# Arcane Arcane is a web UI to manage [[Docker]]. Think of it as a modern, lighter [[Portainer]]: containers, images, volumes, networks and [[Docker Compose]] projects, all from the browser. It's [[Open Source]] (BSD-3-Clause), with a [[Go]] backend and a SvelteKit frontend, and it's young but moving fast (v2.x in 2026, 7K+ stars on [[GitHub]]). ## What it does - **Compose projects**: create, edit, deploy and update compose projects. Point the `PROJECTS_DIRECTORY` environment variable at a folder on the host, and Arcane works with the compose files in there - **Resources**: containers, images, volumes and networks, with logs, stats and a shell - **Auto-updates**: checks for new image versions and can update containers automatically - **Templates**: a catalog of ready-made compose templates, plus a compose generator - **Remote environments**: manage other Docker hosts through agents (with mTLS for edge agents) - **Authentication**: local users, or OIDC single sign-on It runs as a single container, on port 3552 by default. ## How it compares [[Dockge]] only manages stacks, and it barely evolves anymore. [[Portainer]] does everything, but pushes the good stuff to its paid edition and wants to own your stacks. Arcane sits in between: it covers images, volumes, networks and updates, it keeps compose files on disk, and it's actively developed. The downside is age. It's a young project, so expect breaking changes, rough edges, and features that move around between releases. ## My take If I wanted one Portainer-style dashboard on a [[Virtual Private Server (VPS)]] today, I'd try Arcane first, then fall back to [[Dockge]] if I only need to manage stacks. Either way, I'd keep the compose files in [[Git]] as the source of truth, and treat the UI as a convenience on top, never as the place where configuration lives. And as always with these tools: Arcane mounts `/var/run/docker.sock`, which means root on the host. Bind it to localhost and reach it through [[Tailscale]] or an SSH tunnel ([[Secure Shell (SSH)]]). Don't put it on the public internet. ## References - https://getarcane.app/ - https://github.com/getarcaneapp/arcane - https://getarcane.app/docs/get-started/installation ## Related - [[Portainer]] - [[Dockge]] - [[Coolify]] - [[LazyDocker]] - [[Docker]] - [[Docker Compose]] - [[Self-hosting]] - [[Virtual Private Server (VPS)]]