Building & APIs
How I keep an 8 GB Mac useful for building
What happened when my 8 GB Mac ran out of space: Fedora builds, a service migration, an unused VM and a storage guard that leaves live work alone.
The full storyColima: a lightweight local container runtime
Colima provides Docker and containerd runtimes on macOS and Linux through a command-line setup built around a local virtual machine.
ACCESS AND VALUE
Free open-source software under the MIT licence
How I use Colima
I use Colima as the container runtime on my Mac for local Docker-based development and service checks.
What makes it different?
It provides Docker and containerd runtimes on macOS and Linux through a small command-line setup.
Competitors
- Docker Desktop: Desktop container tooling and managed integrations
- OrbStack: macOS containers and Linux machines
Product source checked 2026-09-22.
Who it is for
Local Docker-compatible development without a separate desktop subscription.
Who can claim it?
The software is publicly available for supported macOS and Linux systems. Container command-line tools and local resources are required.
What the free software includes, and what costs extra
Containers run inside a local virtual machine, so memory, storage and processor allocation still need room on the host machine.
Billing and renewal
There is no recurring software charge; local hardware and storage remain separate.
- Tax basis
- Not applicable to the free software or plan
- Card required
- Provider’s signup terms
- Expiry
- No fixed availability end date is listed.
- Public research date
- 22 Sept 2026
- Source checked
- 22 Sept 2026
Further official evidence
Source and corrections
Guides featuring Colima
Audio & video
Why I built a separate project library with Immich
A separate home for my work photos and videos, and the awkward bits of building it: empty imports, missing albums, broken source files and a database recovery.
The full story