Container Image Supply Chain Shifts to Paid Models, Opening Market for Free Alternatives

Broadcom (September 2025), MinIO (October 2025), and Docker (December 2025) have all moved container images behind paywalls or restricted access within four months. Minimus, launching free distroless images in April 2025, is now filling the gap left by the consolidation. Platform teams accustomed to free, maintained base images must now navigate a fractured supply chain—a shift that favors security-focused alternatives over general-purpose images.