diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e797f7c..80541d8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: all build test test-unit test-integration lint coverage clean install help docker-up docker-down docker-test docker-test-integration release release-version
+.PHONY: all build test test-unit test-integration lint coverage clean install help docker-up docker-down docker-test docker-test-integration start stop release release-version
 
 # Binary name
 BINARY_NAME=relspec
@@ -14,6 +14,26 @@ GOGET=$(GOCMD) get
 GOMOD=$(GOCMD) mod
 GOCLEAN=$(GOCMD) clean
 
+# Auto-detect container runtime (Docker or Podman)
+CONTAINER_RUNTIME := $(shell \
+	if command -v podman > /dev/null 2>&1; then \
+		echo "podman"; \
+	elif command -v docker > /dev/null 2>&1; then \
+		echo "docker"; \
+	else \
+		echo "none"; \
+	fi)
+
+# Detect compose command
+COMPOSE_CMD := $(shell \
+	if [ "$(CONTAINER_RUNTIME)" = "podman" ]; then \
+		echo "podman-compose"; \
+	elif command -v docker-compose > /dev/null 2>&1; then \
+		echo "docker-compose"; \
+	else \
+		echo "docker compose"; \
+	fi)
+
 all: lint test build ## Run linting, tests, and build
 
 build: ## Build the binary
@@ -81,12 +101,26 @@ deps: ## Download dependencies
 	$(GOMOD) tidy
 	@echo "Dependencies updated"
 
+start: docker-up ## Alias for docker-up (start PostgreSQL test database)
+
+stop: docker-down ## Alias for docker-down (stop PostgreSQL test database)
+
 docker-up: ## Start PostgreSQL test database
-	@echo "Starting PostgreSQL test database..."
-	@if command -v docker-compose > /dev/null 2>&1; then \
-		docker-compose up -d postgres; \
+	@echo "Starting PostgreSQL test database (using $(CONTAINER_RUNTIME))..."
+	@if [ "$(CONTAINER_RUNTIME)" = "none" ]; then \
+		echo "Error: Neither Docker nor Podman is installed"; \
+		exit 1; \
+	fi
+	@if [ "$(CONTAINER_RUNTIME)" = "podman" ]; then \
+		podman run -d --name relspec-test-postgres \
+			-e POSTGRES_USER=relspec \
+			-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=relspec_test_password \
+			-e POSTGRES_DB=relspec_test \
+			-p 5433:5432 \
+			-v ./tests/postgres/init.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init.sql:Z \
+			postgres:16-alpine 2>/dev/null || echo "Container already running"; \
 	else \
-		docker compose up -d postgres; \
+		$(COMPOSE_CMD) up -d postgres; \
 	fi
 	@echo "Waiting for PostgreSQL to be ready..."
 	@sleep 3
@@ -94,16 +128,21 @@ docker-up: ## Start PostgreSQL test database
 	@echo "Connection: postgres://relspec:relspec_test_password@localhost:5433/relspec_test"
 
 docker-down: ## Stop PostgreSQL test database
-	@echo "Stopping PostgreSQL test database..."
-	@if command -v docker-compose > /dev/null 2>&1; then \
-		docker-compose down; \
+	@echo "Stopping PostgreSQL test database (using $(CONTAINER_RUNTIME))..."
+	@if [ "$(CONTAINER_RUNTIME)" = "podman" ]; then \
+		podman stop relspec-test-postgres 2>/dev/null || true; \
+		podman rm relspec-test-postgres 2>/dev/null || true; \
 	else \
-		docker compose down; \
+		$(COMPOSE_CMD) down; \
 	fi
 	@echo "PostgreSQL stopped"
 
-docker-test: ## Run PostgreSQL integration tests with Docker
-	@./tests/postgres/run_tests.sh
+docker-test: ## Run PostgreSQL integration tests with Docker/Podman
+	@if [ "$(CONTAINER_RUNTIME)" = "podman" ]; then \
+		./tests/postgres/run_tests_podman.sh; \
+	else \
+		./tests/postgres/run_tests.sh; \
+	fi
 
 docker-test-integration: docker-up ## Start DB and run integration tests
 	@echo "Running integration tests..."