guide docker updates

Watchtower alternatives in 2026 - and which ones test an update before you install it

Watchtower, the classic auto-updater for Docker containers, is archived on GitHub (last commit 17 Dec 2025). Here is what the maintained tools do instead - and the one thing none of them does.

The maintained options (checked 6 Oct 2026)

tool	what it does about updates	rollback
WUD (What's Up Docker) MIT	watches images; 30+ notification triggers; can update containers automatically	no
Diun MIT	notifications when an image is updated - it does not update anything	no
Tugtainer MIT	check + update with a web UI (auto-update off by default); waits on healthchecks and rolls an unhealthy container back to the previous IMAGE	image only
Komodo GPL-3.0	'Poll for Updates' (indicator + alert) or 'Auto Update' (redeploy) - rolling tags like :latest only	no
Dockge MIT	compose stack manager with an 'Update Docker Images' action (pull + recreate)	no
Portainer Zlib	container/stack management; re-pull an image and redeploy a stack from the UI	no

Sources: each project's README / docs, linked. Status from GitHub on 6 Oct 2026 (all pushed in the last months).

The gap: "an update exists" is not "the update is safe"

All of these tell you a new image exists, and some install it. None of them tries the new version with data like yours before you do. That matters because some updates change your data on the first start: Jellyfin 12 rewrites its database, Nextcloud does not support a downgrade. After that, rolling back the image is not enough - in our test, Jellyfin 10.11 started and said "Healthy" on the migrated database, and nobody could log in (the full story).

Close the gap

Before: check whether the release was tested - Update Watch runs each new release of Nextcloud, Immich, Jellyfin, n8n, Vaultwarden and Home Assistant on a throw-away machine with test data: update, app check, restore drill.
Snapshot: take a consistent data snapshot right before you update - the free safe-update tool.
If it breaks: restore data AND the old image together (safe-update restore) - not just the image.
Then automate the notification part with any tool above (WUD, Diun, Tugtainer, Komodo...).

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Supporters get every Update Watch verdict by e-mail as soon as the test finishes, with the restore steps. EUR 3/month or EUR 29/year; early access: the first alerts within 30 days of joining, or a refund.

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Not affiliated with any project named. Feature summaries are short paraphrases of each project's own documentation on 6 Oct 2026 - check the links for details. Made with AI assistance.