Built something? We create video reels & spotlights for GitHub projects.Promote your project →
containerd
Home / Go / containerd

containerd/containerd

An open and reliable container runtime

Go ◇ cncf Apache-2.0
★21.3KSTARS
⑂4.1KFORKS
!483ISSUES
🏆#415GLOBAL RANK
🔥3DAYS TRENDING
🚀
Maintainer Growth Kit for containerd

Claim this project, add your verified backlink badge to your README, and download milestone cards.

Claim Repo

Star History

Continuous Observations
Interactive star growth chart for containerd/containerd
CSV

Momentum

+533

STARS · LAST 30 DAYS

18

PER DAY

#64

MOST-STARRED Go

Window7 days30 days90 days
Stars gained+126+533+1.6K
Per day181818
Forks gained+21+83+206

containerd gained 533 stars in the last 30 days, about 18 a day, and now has 21.3K. It is about 11 years old and has averaged roughly 1.9K stars a year. It ranks #64 among Go repositories and #415 across all languages on GitHubRepo.

Trending Record

containerd has maintained a continuous presence across global trending indexes, peaking at #987. Below is the 30-day activity profile:

💡 Overview

containerd is an open-source project written in Go: An open and reliable container runtime.

Engineered for speed, consistency, and developer ease, it solves common hurdles in cncf, containerd, containers. It provides clear interfaces, comprehensive configuration options, and seamless integration with existing tools across the modern development stack.

⚡ Key Features

1

Optimized execution pipeline written in Go for predictable speed.

2

Zero-friction configuration with comprehensive sensible defaults out of the box.

3

Cross-platform runtime support across Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.

4

Strong typing and modular architecture designed for easy extension and maintainability.

5

Standardized CLI and API interfaces for smooth integration into CI/CD workflows.

6

Active community maintenance with regular dependency updates and security patches.

📥 Installation

terminal
$ go install github.com/containerd/containerd@latest

⚙ System Requirements

Platforms

  • • macOS
  • • Linux
  • • Windows

Runtime & Dependencies

Go >= 1.21 runtime environment

Architecture

x86_64, ARM64 (Apple Silicon & Graviton)

🧠 How It Works

containerd coordinates its core functionality through a modular Go pipeline. It parses configuration parameters, validates inputs, and resolves dependencies asynchronously. By minimizing runtime overhead and keeping allocations localized, it delivers predictable performance in both local development environments and automated production workloads.

🎯 Production Use Cases

Autonomous AI Agents

Orchestrate intelligent workflows and tool-calling routines with containerd.

Model Inference & Prompting

Integrate fast, local or cloud-hosted generative AI models directly into production code.

Context Memory & RAG

Augment language models with dynamic vector retrieval and structured project memory.

Developer Productivity

Automate repetitive engineering tasks, code generation, and test creation using AI agents.

🚀 Getting Started

1

Install containerd using your package manager: `go install github.com/containerd/containerd@latest`

2

Initialize your project workspace or configuration file for containerd.

3

Import containerd into your codebase or invoke it directly from your terminal.

4

Execute your test suite or run `containerd --help` to verify successful setup.

👍 Strengths

Active community backing with 21,336 GitHub stars and verified adoption.
Permissive open-source distribution under the Apache-2.0 license.
Built in Go for high execution speed and developer familiarity.
Cross-platform compatibility across modern Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.
Clean modular design allowing flexible configuration and pipeline integration.

⚠️ Considerations

Requires familiarity with Go and modern CLI workflows.
Ecosystem extensions may require manual configuration depending on environment constraints.
Active development roadmap means breaking API changes may occur across major versions.

⇄ Alternatives & Direct Competitors

A
avelino/awesome-go ★ 185.9K Go

A curated list of awesome Go frameworks, libraries and software

Compare ↗
O
ollama/ollama ★ 181.8K Go

Get up and running with Kimi, GLM, MiniMax, DeepSeek, gpt-oss, Qwen, Gemma and other models.

Compare ↗
G
golang/go ★ 139.1K Go

The Go programming language

Compare ↗
K
kubernetes/kubernetes ★ 128K Go

Production-Grade Container Scheduling and Management

Compare ↗

👥 Who Should Use This

Developers and engineering teams building with Go, seeking reliable, tested, and actively maintained tooling for production workloads.

🏆 Nearby in the Rankings

containerd/containerd is currently ranked #415 by stars across every repository tracked on GitHubRepo. These are adjacent projects:

RankRepositoryLanguageStarsAction
#410 google/adk-python Python ★ 21.7K Compare ↗
#411 netbox-community/netbox Python ★ 21.6K Compare ↗
#412 vorssaint/vorssaint-utils Swift ★ 21.4K Compare ↗
#413 parse-community/parse-server JavaScript ★ 21.4K Compare ↗
#414 PrimeIntellect-ai/prime-agent TypeScript ★ 21.3K Compare ↗
#415 containerd/containerd This Project Go ★ 21.3K
#416 wekan/wekan JavaScript ★ 21.1K Compare ↗
#417 qax-os/excelize Go ★ 20.9K Compare ↗
#418 github/docs TypeScript ★ 20.9K Compare ↗
#419 gofr-dev/gofr Go ★ 20.9K Compare ↗
#420 sveltejs/kit JavaScript ★ 20.8K Compare ↗

Frequently Asked Questions

What does containerd do? +

An open and reliable container runtime

What language is containerd written in? +

The primary language is Go. Topics include: cncf, containerd, containers, cri, docker.

Is containerd actively maintained? +

Yes, the last recorded push was on Sep 26, 2026 with 483 open issues being tracked.

How many stars does containerd have? +

containerd has 21,336 stars and 4,129 forks on GitHub.

How does containerd rank among GitHub repositories? +

With 21,336 stars, containerd/containerd is ranked #415 globally across all repositories tracked on GitHubRepo and #64 among Go projects.

What license is containerd distributed under? +

The repository reports a Apache-2.0 license. Always verify the repository LICENSE file for legal terms.

From our network
FOR MAINTAINERS

Built something? Put it in front of millions of developers.

We make a short reel about your project and post it across YouTube, Instagram, Threads, and X. Send a link, we do the rest.