| Feature | Nix/DevBox | Docker |
|---|
| Isolation level | Package-level | Container-level |
| Resource usage | Generally more efficient | Potential for higher disk usage |
| Reproducibility | Package-level reproducibility | Image-level reproducibility |
| Host integration | Tighter integration | More isolated |
| Learning curve | Steeper (especially Nix) | Generally easier to start |
| Flexibility | Fine-grained package control | Whole environment isolation |
| Performance | Slightly better (less overhead) | Small virtualization overhead |
| Updates/rollbacks | Atomic at package level | Typically whole image updates |
| Ecosystem | Smaller, growing | Large, well-established |
| Multi-version | Native support | Possible but less straightforward |
| Configuration | Declarative (Nix lang) | Dockerfile and compose files |