Is Buildah open source?

Yes. Buildah is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at podman-container-tools/buildah and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. Buildah is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Buildah?

Yes. Buildah can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Buildah an alternative to?

Buildah is an open-source alternative to Docker Desktop. Other open-source alternatives to Docker Desktop include Podman, Kubernetes and Moby.

Is Buildah actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Buildah was on 13 October 2026, and the latest release is v1.45.2, published on 12 October 2026. The project has 9.1k stars on GitHub.

Buildah: open-source alternative to Docker Desktop

About Buildah

Buildah is a tool that facilitates building OCI container images. The site features announcements and news around Buildah, and occasionally other container tooling news.

Key features

Facilitates building OCI container images

Built with: Go tools; Docker tools
Tags: oci; container; image; building

Buildah: questions and answers

What is Buildah?: Buildah is a tool that facilitates building OCI container images.
Is Buildah open source?: Yes. Buildah is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at podman-container-tools/buildah and is written mainly in Go.
Is Buildah free?: Yes. Buildah is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Buildah?: Yes. Buildah can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Buildah an alternative to?: Buildah is an open-source alternative to Docker Desktop. Other open-source alternatives to Docker Desktop include Podman, Kubernetes and Moby.
Is Buildah actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Buildah was on 13 October 2026, and the latest release is v1.45.2, published on 12 October 2026. The project has 9.1k stars on GitHub.