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Comparison · Infra & APIs

Gitness vs Clair

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Gitness and Clair — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:open-source

Gitness vs Clair: at a glance

FeatureGitnessClair
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score0.02.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesgit-hosting, branch-rules, code-review, open-sourcecontainer-security, vulnerability-scanning, sbom, red-hat
Last editorial update12d ago8h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Gitness?

Harness Open Source last shipped in August 2025, on this feed at least

The feed holds two releases of Harness Open Source, tracked here as Gitness. v3.2.0 in May 2025 added Git LFS, default reviewers through branch rules and a Revert PR option; v3.3.0 that August added tag rules, a PR dashboard upgrade with favourite repositories, and a fix for a Git LFS upload path flaw. Nothing newer appears here.

Read the full Gitness trajectory →

What is Clair?

Clair 4.10 RC can read SBOMs to match Java vulnerabilities.

Clair cut its first 4.10.0 release candidate on November 13, eleven months after 4.9.0. Its Java indexers can now read CycloneDX SBOM files and treat them as the source of truth, and Red Hat's VEX data now covers Maven advisories, so Java packages in Red Hat images can be matched. It also reduces memory use when many packages share a source package.

Read the full Clair trajectory →

Gitness vs Clair: editorial side-by-side

G
Gitness
INFRA · APIS
0.0

Harness Open Source last shipped in August 2025, on this feed at least

◆ Current state

The feed holds two releases of Harness Open Source, tracked here as Gitness. v3.2.0 in May 2025 added Git LFS, default reviewers through branch rules and a Revert PR option; v3.3.0 that August added tag rules, a PR dashboard upgrade with favourite repositories, and a fix for a Git LFS upload path flaw. Nothing newer appears here.

◆ Where it's heading

Both releases deepen code-hosting governance: branch rules, then tag rules, plus review routing through Code Owners. That is parity work against established Git hosts rather than a new direction. With entries more than a year old, the feed shows where the project was heading in 2025, not where it is now.

◆ Prediction

The entries do not support a confident call: there is no release in this feed after v3.3.0, so it is unclear whether the project slowed or the feed stopped tracking it.

C
Clair
INFRA · APIS
2.5

Clair 4.10 RC can read SBOMs to match Java vulnerabilities.

◆ Current state

Clair cut its first 4.10.0 release candidate on November 13, eleven months after 4.9.0. Its Java indexers can now read CycloneDX SBOM files and treat them as the source of truth, and Red Hat's VEX data now covers Maven advisories, so Java packages in Red Hat images can be matched. It also reduces memory use when many packages share a source package.

◆ Where it's heading

Since 4.8 Clair has moved from Red Hat's older OVAL data to VEX, and each release follows Red Hat's security data more closely. 4.10 adds SBOMs as an input, so Clair can match what an image's own manifest declares, not only what it finds on disk.

◆ Prediction

More 4.10 release candidates and then a final are likely; the long gap between releases suggests that could take weeks.

Alternatives to Gitness and Clair

Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Gitness or Clair.

See all Gitness alternatives → · See all Clair alternatives →

Recent activity from Gitness and Clair

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 13h agoClairClair 4.10 RC reads CycloneDX SBOMs for Java matching
  2. 11mo agoClairClair 4.9 moves CVSS data to NVD's 2.0 feeds
  3. 1y agoGitnessHarness Open Source 3.3: tag rules, PR dashboard, LFS path fix
  4. 1y agoGitnessHarness Open Source 3.2: Git LFS, default reviewers, Revert PR
  5. 2y agoClairClair 4.8 replaces Red Hat OVAL data with VEX
  6. 2y agoClairClair 4.7.4 changes the default layer download location
  7. 2y agoClairClair 4.7.3 requires TLS 1.2 or newer
  8. 3y agoClairClair 4.7.2 drops the retired CRDA source

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Gitness and Clair?

Both compete on the same themes — open-source — within Infra & APIs. Clair is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Gitness better than Clair?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Clair is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Gitness?

Top Gitness alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Gitness alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/gitness for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Clair?

Top Clair alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Clair alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/clair for the full list with editorial commentary on each.