Bitnami, a Broadcom-owned project that provides pre-packaged, ready-to-run application stacks (images), making it easy to deploy popular open-source software or Kubernetes tools on various containerized platforms, shook the tech world, especially within the open-source community.
In an unexpected and highly controversial move that caught everyone off guard, Bitnami announced that it is making changes to its public container catalog, and for many developers, it’s going to hurt.
Starting August 28, 2025, the long-standing Docker Hub repository at “docker.io/bitnami” will undergo a staged shutdown, with brownouts scheduled before the final deletion on September 29.
During each brownout, a set of 10 container images will be pulled offline for 24 hours. The first blackout period runs from August 28 to 29, followed by September 2 to 3 and September 17 to 18. The full list of affected applications will only be revealed on the day of each outage.
For users, the real trouble begins when the catalog is retired permanently. All existing images and versioned tags are being moved into a Bitnami Legacy repository at “docker.io/bitnamilegacy.”
But there’s a catch: this legacy repo won’t receive any patches, updates, or support. It’s meant as a stopgap, not a solution. Images based on older distros like Debian 8–10, CentOS 7, and Oracle Linux 7 won’t even make it over.
At the same time, Bitnami is shifting its free offerings to a much smaller set of hardened images, available only under the “latest” tag. These are geared toward development use and will be hosted under the new “bitnamisecure” namespace on Docker Hub.
For anyone who needs a stable version history, long-term support, or enterprise-grade security guarantees, the only option will be a subscription to Bitnami Secure Images.
Although there’s still no official word on the price of the paid subscription, some sources are reporting that it will cost thousands of dollars a month. The message is clear—no more free images for everyday users or small organizations, as the focus is shifting entirely to big enterprises.
Unsurprisingly, the sudden announcement set off a firestorm across tech forums and social channels, with thousands of developers voicing their frustration and anger at Broadcom’s move. But as you might guess, it’s not likely to sway the company’s decision.
And if you’re thinking this only affects hobbyists or small businesses, think again. Over time, Bitnami has grown into a go-to source for containerized solutions, with its images powering hundreds of millions of containers—including those used by some of the biggest players in the industry.
So, what’s the option if you’re not ready to shell out thousands of dollars a month for a subscription? In short, you’ll need to migrate your services away from Bitnami images and onto another provider. Sounds easy, right? In practice, it’s anything but.
The migration typically involves rewriting numerous Kubernetes manifests, Helm charts, Docker Compose files, and other deployment configurations—each containing technical details that may not translate cleanly from one provider to another. And while the big names will probably prefer to pay the monthly fee and keep using Bitnami’s services, for smaller players, it’s a really tough situation.
Developers who don’t act face broken deployments as CI/CD pipelines and Kubernetes clusters try to pull images that no longer exist. Bitnami’s own guidance is clear: update pipelines, test migrations early, and don’t rely on the Legacy repo for anything beyond short-term fixes.
In other words, you’ve got less than a month before the window closes, so act promptly. Additionally, Helm charts tied to the mainline catalog will also stop working out of the box unless users either swap in references to the Legacy repository or switch to the Secure Images paid service.
Lastly, the commercial tier promises hardened, low-attack-surface containers, continuous rebuilds with security patches, SBOMs, compliance artifacts, and access to over 280 maintained applications.
