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Comparison · Infra & APIs

KrakenD vs Clair

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

Shared themes:open-source

KrakenD vs Clair: at a glance

FeatureKrakenDClair
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score0.02.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesapi-gateway, open-source, maintenance, gocontainer-security, vulnerability-scanning, sbom, red-hat
Last editorial update7h ago7h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is KrakenD?

KrakenD's community edition is shipping only dependency bumps.

The two tracked KrakenD releases are patch releases of the community edition. 2.13.10 in August moved to Go 1.26.7, and 2.13.11 in September bumped the gRPC and RabbitMQ client libraries.

Read the full KrakenD 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 →

KrakenD vs Clair: editorial side-by-side

K
KrakenD
INFRA · APIS
0.0

KrakenD's community edition is shipping only dependency bumps.

◆ Current state

The two tracked KrakenD releases are patch releases of the community edition. 2.13.10 in August moved to Go 1.26.7, and 2.13.11 in September bumped the gRPC and RabbitMQ client libraries.

◆ Where it's heading

The open-source gateway is in maintenance mode in this feed, kept current on Go and dependencies. Two entries are too few to say where the product is heading.

◆ Prediction

Unclear from these entries; more dependency patch releases are the only pattern visible.

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 KrakenD 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 KrakenD or Clair.

See all KrakenD alternatives → · See all Clair alternatives →

Recent activity from KrakenD and Clair

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

  1. 12h agoClairClair 4.10 RC reads CycloneDX SBOMs for Java matching
  2. 2mo agoKrakenDKrakenD CE 2.13.11 bumps gRPC and RabbitMQ libraries
  3. 2mo agoKrakenDKrakenD CE 2.13.10 moves to Go 1.26.7
  4. 11mo agoClairClair 4.9 moves CVSS data to NVD's 2.0 feeds
  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 KrakenD 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 KrakenD 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 KrakenD?

Top KrakenD alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "KrakenD alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/krakend 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.