With Docker Desktop charging for users, the organization I am in is removing support for Docker Desktop. Therefore we need to find alternatives. So far I have not been able to find documentation on how to run Docker Engine WITHOUT Docker Desktop for Mac OS. I have tried some of the solutions for Linux, but I keep getting the error where DevKinsta is trying to force opening Docker Desktop.
Is the Mac OS version of DevKinsta forcing us to use Docker Desktop?
Hi @Nicole_Findling 
and welcome to Kinsta Community!
Thank you for reaching us out!
First of all, I’m not a Mac user (don’t have Mac and have no experience using it before) and have been using Ubuntu Linux and Windows 10/11 so far while testing/using DevKinsta. So I’m not quite sure about this - and as per our documentation (Mac section) it only mentioned about using “Docker Desktop” (while on Linux I could use “Docker Engine” without installing Docker Desktop) .
On the Docker pricing page I noticed there’s a free charge $0 (Personal) plan - I’m not sure if you could use/install that Personal one on your Mac computer or not 
(when I checked with 1 of my colleagues here that uses Mac, he said that he was not asked to pay anything to install Docker Desktop on his Mac - which seems to be the “Personal” one - and he could install it just fine and used it with DevKinsta just fine).
I also searched on google and found this external article about how to installing Docker on Mac with Homebrew cask (but again, since I have no experiences at all with Mac or with that Homebrew thing, and don’t use/have Mac here) - I would like to just sharing this with you, in case that might help (as an alternative) for the case you’re experiencing.
Perhaps you can give it a try to install Docker via Homebrew on your local computer/Mac.
If it could be installed and is running just fine, then I think DevKinsta app/program will likely be able to run with that Docker. 
Best regards,
Agus
I’m not the original poster, but this isn’t really a Mac issue.
From a purely technical point of view, getting Docker Desktop for Mac without paying for it works fine. I just installed Docker Desktop and DevKinsta on a new Apple silicon Mac last night.
I think the real question is whether everyone can use it legally without paying. For me, based upon Docker FAQs | Docker the answer is yes, because my use of Kinsta and DevKinsta is connected to a small non-profit. However, people who are using DevKinsta (and thus Docker Desktop) for their job at a large organization probably can’t do so legally without buying a license.
I would expect that some of the Docker forks or similar projects without this licensing issue would work without requiring significant technical changes to DevKinsta. Kinsta should probably investigate these and then document the best one for each platform in the DevKinsta install guide. The current guide at Installation - Kinsta® only mentions Docker Desktop, and that’s not something that everyone is free to use.
Hi @Green-Fox!
Thank you for sharing your feedback! I’ll pass this along to our team so we can review this matter further.
Have a great day!