The Official containrrr/watchtower Docker Image
The official watchtower docker image is containrrr/watchtower, hosted on Docker Hub at hub.docker.com/r/containrrr/watchtower. It is maintained by the containrrr organization — a group of open-source maintainers dedicated to container automation tools.
# Pull the official image
docker pull containrrr/watchtower
# Pull a specific version
docker pull containrrr/watchtower:1.7.1
# Latest stable
docker pull containrrr/watchtower:latestOfficial Image Tags
| Tag | Description | Recommended? |
|---|---|---|
latest | Most recent stable release | ✓ Yes (production) |
1.7.1 | Specific pinned version | ✓ For reproducible builds |
edge | Latest development build from main branch | ✗ Dev/testing only |
mtdowling | Legacy tag from original author | ✗ Deprecated |
nickfedor/watchtower — Community Fork
The nickfedor/watchtower docker image is a community fork maintained by Nicholas Fedor (GitHub: nicholas-fedor). It is also available on Docker Hub as both nickfedor/watchtower and nicholas-fedor/watchtower.
This fork differs from the official image in several ways:
- More frequent releases with cutting-edge features
- Additional environment variable options not yet merged upstream
- Different default behaviors in some edge cases
- Full API compatibility with
containrrr/watchtower— all environment variables work identically
# nickfedor fork (equivalent options)
docker pull nickfedor/watchtower
docker pull nicholas-fedor/watchtowercontainrrr vs nickfedor — Comparison
| Aspect | containrrr/watchtower | nickfedor/watchtower |
|---|---|---|
| Official status | ✓ Official | Community fork |
| Maintainers | containrrr org | Nicholas Fedor |
| Docker Hub pulls | 100M+ (most used) | Smaller, growing |
| API compatibility | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Release frequency | Stable, periodic | More frequent |
| Recommended for new installs | ✓ Yes | If you need fork-specific features |
Which Image Should You Use?
For the vast majority of use cases: use containrrr/watchtower. It is the official image with 100M+ Docker Hub pulls, active maintenance, and the broadest community support. Documentation, Stack Overflow answers, and tutorials all reference this image by default.
Use nickfedor/watchtower if:
- You need a specific feature that is in the fork but not yet merged into the official image
- You are explicitly following a guide or community recommendation for the fork
- You prefer faster releases and are comfortable with a smaller community
Image Size and Architecture
Both images are built on Alpine Linux and are approximately 12–15 MB compressed. Both support:
linux/amd64(x86_64)linux/arm64(Apple Silicon, AWS Graviton, Raspberry Pi 4)linux/arm/v7(Raspberry Pi 3 and earlier)
Frequently Asked Questions
containrrr/watchtower is the official Watchtower Docker image published on Docker Hub by the containrrr organization. It is the standard, recommended image for all Watchtower deployments. Pull it with docker pull containrrr/watchtower.
Yes. Nicholas Fedor is a known contributor to the container tooling community and the fork is open-source at github.com/nicholas-fedor/watchtower. Review the Dockerfile and recent commits before deploying any third-party image in production. For most teams, the official containrrr/watchtower is the lower-risk choice.
Simply change the image name in your docker run command or docker-compose.yml from nickfedor/watchtower to containrrr/watchtower. All environment variables are identical between the two images. No other changes are needed.