How much does Portainer cost?

Paid plans start at $12/mo, going up to $209/mo for larger teams. There's also an Enterprise tier with custom pricing. You can get started on the free plan before committing.

Is there a free plan?

Yes. The "Free" plan is free forever, not just a trial. It's enough to evaluate the product before upgrading.

Can I try it before paying?

Yes — there's a free trial. You don't need a credit card to start.

Is there a discount for annual billing?

Yes — you save up to 17% if you pay annually instead of month-to-month. They also mention: "Save 16% with annual billing."

Portainer Pricing (2026)

Node-based pricing is the real value metric here — Starter and Scale scale with how many nodes you're managing, not seat count, which makes sense for a container orchestration tool where infra footprint matters more than headcount. The Home & Student tier and custom Enterprise/IIoT quotes layer in a hybrid structure on top, segmenting by use case (personal vs. commercial vs. industrial) rather than just size.

From $12/mo 6 plans hybrid Free plan Free trial Best Portainer alternatives → Portainer's competitors →

Home & Student: $12/mo
Starter: $105/mo
Scale: $209/mo
Enterprise: Contact Sales
IIoT Professional: Contact Sales
IIoT Enterprise: Contact Sales

Verified Aug 22, 2026 Official pricing page

Screenshot of Portainer's pricing page showing its plans and prices — Their pricing page, captured Aug 22, 2026

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Home & Student

$12/mo

All Portainer Business Edition features
Up to 15 nodes
Docker, Swarm, and Kubernetes support
Full RBAC and access control
GitOps and app templates
Community support via GitHub Discussions

Starter

$105/mo $87/mo annual

Community support
Max of 16 vCPUs per node

Scale

$209/mo $174/mo annual

9x5 next business day support
Max of 24 vCPUs per node
Vendor onboarding
Purchases via Resellers

Enterprise

Contact Sales

Prioritized 9x5 next business day support
Choose from 32 vCPUs - Unlimited vCPUs per node
Production and Non-Production Node Options
Customizable License Agreement
Assigned Support Engineer
Security Assessment Report
TAA Compliance Certificate
Managed Platform Services Option
24/7 Support Option

IIoT Professional

Contact Sales

All Business Edition features
Onboarding assistance included
9×5 support
Click-through license agreement
Professional Services available (add-on)
Async edge agent: offline-safe operation
Fleet grouping and staged rollouts

IIoT Enterprise

Contact Sales

Industrial App Portal ; included
Prioritized 9×5 support
Assigned support engineer
Customizable license agreement
Vendor onboarding available
Multi-instance (prod, dev, test)
Security assessment report
Professional Services available (add-on)

Does Portainer have a free plan?

Yes: the Free plan is free forever, not a time-limited trial. When you outgrow it, paid plans start at $12/mo. Paid tiers also come with a free trial, no credit card required.

AI Pricing Analysis

Pricing Model

Tier Strategy

Starter fits small teams running a handful of nodes who just need centralized Docker/Kubernetes management; Scale kicks in once you're juggling more infrastructure and need things like role-based access or multi-cluster support. The jump to Enterprise happens when compliance, SSO, or dedicated support become non-negotiable — that's when custom pricing conversations start, and IIoT tiers exist entirely for edge/industrial deployments that don't fit the standard node model at all.

Competitive Positioning

Portainer sits mid-market — not the cheapest way to slap a UI on Docker, but far more affordable than heavyweight platforms like Rancher or OpenShift once you factor in the free-forever 3-node tier. They're clearly courting small ops teams and homelabbers first, then trying to convert them into paying customers as node count grows organically.

Growth Lever

Node count is the primary expansion trigger — outgrow your free 3 nodes or your Starter allotment, and you're forced up the ladder. Beyond that, the paywall gates the stuff serious teams need: RBAC, SSO, audit logs, and priority support all live behind Enterprise, making security and compliance requirements the real driver for larger upgrades.

Want the strategist's read on the live page? Read the AI teardown of Portainer's pricing page →

Portainer Pricing FAQ

How much does Portainer cost?: Paid plans start at $12/mo, going up to $209/mo for larger teams. There's also an Enterprise tier with custom pricing. You can get started on the free plan before committing.
Is there a free plan?: Yes. The "Free" plan is free forever, not just a trial. It's enough to evaluate the product before upgrading.
Can I try it before paying?: Yes — there's a free trial. You don't need a credit card to start.
How does the pricing work?: Node-based pricing is the real value metric here — Starter and Scale scale with how many nodes you're managing, not seat count, which makes sense for a container orchestration tool where infra footprint matters more than headcount. The Home & Student tier and custom Enterprise/IIoT quotes layer in a hybrid structure on top, segmenting by use case (personal vs. commercial vs. industrial) rather than just size.
Is there a discount for annual billing?: Yes — you save up to 17% if you pay annually instead of month-to-month. They also mention: "Save 16% with annual billing."
Which plan makes sense for me?: Starter fits small teams running a handful of nodes who just need centralized Docker/Kubernetes management; Scale kicks in once you're juggling more infrastructure and need things like role-based access or multi-cluster support. The jump to Enterprise happens when compliance, SSO, or dedicated support become non-negotiable — that's when custom pricing conversations start, and IIoT tiers exist entirely for edge/industrial deployments that don't fit the standard node model at all.

More DevOps pricing

All DevOps pricing →

Comparing Portainer to something specific? Try Portainer vs Buildkite, Portainer vs CircleCI, or Portainer vs env0. Or see the best Portainer alternatives, ranked.

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