Podman Version History

2 active, 23 end-of-life. 25 versions tracked.

Podman releases minor versions roughly every 3-4 months, with patch releases as needed. Developed by Red Hat, Podman is a daemonless, rootless container engine that's compatible with Docker CLI commands.

Recommendation

For new container workloads (especially on RHEL/Fedora), use Podman 5.x. It's Docker CLI-compatible, runs rootless by default, and doesn't require a daemon.

Version Released End of Life Latest Patch Status
Podman 6.0 June 24, 2026 TBD 6.0.1 Active
Podman 5.8 February 12, 2026 September 26, 2026 5.8.5 Active
Podman 5.7 November 11, 2025 February 12, 2026 5.7.1 End of Life
Podman 5.6 August 15, 2025 November 11, 2025 5.6.2 End of Life
Podman 5.5 May 13, 2025 August 15, 2025 5.5.2 End of Life
Podman 5.4 February 11, 2025 May 13, 2025 5.4.2 End of Life
Podman 5.3 November 12, 2024 February 11, 2025 5.3.2 End of Life
Podman 5.2 August 1, 2024 November 12, 2024 5.2.5 End of Life
Podman 5.1 May 29, 2024 August 1, 2024 5.1.2 End of Life
Podman 5.0 March 19, 2024 May 29, 2024 5.0.3 End of Life
Podman 4.9 January 22, 2024 May 30, 2024 4.9.5 End of Life
Podman 4.8 November 27, 2023 January 3, 2024 4.8.3 End of Life
Podman 4.7 September 27, 2023 October 31, 2023 4.7.2 End of Life
Podman 4.6 July 20, 2023 August 28, 2023 4.6.2 End of Life
Podman 4.5 April 14, 2023 May 26, 2023 4.5.1 End of Life
Podman 4.4 February 1, 2023 March 27, 2023 4.4.4 End of Life
Podman 4.3 October 18, 2022 November 10, 2022 4.3.1 End of Life
Podman 4.2 August 10, 2022 September 6, 2022 4.2.1 End of Life
Podman 4.1 May 5, 2022 June 14, 2022 4.1.1 End of Life
Podman 4.0 February 17, 2022 April 1, 2022 4.0.3 End of Life
Podman 3.4 September 30, 2021 April 20, 2022 3.4.7 End of Life
Podman 3.3 August 20, 2021 August 30, 2021 3.3.1 End of Life
Podman 3.2 June 3, 2021 July 16, 2021 3.2.3 End of Life
Podman 3.1 March 29, 2021 April 21, 2021 3.1.2 End of Life
Podman 3.0 February 11, 2021 May 16, 2022 3.0.2 End of Life
View Podman Hub Page →

Podman Support Policy

Podman follows Fedora's and RHEL's release cycles. The version shipped with RHEL gets the longest support (matching RHEL's 10-year lifecycle). Upstream Podman supports the current and previous minor release. Older versions are end-of-life.

What You Need to Know

Podman 5.x is Docker CLI-compatible. Most docker commands work by just replacing 'docker' with 'podman'.

Podman runs daemonless and rootless by default, which is a significant security advantage over Docker.

Podman Machine (for macOS/Windows) provides a Linux VM similar to Docker Desktop, but free for all users.

Podman Compose v1.0+ supports most docker-compose.yml files natively.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I replace Docker with Podman?
For most use cases, yes. Podman is CLI-compatible with Docker, runs containers using the same OCI standards, and supports Docker Compose files. The main differences are: no daemon (each container is a child process), rootless by default, and pod support (like K8s pods).
How often does Podman release new versions?
Podman ships minor versions every 3-4 months upstream. The version included in RHEL and Fedora follows those distributions' release schedules. RHEL's bundled version gets long-term support.
Does Podman work on macOS and Windows?
Yes. Podman Machine creates a Linux VM to run containers, similar to Docker Desktop. It's free for all users (no licensing restrictions). Install via 'brew install podman' on macOS.

Related Tools

Dockerfile Security Linter
Vulnerability Scanner
EOL Timeline Visualizer

Get Podman release alerts

New releases, EOL warnings, security patches. Monthly digest, no spam.

Free forever. Unsubscribe anytime.