Container base image size comparison
Compressed pull sizes for common Docker base images (approximate, mid-2026). Filter by ecosystem or search — then use the picker if you're choosing a base for a new Dockerfile.
Ecosystem
| Image | Pull size | Shell | Pkg mgr | libc | Gotchas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No images match this filter — try another ecosystem or clear the search.
Which base should I pick?
Three questions — language, debugging needs, size vs compatibility.
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About this tool
Image size at pull time matters for deploy speed and registry egress — but the smallest tag is not always the right one. Alpine saves megabytes until a native npm module needs glibc. Distroless is tiny until you need a shell at 2am.
Sizes here are approximate compressed-layer totals from mid-2026. Upstream rebuilds shift numbers; use this table to compare order of magnitude, not to invoice Docker Hub.
Read more
- An introduction to Docker — images, containers, and why the base layer matters
- Running a Node.js app in a Docker container — multi-stage builds in practice
- Dockerfiles — FROM line choices and layer caching
- Go and Docker — static binaries and scratch images
- Dockerfile to run Astro Node SSR on Fly.io — slim runtime in production
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