Anchore Secure vs drydock: 2026 Comparison
Anchore Secure is a commercial container security tool by Anchore. drydock is a free container security tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best container security fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of NIST CSF 2.0 coverage, core features, integrations, company size fit, here is our conclusion:
Mid-market and enterprise teams with strict vulnerability governance will get the most from Anchore Secure, specifically its ability to track historical vulnerability exposure without forcing rescans of every image each time a new CVE drops. The SBOM generation through Syft and policy-based compliance checks directly address NIST ID.RA risk assessment requirements. Skip this if your team needs runtime threat detection; Anchore is a scanning and inventory tool, not a behavioral enforcement platform.
DevOps teams running Docker in CI/CD pipelines need Drydock because it audits container images against CIS benchmarks before they hit production, catching misconfigurations that scanners miss. The tool ships with customizable profiles and JSON output, so you can integrate it directly into your build process without manual remediation work. Skip this if your organization requires a graphical dashboard or runtime monitoring; Drydock is audit-focused and doesn't track container behavior after deployment.
