Podman (pod manager) is an open source Open Container Initiative (OCI)-compliant container management tool created by Red Hat used for handling containers, images, volumes, and pods on the Linux operating system, with support for macOS and Microsoft Windows via a virtual machine. Based on the libpod library, it offers APIs for the lifecycle management of containers, pods, images, and volumes. The API is identical to the Docker API. Podman Desktop provides an alternative to Docker Desktop.
The first public release of Podman (v0.2) was released in 2018, version 1.0.0 of Podman was released on January 16th, 2019.
Version 1.0 of Podman Desktop was released on May 23, 2023.
In KubeCon 2024, Red Hat announced that it will contribute Podman and Podman Desktop to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), by that point, Podman Desktop had already been downloaded 1.5 million times, the projects were accepted into the CNCF Sandbox on January 21, 2025.
What is Podman?
Podman is an open-source containers & devop program for Windows from Red Hat (developed by Matt Heon). It is written in Go. Besides Windows, it is available for Linux.
Installation and requirements
Official installers exist for 64-bit and ARM64 as EXE (WiX Burn). Installation asks for administrator rights. The installer supports unattended (silent) installation.
Updates and version history
The current version is 5.8.3, released on June 12, 2026. 64 versions are listed since September 28, 2021, each with links to its own installer files. That is about 14 releases a year.
Popularity and file types
The source code on GitHub (podman-container-tools/podman) has 33,096 stars. Wikipedia has an article about it in 10 of our languages. Similar programs include Podman CLI, Helm and Kubernetes - Minikube - A Local Kubernetes Development Environment.
Project description on GitHub: “Podman: A tool for managing OCI containers and pods.”
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Open source: the code can be inspected and built by anyone
- Native ARM64 build for Windows on Arm
- Documented silent install
- Frequent updates (about 14 a year)
- Also runs on Linux
- Large user base
Cons
- Installation needs administrator rights
In short: Podman is an open-source containers & devop tool for 64-bit and ARM64 PCs. It is actively maintained. Administrators can deploy it unattended.
Screenshots
Is Podman safe to download?
- The file is served by github.com, the publisher’s own domain
- The download link uses HTTPS
- A SHA256 hash is published, so you can verify the file:
B87FE41C112062B3F598574ED4AA3FB82AAA4BC150B29EB4915400E59B0B6B55· Open the VirusTotal report for this hash - The link has not been checked yet
- The source code is public
- ExeAtlas does not host, wrap or modify installers
Related guide: How to check a file’s SHA256 hash on Windows
Recent versions
All 64 versions ›64 versions over 5 years · about 14 a year
| Version | Date | Size | Files |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.8.3Latest | June 12, 2026 | — | 64-bit EXE (WiX Burn)ARM64 EXE (WiX Burn) |
| 5.8.2 | April 14, 2026 | — | ARM64 EXE (WiX Burn)64-bit EXE (WiX Burn) |
| 5.8.1 | March 11, 2026 | — | ARM64 EXE (WiX Burn)64-bit EXE (WiX Burn) |
| 5.8.0 | February 12, 2026 | — | 64-bit EXE (WiX Burn)ARM64 EXE (WiX Burn) |
| 5.7.1 | December 10, 2025 | — | ARM64 EXE (WiX Burn)64-bit EXE (WiX Burn) |
| 5.7.0 | November 11, 2025 | — | 64-bit EXE (WiX Burn)ARM64 EXE (WiX Burn) |
| 5.6.2 | September 30, 2025 | — | 64-bit EXE (WiX Burn)ARM64 EXE (WiX Burn) |
| 5.6.1 | September 4, 2025 | — | ARM64 EXE (WiX Burn)64-bit EXE (WiX Burn) |
Release cycle and support
Version 5.8.3 belongs to the 5.8 release line, which reached its end of life on September 26, 2026: it no longer receives security updates.
| Release line | Released | Support ends | Latest version | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | August 12, 2026 | not announced | 6.1.4 | Supported |
| 6.0 | June 24, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 6.0.2 | End of life |
| 5.8 | February 12, 2026 | September 26, 2026 | 5.8.9 | End of life |
| 5.7 | November 11, 2025 | February 12, 2026 | 5.7.1 | End of life |
| 5.6 | August 15, 2025 | November 11, 2025 | 5.6.2 | End of life |
| 5.5 | May 13, 2025 | August 15, 2025 | 5.5.2 | End of life |
| 5.4 | February 11, 2025 | May 13, 2025 | 5.4.2 | End of life |
| 5.3 | November 12, 2024 | February 11, 2025 | 5.3.2 | End of life |
Install from the command line
Silent install ›winget install --id RedHat.Podman -escoop install main/podmanpodman-installer-windows-amd64.exe /quiet /norestartmsiexec /x {462CF9C3-20B3-45A0-9EA2-3EAD2F503A2D} /qn /norestartProgram files (.exe): podman.exe
Related guide: How to use winget: install and update apps
Also for other systems
brew install podmanInformation
- Publisher
- Red Hat
- Developer
- Matt Heon and Daniel J Walsh
- Category
- Containers & DevOps
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
- Price
- Free
- Source code
- github.com/podman-container-tools/podman
- Written in
- Go
- Requires
- Windows 11 / 10
- Architecture
- 64-bit, ARM64
- Installer
- EXE (WiX Burn)
- Other platforms
- Linux
- Version
- 5.8.3
- Released
- June 12, 2026
- Added to the catalogue
- September 28, 2021
- Versions listed
- 64
- Updates / year
- 13.6
- GitHub stars
- 33,096
- GitHub forks
- 3,416
- Website
- podman.io
- winget ID
- RedHat.Podman
- Scoop package
- main/podman
- MSI product code
- {462cf9c3-20b3-45a0-9ea2-3ead2f503a2d}
Ratings and reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate it.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Podman free?
Yes. Podman is open-source software under the Apache-2.0 licence.
Is Podman safe to download?
The download comes from github.com, which belongs to the publisher; ExeAtlas does not host or change the file. Compare its SHA256 hash with the one shown here, or open the VirusTotal report for that hash.
How do I install Podman with winget?
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run the winget command shown on this page. winget downloads the official installer and checks its SHA256 hash before running it.
Can Podman be installed silently?
Yes. The silent install page lists the exact command for each installer.
Does Podman run on ARM (Windows on Arm)?
Yes, there is a native ARM64 installer.
Where can I download an older version of Podman?
The versions page lists all 64 versions with links to their official installer files, back to September 28, 2021.
What are alternatives to Podman?
Podman CLI, Helm, Kubernetes - Minikube - A Local Kubernetes Development Environment, Docker Desktop and Skaffold. The alternatives page compares them.
