Almost everyone, when they talk about Docker, always brings up the same names that are everywhere on social media and in all the latest “best of” lists. Fair enough, they’re solid projects and I use them every day too. But the real game-changers, the stuff that actually saves you time, money and headaches, is usually not found in the most popular lists. It’s hidden in projects with very few stars on GitHub, almost zero viral videos, barely anyone talking about them… and yet, when you try them, you realize they’re built in a ridiculously clever way.

I spend a huge amount of time digging through lesser-known repositories, testing containers that on the surface look like “nobody needs this”, breaking my head to figure out whether they’re actually worth putting into production. After years of testing, failures, and those “holy crap this is brilliant” moments, I’ve built up a collection of containers that almost no one knows about… but once you start using them, they become almost impossible to remove from your stack.

These are not the usual tools you find pre-packaged in every template out there. They’re lightweight images that replace paid services, solve very specific problems with insane elegance, and make you go “why the hell didn’t I discover this two years ago?”. So this list is not a copy-paste of what’s circulating online. It’s stuff I’ve personally found, tested, used (and sometimes even abused) on my Synology and UGREEN NAS devices. If you feel like discovering Docker containers that in 2026 are still quietly doing the dirty work and doing it damn well, here’s my personal selection of underrated gems that in my opinion deserve way more attention than they’re getting. Let’s take a look at them together.

Honestly, without the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of hours I’ve put into finding, testing and writing detailed step-by-step guides for these hidden gems, most people would never come across them. These kinds of lists and tutorials simply don’t exist anywhere else in this level of detail. If you find value in these guides and you’d like to help keep mariushosting alive and independent (new articles, more discoveries, more obscure containers being uncovered), your support makes a huge difference and allows me to keep doing this full-time.

💡Dockhand

Dockhand is a modern, self-hosted Docker management platform with an intuitive web interface for homelabs, small businesses, and enterprises. It simplifies container operations, stack deployments, and observability through real-time management (start/stop/restart containers, web terminals, file transfers), a visual Compose editor, GitOps auto-sync, metrics, logs, OIDC/SSO, MFA, vulnerability scans, and multi-host support via the open-source Hawser agent. You can deploy it quickly as a Docker container with no cloud dependencies or telemetry. It’s forever free for personal use. Note: Install Dockhand on Your Synology NAS.

💡Subscription Manager

Subscription Manager is a web application that helps you track and manage your subscriptions. It provides an easy-to-use interface for adding, editing, deleting, and viewing subscriptions, with features like calendar view, payment summaries, and NTFY integration for notifications. Note: Install Subscription Manager on Your Synology NAS.

💡Yubal

Yubal is a self-hosted, easy-to-use tool that downloads YouTube Music albums (using yt-dlp) and automatically tags them with high-quality Spotify metadata and album art (via beets), creating a clean, organized local music library in Opus format, all without requiring any accounts.). Note: Install Yubal on Your Synology NAS.

💡Sosse

Sosse is an open-source, enterprise-grade web crawling, archiving, and search engine designed for flexibility and power. Powered by Selenium, it excels at handling JavaScript-heavy websites, enabling users to crawl, archive, and search web pages with ease. Key features include creating HTML and screenshot archives from bookmarks, browsing history, RSS feeds, or other sources, making it a robust alternative to tools like the Wayback Machine. With Sosse, teams can extract and analyze data securely, supported by a user-friendly administration interface and customizable crawl policies. Ideal for self-hosting. Note: Install Sosse on Your Synology NAS.

💡PdfDing

PdfDing is a PDF manager and viewer that you can host yourself. It offers a seamless user experience on multiple devices. It’s designed to be minimal, fast, and easy to set up using Docker. PdfDing is a simple webapp with a clear focus on a single thing: viewing and managing PDFs. Note: Install PdfDing on Your Synology NAS.

💡Sprout Track

Sprout Track is free web application designed for parents to track their baby’s activities, milestones, and development. It offers a user-friendly, mobile-first interface for logging diapers, feedings, naps, pumping, and other activities, with features like a searchable activity log, calendar for events and reminders, and a setup wizard. The app emphasizes simplicity, privacy, and accessibility, using a lightweight ID + PIN login and a family web link. It supports dark mode, responsive design for larger devices, and secure login with IP-based lockout. Note: Install Sprout Track on Your Synology NAS.

💡Papra

Papra is a minimalistic document management and archiving platform. It is designed to be simple to use and accessible to everyone. Papra is a platform for long-term document storage and management, like a digital archive for your documents. Note: Install Papra on Your Synology NAS.

💡Tracktor

Tracktor is an open-source web application for comprehensive vehicle management, enabling users to track and manage vehicles, fuel consumption, maintenance history, insurance, pollution certificates (PUCC), and other regulatory documents in one place. The app features a user-friendly dashboard for visualizing key metrics and upcoming renewals, along with secure user authentication. It includes interfaces like a login page, charts for data visualization, fuel log, maintenance log, and sections for insurance and PUCC details. Tracktor offers a robust foundation for vehicle management with intuitive tracking and visualization capabilities. Note: Install Tracktor on Your Synology NAS.

💡WikiDocs

WikiDocs is an Open Source, databaseless, markdown, flat-file wiki engine. It’s designed to be simple yet powerful, making it a great tool for creating and managing wikis without the complexity of a database. Note: Install WikiDocs on Your Synology NAS.

💡Tududi

Tududi is a task and project management web application that allows users to efficiently manage their tasks and projects, categorize them into different areas, and track due dates. It is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, providing a seamless experience for personal productivity. Note: Install Tududi on Your Synology NAS.