds like it's trying to take off when I have containers running.

File System Performance

This is where things get interesting. I ran a npm install benchmark on a medium-sized Next.js project with mounted volumes:


bash
# Docker Desktop with VirtioFS
time npm install
# Result: 2m 34s

# OrbStack
time npm install
# Result: 48s

3x faster file operations. This makes a massive difference when you're doing file-heavy operations like builds, tests, or hot reloading.

Features That Changed My Workflow

1. Container Domain Names

OrbStack automatically creates .orb.local domain names for your containers:


yaml
# docker-compose.yml
services:
  api:
    image: node:20
    # Automatically accessible at: api.orb.local

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    # Automatically accessible at: postgres.orb.local

No more juggling localhost:3000, localhost:5432, etc. Each service gets its own domain. This is especially useful when you're running multiple projects.

2. Native File Access

You can browse container volumes directly in Finder:


bash
# Access any container's filesystem
open /Volumes/OrbStack/docker/containers/<container-id>

# Or use the CLI
orb run -m ubuntu cat /etc/os-release

3. Linux Machines

OrbStack isn't just for Docker. You can spin up full Linux VMs in seconds:


bash
# Create an Ubuntu machine
orb create ubuntu my-dev-machine

# SSH into it instantly
orb shell my-dev-machine

# It's automatically integrated with your Mac
# - Shared clipboard
# - File access via ~/OrbStack/my-dev-machine
# - Network access via my-dev-machine.orb.local

I use this for testing Linux-specific builds and running tools that don't work well on macOS.

4. Kubernetes Support

If you need local Kubernetes, OrbStack has you covered:


bash
# Enable Kubernetes (takes ~30 seconds)
orb config kubernetes.enabled true

# Use kubectl as normal
kubectl get pods

It even provides automatic domain names for services: <service>.<namespace>.k8s.orb.local

Migration from Docker Desktop

The migration was surprisingly painless:


bash
# 1. Install OrbStack
brew install orbstack

# 2. Import existing Docker images and volumes
orb migrate docker

# 3. That's it. Your docker commands work the same.
docker ps
docker-compose up

All my docker and docker-compose commands worked exactly the same. OrbStack provides a drop-in replacement for the Docker CLI.

The One Caveat: Licensing

OrbStack is free for personal use, but requires a paid license for commercial use ($8/month or $80/year per developer). For me, the productivity gains easily justify this cost - I estimate I save 30+ minutes per day just from faster startup times and file operations.

My Current Setup

Here's my docker-compose.yml template that takes full advantage of OrbStack's features:


yaml
version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build: .
    volumes:
      - .:/app
      - node_modules:/app/node_modules
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:postgres@postgres.orb.local:5432/myapp
      - REDIS_URL=redis://redis.orb.local:6379
    labels:
      - "dev.orbstack.domains=app.local,api.local"

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
      POSTGRES_DB: myapp
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    volumes:
      - redis_data:/data

volumes:
  node_modules:
  postgres_data:
  redis_data:

With this setup:

My app is accessible at app.orb.local and api.orb.local
Database connection uses the clean postgres.orb.local hostname
Everything starts in under 5 seconds

Productivity Impact: The Numbers

After three months with OrbStack, here's my rough estimate of time saved:

Activity	Docker Desktop	OrbStack	Daily Savings
Morning startup	2 min	5 sec	2 min
Container restarts (x5/day)	30 sec each	3 sec each	2.5 min
File sync delays	10 min total	2 min total	8 min
Waiting for builds	15 min total	8 min total	7 min
Total Daily Savings			~20 min

That's nearly 7 hours per month of reclaimed development time. Not to mention the mental overhead reduction from not fighting with slow tools.

Should You Switch?

Switch if you:

Use a Mac for development
Run Docker containers daily
Value battery life and system performance
Work with file-heavy operations (Node.js, hot reloading)

Maybe wait if you:

Need specific Docker Desktop features (Extensions, Dev Environments)
Are on a strict corporate policy that mandates Docker Desktop
Rarely use Docker

Conclusion

OrbStack isn't just a Docker Desktop alternative - it's what Docker Desktop should have been. It's fast, lightweight, and stays out of your way. The native macOS integration makes it feel like containers are a first-class citizen on your Mac.

If you're a developer on macOS and haven't tried OrbStack yet, I'd strongly recommend giving it a shot. The free personal tier lets you experience everything, and the migration takes less than 5 minutes.

Your development environment should accelerate your work, not slow it down. OrbStack finally makes that a reality for container-based development on macOS.