I built a lightweight Docker engine for Windows: no WSL, 322 MiB idle

说明与用途

hyperbutler 是一个轻量级的 Windows Docker 引擎，使用的内存和磁盘空间分别比 Docker Desktop 少 5 倍和 4 倍，但不支持 Kubernetes 和 GUI 功能。

问题

Running Linux containers on Windows with Docker Desktop consumes excessive memory, disk space, and requires a paid subscription for larger companies.

结果

hyperbutler achieves comparable functionality to Docker Desktop while using 5× less memory, 4× less disk, and no WSL, but lacks Kubernetes, Windows containers, and GUI features.

工作流

• Install hyperbutler from zip or MSI
• Run hyperbutler start docker run … to start a container
• Use standard Docker CLI/Compose with hyperbutler context
• Stop with hyperbutler stop

证据

hyperbutler is an open‑source (Apache‑2.0) Docker engine for Windows 11. It boots a minimal Linux VM straight through the Windows Host Compute Service (HCS, the same API WSL 2 uses underneath), runs dockerd inside it, and exposes the Docker API on a Windows named pipe. No WSL.

来源

Idle memory, VM running: hyperbutler 322 MiB, Docker Desktop 1.7–2.7 GB.

来源

Disk 5 min after deleting ~5 GB of images: hyperbutler 1.5 GiB given back automatically, Docker Desktop 6.8 GiB kept.

来源

hyperbutler runs Linux containers with the Docker CLI and Compose, and that's it. If you need any of those other things, this isn't for you yet.

来源