What to know about the end of Docker Free Teams | Docker

We apologize for how we communicated and executed sunsetting Docker “Free Team” subscriptions, which alarmed the open source community.

For those of you catching up, we recently emailed accounts that are members of Free Team organizations, to let them know that they will lose features unless they move to one of our supported free or paid offerings. This impacted less than 2% of our users. Note that this change does not affect Docker Personal, Docker Pro, Docker Team, or Docker Business accounts, Docker-Sponsored Open Source members, Docker Verified Publishers, or Docker Official Images. 

The Docker Free Team subscription was deprecated in part because it was poorly targeted. In particular, it didn’t serve the open source audience as well as our recently updated Docker-Sponsored Open Source program, the latter offering benefits that exceed those of the deprecated Free Team plan.

We’d also like to clarify that public images will only be removed from Docker Hub if their maintainer decides to delete them. We’re sorry that our initial communications failed to make this clear.

We apologize again for the poor communication and execution surrounding this deprecation and promise to continue to listen to community feedback. 

How can I see if I’m affected?

Please consult the Organizations page of your Docker account; any affected organizations are labeled “Docker Free Team” in the “Subscription” column. Less than 2% of Docker users have a Free Team organization on their account.

Even if some of your organizations are affected, your individual Docker account (or other organizations) will not be affected by this change.

This change does NOT affect subscriptions such as Docker Personal, Docker Pro, Docker Team (paid), or Docker Business. 

Will open source images I rely on get deleted?

Not by Docker. Public images will only disappear if the maintainer of the image decides to proactively delete it from Docker Hub. If the maintainer takes no action, we will continue to distribute their public images. (Of course, if the maintainer migrates to the Docker-Sponsored Open Source program or to a paid Docker subscription, we will also continue to serve their public images.)

What if I run an open source project?  

Docker continues to offer a specific Docker-Sponsored Open Source (DSOS) program for open source projects, and it is not affected by the sunsetting of Free Team organizations. For new users interested in joining DSOS from a previous Free Team organization, we will defer any organization suspension or deletion while the DSOS application is under review. This will give organizations at least 30 days before we suspend them if the application is ultimately rejected. We are listening to feedback and may offer additional programs or plans based on your input. 

We encourage all open source projects to apply, even if you were not accepted on a prior application, as we updated the program and expanded eligibility in September 2022. We have assigned more staff to promptly review all applications.

What if I publish a Docker Official Image (DOI) or if I am a Docker Verified Publisher (DVP)?

Repositories in the DOI or DVP programs are not affected by this change.

How do I maintain access to private repositories? 

Private repositories for organizations are a feature of paid Docker subscriptions. If you currently are accessing a legacy Free Team organization and using private repos, they will be suspended as of April 13, 2023. However, you can choose from several subscription tiers that allow you to continue using private repos. Visit our pricing page to learn more.  

Can someone else “squat” my namespace?

No. Even if your organization is suspended, deleted, or you choose to leave Docker voluntarily, your organization’s namespace will not be released, so other users cannot “squat” your images.

Can I migrate to a Personal account?

You can migrate to a Free Team organization to a Personal account by opening a support ticket. No action will be taken against your account while your ticket is being processed.

I use a repository outside of Docker. Can I export the data from my account? 

Yes. At any point before April 13, 2023, you may pull images from your private repositories on the Docker registry and push those images to another registry of your choosing. 

How much does a Docker subscription cost?  

We offer three paid subscription tiers, starting with the Docker Pro plan. Visit our pricing page for more information. 

What are the benefits of a paid Docker subscription?   

• Docker Pro is ideal for individual developers looking to accelerate productivity.
• Docker Team is ideal for small teams looking to collaborate productively. 
• Docker Business is ideal for businesses looking for centralized management and advanced security capabilities. Visit our pricing page to learn more.  

How do I upgrade to a paid Docker subscription?   

1. Sign in to your account at docker.com. 
2. Select Upgrade in the banner. 
3. Select the paid subscription tier you’d like to upgrade to and number of seats. 
4. Proceed to payment. 

Will my images automatically transfer to my paid subscription?   

Yes. Once you upgrade to a Docker paid subscription, your account and all associated configurations, images, and repositories remain 100% intact under the same name and settings.