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Comparison · Infra & APIs

Tyk vs Clair

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

Shared themes:open-source

Tyk vs Clair: at a glance

FeatureTykClair
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score5.02.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesapi-gateway, open-source, golang, release-candidatescontainer-security, vulnerability-scanning, sbom, red-hat
Last editorial update4d ago7h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Tyk?

Tyk keeps cutting CVE candidates: 5.8.20 gets the brotli fix and 5.16.1 bumps go-jose.

Tyk's newest tags remain security maintenance. 5.8.20 went through two candidates in one afternoon, the second adding the brotli CVE fix, and 5.16.1 RC1 bumps x/net and go-jose v4 a week after 5.16.0 reached RC6. Earlier 5.8.17 and 5.13.5 candidates carried the same class of dependency bumps.

Read the full Tyk 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 →

Tyk vs Clair: editorial side-by-side

T
Tyk
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Tyk keeps cutting CVE candidates: 5.8.20 gets the brotli fix and 5.16.1 bumps go-jose.

◆ Current state

Tyk's newest tags remain security maintenance. 5.8.20 went through two candidates in one afternoon, the second adding the brotli CVE fix, and 5.16.1 RC1 bumps x/net and go-jose v4 a week after 5.16.0 reached RC6. Earlier 5.8.17 and 5.13.5 candidates carried the same class of dependency bumps.

◆ Where it's heading

The open-source gateway's public tags are almost entirely CVE propagation across three supported lines (5.8, 5.13, 5.16). Feature work isn't visible in this feed.

◆ Prediction

Expect 5.13.x to get the same brotli and go-jose backports next, matching the pattern on 5.8 and 5.16.

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 Tyk 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 Tyk or Clair.

See all Tyk alternatives → · See all Clair alternatives →

Recent activity from Tyk 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. 7d agoTyk5.8.20 RC2: brotli CVE fix
  3. 7d agoTyk5.8.20 RC1, no notes
  4. 10d agoTyk5.16.1 RC1: x/net and go-jose CVE bumps
  5. 15d agoTyk5.8.17 RC3: go-jose v3 to v4 migration backport
  6. 15d agoTyk5.13.5 RC3: go-jose v3 to v4 migration backport
  7. 15d agoTyk5.13.5 RC2: x/net and go-jose CVE bumps
  8. 11mo agoClairClair 4.9 moves CVSS data to NVD's 2.0 feeds
  9. 2y agoClairClair 4.8 replaces Red Hat OVAL data with VEX
  10. 2y agoClairClair 4.7.4 changes the default layer download location
  11. 2y agoClairClair 4.7.3 requires TLS 1.2 or newer
  12. 3y agoClairClair 4.7.2 drops the retired CRDA source

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Tyk and Clair?

Both compete on the same themes — open-source — within Infra & APIs. Tyk is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), 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 Tyk better than Clair?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Tyk is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), 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 Tyk?

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