A method and a system for managing applications are provided. Further, the method includes: deploying an application container engine in an edge node; receiving, by the edge node, application deployment information sent by a central node; according to the application deployment information, downloading, by the edge node, an image containing a corresponding application from the central node; calling, by the edge node, the application container engine to load the image, and running, by the edge node, the application in the application container engine; and allocating, by the edge node, available resources for the application container engine.