Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Layerfiles, Dockerfiles that build VMs
Hey HN, I’m excited to show you Layerfiles, an OSS project which gives you a single binary to build microvms using a syntax that looks like a Dockerfile. The project is currently in alpha, but it’s already able to build a VM on Linux hosts. MicroVMs are like containers, but have several upsides: - They can run on any OS, so you don’t need to run a wrapper VM like Docker Desktop does. - They also let you keep processes running during a build (RUN BACKGROUND), so you can run a webserver or build server in the background. - You can generally run them rootless without any extra configuration.…
Layerfiles is an open-source tool that builds lightweight virtual machines using Dockerfile-like syntax. It runs as a single binary on Linux and allows developers to construct microvms that work across any operating… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Layerfiles, Dockerfiles that build VMs launched in 2022; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
- 1
Build and run tiny vms from Dockerfiles. Small and sleek. - ottomatica/slim
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 2
Build and run tiny vms from Dockerfiles. Small and sleek. - GitHub - ottomatica/slim at 2.x
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 3
I wanted to see how fast an isolated code sandbox could start if I never had to boot a fresh VM. So instead of launching a new microVM per execution, I boot Firecracker once with Python and numpy already loaded, then snapshot the full VM state. Every execution after that creates a new KVM VM backed by a `MAP_PRIVATE` mapping of the snapshot memory, so Linux gives me copy-on-write pages automatically. That means each sandbox starts from an already-running Python process inside a real VM, runs the code, and exits. These are real KVM VMs, not containers: separate guest kernel, separate guest…
Mar 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 4
Create microVMs from OCI images. Contribute to slp/krunvm development by creating an account on GitHub.
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 5
Hosting by webapp.io ▲105Global CDN, zero config TLS, free custom domains
2023 · webapp.io · its alternatives →
- 6
ByteNite▲206Hi HN, I’m one of the creators of ByteNite (https://bytenite.com). We built it for developers running compute-heavy containerized workloads (AI, ETL, batch jobs) who are frustrated with the limitations of traditional serverless platforms: timeouts, cold starts, orchestration complexity, and limited runtime control. ByteNite is a serverless platform that lets you submit distributed jobs packaged as Docker containers. You define simple or complex fan-out/fan-in logic, set your hardware requirements, and we handle the rest—distributing execution across warm cloud runners (CPUs,…
2025 · docs.bytenite.com · its alternatives →
- 7
Build and run tiny vms from Dockerfiles. Small and sleek. - ottomatica/slim
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 8
We just open-sourced Lume - a tool we built after hitting walls with existing virtualization options on Apple Silicon. No GUI, no complex stacks - just a single binary that lets you spin up macOS or Linux VMs via CLI or API. Why we built Lume: - Run native macOS VMs in 1 command, using Apple Virtualization.Framework: `lume run macos-sequoia-vanilla:latest` - Prebuilt images on https://ghcr.io/trycua (macOS, Ubuntu on ARM) - API server to manage VMs programmatically `POST /lume/vms` - A python SDK on github.com/trycua/pylume Run prebuilt macOS images in just…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 9
ohai! I've released Lightwhale 3, which is possibly the easiest way to self-host Docker containers. It's a free, immutable Linux system purpose-built to live-boot straight into a working Docker Engine, thereby shortcutting the need for installation, configuration, and maintenance. Its simple design makes it easy to learn, and its low memory footprint should make it especially attractive during these times of RAMageddon. If this has piqued your interest, do check it out, along with its easy-to-follow Getting Started guide. In any event, have a nice day! =)
Apr 2026 · lightwhale.asklandd.dk · its alternatives →
- 10
2019 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 11
:aerial_tramway: Minimal linux container runtime. Contribute to flouthoc/vas-quod development by creating an account on GitHub.
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 12
Hey HN, we're excited to share Lumier (https://github.com/trycua/cua/tree/main/libs/lumier), an open-source tool for running macOS and Linux virtual machines in Docker containers on Apple Silicon Macs. When building virtualized environments for AI agents, we needed a reproducible way to package and distribute macOS VMs. Inspired by projects like dockur/windows (https://github.com/dockur/windows) that pioneered running Windows in Docker, we wanted to create something similar but optimized for Apple Silicon. The existing…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 13
2025 · bottlefire.dev · its alternatives →
- 14
Contribute to libriscv/drogon-sandbox development by creating an account on GitHub.
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 15
- 16
This project addresses the inefficiencies of traditional Dockerfile-based container builds where each customization layer creates storage bloat through duplicate dependencies from repeated apt-get install commands, network inefficiency from redundant package downloads across different images, and slow iteration cycles requiring full rebuilds of all previous steps. Our solution enables building minimal base images from scratch using debootstrap that precisely include only required components in the initial build, while allowing creation of specialized variants (Java, Kafka, etc.) from these…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 17
A set of utilities (vmcli + vmctl) for macOS Virtualization.framework - gyf304/vmcli
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 18
This project contains no code from Linux, BSD, Minix, or any other OS. Everything up until this point is written entirely from scratch, including a pure microkernel (that only implements multiprocessor priority scheduling, memory management, and interprocess communication), a work-in-progress implementation of the standard C library, and a variety of servers that provide drivers and other essential OS functionality. At the time of writing this post, the servers provide drivers for the keyboard, NVMe SSDs (that works on real hardware), a Unix-like virtual file system (with a single root…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 19
Build modular easily testable microservice & serverless apps
2019 · micronaut.io · its alternatives →
- 20
Hi HN, we're Lucas and Lucas, the authors of Layerform (https://github.com/ergomake/layerform). Layerform is an open-source tool for setting up development environments using plain .tf files. We allow each engineer to create their own "staging" environment and reuse infrastructure. Whenever engineers run layerform spawn, we use plain .tf files to give them their own "staging" environment that looks just like production. Many teams have a single (or too few) staging environments, which developers have to queue to use. This is particularly a problem when a system is large,…
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 21AV
Find information, resources and relevant links for liuchengxu.org. This domain may be for sale.
2017 · vim.liuchengxu.org · its alternatives →
- 22
I got tired of libvirt XML and Vagrant's Ruby/reload dance for single-host VM stacks, so I built a compose-style runtime directly on QEMU/KVM. What's there: GPU passthrough as a first-class primitive (VFIO, OVMF, per-instance EFI vars), healthchecks that gate depends_on over SSH, socket-multicast L2 between VMs with no root and no bridge config, cloud-init wired through the YAML, Dockerfile support for provisioning. What it's not: Kubernetes. No clustering, no live migration, no control plane. Single host. Prototype, but I'm running it on real hardware. Curious what breaks for…
Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 23
Declaratively manage images built from a set of Dockerfiles - jbergknoff/Dockerfiler
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 24
Docker configuration for building Linux From Scratch system - reinterpretcat/lfs
2017 · github.com · its alternatives →
Also compare
- Slim – Build and run tiny VMs from Dockerfiles alternatives
- Slim 2: Create VM from Dockerfile, boots in seconds (+macOS M1/Hyper-V) alternatives
- Sub-millisecond VM sandboxes using CoW memory forking alternatives
- krunvm – Create and run lightweight VMs from OCI images alternatives
- Hosting by webapp.io alternatives
- ByteNite alternatives
Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →