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Artifact and container registries · November 2026 Edition

GitHub Packages vs Harbor

Two of fourteen models named GitHub Packages first on the direct prompt; zero named Harbor. Both were named by all fourteen models and GitHub Packages carries 64 labels and Harbor 42, so the shares are not directly comparable.

GitHub Packages

accepted challenger

Named in one category this edition.

Harbor

accepted challenger

Named in two categories this edition.

First-choice share5%5%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate9%5%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#5A position in a field of 15; printed, not drawn.
Labels6442A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, GitHub Packages reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.JFrog Artifactory was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. Sonatype Nexus Repository vs GitHub Packages · Sonatype Nexus Repository vs Harbor · JFrog Artifactory vs GitHub Packages

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the artifact and container registries page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
GitHub PackagesFirst choices, of fourteen modelsHarbor
Direct201 against GitHub Packages
Paraphrase121 against Harbor
Comparative00
Budget-constrained01
Scale-constrained00
Negative015 against GitHub Packages · 1 against Harbor
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, GitHub Packages and Harbor were named in the same answer eighty-nine times, of the 163 answers naming GitHub Packages and the 122 naming Harbor. In those answers Harbor took the first choice six times and GitHub Packages twenty-five.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where GitHub Packages and Harbor stood in it.
ModelDirectGPParaphraseGPComparativeGPBudget-constrainedGPScale-constrainedGPNegativeGP
Claude Haiku 4.5GPGPGP
GPT-5.4 miniGP
Gemini 3.5 FlashGPGPGPGP
Perplexity SonarGPGPGPGP
Grok 4.20GPGPGPGP
Mistral SmallGPGP
DeepSeek V4 FlashGPGPGPGPGPGP
Llama 4 MaverickGPGPGP
Qwen 3.7 FlashGPGPGP
Kimi K2GPGPGPGPGP
GLM 4.7 FlashXGPGP
MiniMax M2.5GPGPGP
GPT-6 LunaGPGPGP
Muse Glimmer 30BGPGP
GP GitHub Packages HarborGP first choiceGP named as an alternativeGP argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, GitHub Packages on the left and Harbor on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where GitHub Packages and Harbor stood in it.

GitHub Packages first, Harbor not the choice

2 of 14 modelsHarbor was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Gemini 3.5 FlashGitHub Packages, GitLab Package Registry alternatives: AWS CodeArtifact, Azure Artifacts, Cloudsmith, ECR, JFrog Artifactory, Sonatype Nexus Repository
DeepSeek V4 FlashGitHub Packages, JFrog Artifactory alternatives: AWS CodeArtifact, Azure Artifacts, Cloudsmith, Google Artifact Registry, Sonatype Nexus Repository

Neither was the first choice, one was named

8 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Claude Haiku 4.5Artifactory, Nexus Repository alternatives: AWS CodeArtifact, GitHub Packages, GitLab Package Registry
Perplexity SonarCloudsmith alternatives: AWS CodeArtifact, GitHub Packages, JFrog Artifactory, Sonatype Nexus Repository
Grok 4.20JFrog Artifactory alternatives: AWS CodeArtifact, Azure Artifacts, Cloudsmith, GHCR, GitHub Packages, Harbor, ProGet, Sonatype Lifecycle
Mistral SmallJFrog Artifactory alternatives: AWS CodeArtifact, Azure Artifacts, Cloudsmith, Google Artifact Registry, Harbor, Sonatype Nexus Repository
Llama 4 MaverickJFrog Artifactory alternatives: Amazon Elastic Container Registry, GitHub Packages, Google Artifact Registry, Sonatype Nexus Repository
Kimi K2Sonatype Nexus Repository alternatives: Cloudsmith, GitHub Packages
GLM 4.7 FlashXSonatype Nexus Repository alternatives: Harbor, JFrog Artifactory
MiniMax M2.5Sonatype Nexus Repository alternatives: AWS CodeArtifact, GitHub Packages, Google Artifact Registry, JFrog Artifactory

Neither was named

4 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
GPT-5.4 miniSonatype Nexus Repository alternatives: AWS CodeArtifact, JFrog Artifactory
Qwen 3.7 FlashJFrog Artifactory alternatives: AWS ECR, Azure Container Registry, GitLab Package Registry, Google Artifact Registry, Sonatype Lifecycle
GPT-6 LunaCloudsmith alternatives: AWS CodeArtifact, JFrog Artifactory, Sonatype Nexus Repository
Muse Glimmer 30BJFrog Artifactory alternatives: Cloudsmith, Sonatype Nexus Repository

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
GitHub Packages leads by fifty points.
GitHub Packages50%#1 of 13
Harbor0%#13 of 13
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Level: the same share of first choices.
GitHub Packages5%#4 of 15
Harbor5%#5 of 15
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Harbor leads at enterprise.
Harbor2%#6 of 16
GitHub Packages0%#15 of 16
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about GitHub Packages

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“public registries like Docker Hub, GitHub Container Registry (GHCR), or Google Artifact Registry are convenient, they pose high risks” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · hard negative
“only if you're very GitHub-centric and your package format needs are modest, since it is narrower in scope” GPT-5.4 mini · direct prompt · soft negative
“you should still: Ensure they are properly configured and not publicly exposed unless necessary.” Mistral Small · negative prompt · soft negative
“start with GitHub Packages (free with your plan) and migrate to JFrog Artifactory once you outgrow it” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“Top Recommendation: Azure Container Registry (ACR) or GitHub Container Registry (GHCR)” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Start with GitHub Packages / GitLab if your stack is standard.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · direct prompt · first choice

What the models said about Harbor

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.

“you should still: Ensure they are properly configured and not publicly exposed unless necessary.” Mistral Small · negative prompt · soft negative
“Cons: High operational overhead. You must patch, scale, and maintain the database and cache.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“or Harbor if you need a self-hosted, open-source solution with enterprise-grade security features” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“or Harbor (if you want open-source flexibility and can manage your own infrastructure)” MiniMax M2.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Sonatype Nexus Repository Community Edition or Harbor are the best choices” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.