Here’s the Deal

Docker Compose vs Docker Swarm

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When comparing Docker Compose vs Docker Swarm, the Slant community recommends Docker Swarm for most people. In the question“What are the best Docker orchestration tools?” Docker Swarm is ranked 2nd while Docker Compose is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Docker Swarm is:

This also means that containers can be launched with a simple `docker run` command and Swarm will take care of the rest, such as selecting the appropriate host on which to run the container.

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Common Questions

What are the best Docker orchestration tools?

Pros

Pro
Easy setup

All that's needed to setup a multi-container application with Compose is a single file configuration file. Finally the application can be spun up with only a single command.

Pro
Great for local development

Docker-compose isn't really meant (yet) for distributed deployment, but using it to deploy a website locally for testing is awesome. You could use it, with care (like handling faults), on a single server as well.

Pro
Easy setup

This also means that containers can be launched with a simple docker run command and Swarm will take care of the rest, such as selecting the appropriate host on which to run the container.

Pro
Communicates with other Docker tools easily

Since Docker Swarm is a native Docker tool, it exposes the Docker API, making it possible t integrate it and communicate with other Docker tools (CLI, Compose, Krane, etc.).

Pro
Lightweight

Docker Swarm is much more lightweight than alternatives: Kubernetes and Mesosphere. Kubernetes, for instance, is very complex - it downloads and installs half of the web, where Docker Swarm has much, much smaller footprint.

Pro
Open source

Docker Swarm is open source and provides great guides/documentation for those who want to contribute.

Pro
Compatible with Docker Compose

This gives you a well-rounded workflow.

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Cons

Con
More geared towards development

No really made for production.

Con
Not ready for production yet

While Compose is very good for staging servers, CI and development environments, it's still not ready for production and it's not recommended to be used in production yet.

Con
If a node dies in the Swarm Cluster, the containers on that node WILL be started on a another node ...

Con
Not fault tolerant

If a node dies in your cluster, the containers on that node won't be restarted

Con
Bounded by the limitations of the Docker API

If the Docker API doesn't support something, then you are pretty much out of luck when it comes to Docker Swarm, because it won't be supported by Swarm either.