JFrog, best known for its Artifactory repository tool, has unveiled a free-to-use JFrog Container Registry that builds on Artifactory to support Docker-style container deployments and Kubernetes.
Claimed by the firm as the “most comprehensive and advanced registry available”, JFrog Container Registry is powered by Artifactory, and fully supports Helm chart repositories for steering containers under Kubernetes, a capability it says is lacking in most rival container registries.
By building on Artifactory, JFrog is providing both repository and registry functions in the one product, which can be deployed either on-premises or accessed as a cloud-hosted SaaS version.
However, JFrog claims that its platform is the only free-to-use tool that supports remote repositories to proxy Docker or Helm registries as well as local repositories. Users can also combine local and remote repositories into virtual repositories for a convenient single point of retrieval.
The move could prove further bad news for Docker, which shocked its developer community by handing over its Docker Enterprise business to Mirantis last week. Docker plans to refocus its business around the Docker Desktop developer tools and the Docker Hub hosted repository service.
With JFrog providing a free alternative, Docker may find that customers will vote with their feet. Red Hat has also recently open sourced the code for Project Quay, which powers Red Hat Quay and the hosted Quay.IO registry service, enabling tech-savvy users to build it themselves.
There is a caveat, however; anyone signing up for the cloud-hosted version of JFrog Container Registry is greeted with a message informing them it entitles them to “2GB/month of storage and 5GB/month of data transfer for 12 months”. What happens after 12 months is not made clear, but Devclass has asked JFrog for clarification.
UPDATE: JFrog responded with the following clarification: “The cloud version includes 2GB of peak data storage and 5GB of monthly data transfer, free of charge for 12 months. Any overage is billed at rate of $0.10/GB of data storage and $0.10/GB of data transfer. After the 12 months of free charges, users are billed $0.10 per GB of data storage and $0.10 per GB of data transfer per month.”