Render fully supports Docker-based deploys. Your services can:

- [Pull and run a prebuilt image](/content/docs/deploying-an-image/index.html) from a registry such as Docker Hub, or
- [Build their own image](/content/docs/docker#building-from-a-dockerfile/index.html) at deploy time based on the Dockerfile in your project repo.

**Render also provides [native language runtimes](/content/docs/language-support/index.html) that don't require Docker.**

If you aren't sure whether to use Docker or a native runtime for your service, see [this section](/content/docs/docker#docker-or-native-runtime/index.html).

## Docker deployment methods

### Pulling from a container registry

To pull a prebuilt Docker image from a container registry and run it on Render, see [this article](/content/docs/deploying-an-image/index.html).

### Building from a Dockerfile

Render can build your service's Docker image based on the Dockerfile in your project repo. To enable this, apply the following settings in the [Render Dashboard](https://dashboard.render.com/) during service creation:

1. Set the **Language** field to **Docker** (even if your application uses a language listed in the dropdown):

2. If your Dockerfile is _not_ in your repo's root directory, specify its path (e.g., `my-subdirectory/Dockerfile`) in the **Dockerfile Path** field:

3. If your build process will need to pull any private image dependencies from a container registry (such as Docker Hub), provide a corresponding credential in the **Registry Credential** field under **Advanced**:

Learn more about [adding registry credentials](/content/docs/deploying-an-image#credentials-for-private-images/index.html).

4. If Render should run a custom command to start your service instead of using the `CMD` instruction in your Dockerfile (this is uncommon), specify it in the **Docker Command** field under **Advanced**:

**To run multiple commands, provide them to `/bin/sh -c`.**

For example, here's a **Docker Command** for a Django service that runs database migrations and then starts the web server:

```
/bin/sh -c python manage.py migrate && gunicorn myapp.wsgi:application --bind 0.0.0.0:10000
```

If your Docker image includes Bash, you can use `/bin/bash -c` instead of `/bin/sh -c`.

Note that you can't customize the command that Render uses to _build_ your image.

5. Specify the remainder of your service's configuration as appropriate for your project and click the **Deploy** button.

You're all set! Every time a deploy is triggered for your service, Render uses [BuildKit](https://docs.docker.com/build/buildkit/) to generate an updated image based on your repo's Dockerfile. Render stores your images in a private, secure container registry.

Your Docker-based services support [zero-downtime deploys](/content/docs/deploys#zero-downtime-deploys/index.html), just like services that use a native language runtime.

## Docker or native runtime?

Render provides [native language runtimes](/content/docs/language-support/index.html) for **Node.js**, **Python**, **Ruby**, **Go**, **Rust**, and **Elixir**. If your project uses one of these languages and you don't _already_ use Docker, it's usually faster to get started with a native runtime. See [Your First Render Deploy](/content/docs/your-first-deploy/index.html).

**You _should_ use Docker for your service in the following cases:**

- Your project already uses Docker.
- Your project uses a language that Render doesn't support natively, such as [PHP](/content/docs/deploy-php-laravel-docker/index.html) or a JVM-based language (such as Java, Kotlin, or Scala).
- Your project requires OS-level packages that aren't included in Render's [native runtimes](/content/docs/native-runtimes/index.html).

- With Docker, you have complete control over your base operating system and installed packages.
- You need guaranteed reproducible builds.
  - Native runtimes receive regular updates to improve functionality, security, and performance. Although we aim to provide full backward compatibility, using a Dockerfile helps ensure that your production runtime matches your local builds.

Most platform capabilities are supported identically for Docker-based services and native runtime services, including:

- [Zero-downtime deploys](/content/docs/deploys#zero-downtime-deploys/index.html)
- Setting a [pre-deploy command](/content/docs/deploys#pre-deploy-command/index.html) to run database migrations and other tasks before each deploy
- [Private networking](/content/docs/private-network/index.html)
- Support for [persistent disk storage](/content/docs/disks/index.html)
- [Custom domains](/content/docs/custom-domains/index.html)
- Automatic [Brotli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotli) and [gzip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gzip) compression
- [Infrastructure as code](/content/docs/infrastructure-as-code/index.html) support with Render Blueprints

## Docker-specific features

### Environment variable translation

If you set [environment variables](/content/docs/configure-environment-variables/index.html) for a Docker-based service, Render automatically translates those values to [Docker build arguments](https://docs.docker.com/build/building/variables/#arg-usage-example) that are available during your image's build process. These values are also available to your service at runtime as standard environment variables.

**In your Dockerfile, do not reference any build arguments that contain sensitive values (such as passwords or API keys).**

Otherwise, those sensitive values might be included in your generated image, which introduces a security risk. If you need to reference sensitive values during a build, use a secret file instead. For details, see [Using Secrets with Docker](/content/docs/docker-secrets#secret-files-in-docker-builds/index.html).

### Image builds

- Render supports parallelized [multi-stage](https://docs.docker.com/develop/develop-images/multistage-build/) builds.
- Render omits files and directories from your build context based on your `.dockerignore` file.
- Render copies your service's secret files into the root of your build context. To keep them out of your image, [add them to `.dockerignore`](/content/docs/docker-secrets#exclude-secret-files-from-your-image/index.html).

### Image caching

Render caches all intermediate build layers in your Dockerfile, which significantly speeds up subsequent builds. To further optimize your images and improve build times, follow [these instructions from Docker](https://docs.docker.com/build/building/best-practices/).

Render also maintains a cache of public images pulled from container registries. Because of this, pulling an image with a mutable tag (e.g., `latest`) might result in a build that uses a cached, less recent version of the image. To ensure that you _don't_ use a cached public image, do one of the following:

- Reference an immutable tag when you deploy (e.g., a specific version like `v1.2.3`)
- Add a credential to your image. For details, see [Credentials for private images](/content/docs/deploying-an-image#credentials-for-private-images/index.html).

## Popular public images

See quickstarts for deploying popular open-source applications using their official Docker images:

**Infrastructure components**
- [ClickHouse](/content/docs/deploy-clickhouse/index.html)
- [Elasticsearch](/content/docs/deploy-elasticsearch/index.html)
- [MongoDB](/content/docs/deploy-mongodb/index.html)
- [MySQL](/content/docs/deploy-mysql/index.html)
- [n8n](/content/docs/deploy-n8n/index.html)
- [Temporal](/content/docs/deploy-temporal/index.html)

**Blogging and content management**
- [Ghost](/content/docs/deploy-ghost/index.html)
- [WordPress](/content/docs/deploy-wordpress/index.html)

**Analytics and business intelligence**
- [Ackee](/content/docs/deploy-ackee/index.html)
- [Fathom Analytics](/content/docs/deploy-fathom-analytics/index.html)
- [GoatCounter](/content/docs/deploy-goatcounter/index.html)
- [Matomo](/content/docs/deploy-matomo/index.html)
- [Metabase](/content/docs/deploy-metabase/index.html)
- [Open Web Analytics](/content/docs/deploy-open-web-analytics/index.html)
- [Redash](/content/docs/deploy-redash/index.html)
- [Shynet](/content/docs/deploy-shynet/index.html)

**Communication and collaboration**
- [Forem](/content/docs/deploy-forem/index.html)
- [Mattermost](/content/docs/deploy-mattermost/index.html)
- [Zulip](/content/docs/deploy-zulip/index.html)