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Comparison · Infra & APIs

Webmin vs Clair

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

Webmin vs Clair: at a glance

FeatureWebminClair
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score5.02.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesserver-admin, web-hosting, containers, linuxcontainer-security, vulnerability-scanning, sbom, red-hat
Last editorial update1mo ago8h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Webmin?

Webmin and Virtualmin are moving from server panel to container-aware hosting platform.

Webmin and Virtualmin ship on a steady monthly cadence, with long lists of modules and fixes. Recent releases added a Hardware Information module, journald error logging, DNF package holds, a Matomo installer, and, in Virtualmin 8.2, a Podman plugin for per-domain containers.

Read the full Webmin 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 →

Webmin vs Clair: editorial side-by-side

W
Webmin
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Webmin and Virtualmin are moving from server panel to container-aware hosting platform.

◆ Current state

Webmin and Virtualmin ship on a steady monthly cadence, with long lists of modules and fixes. Recent releases added a Hardware Information module, journald error logging, DNF package holds, a Matomo installer, and, in Virtualmin 8.2, a Podman plugin for per-domain containers.

◆ Where it's heading

The direction since mid-year is to modernize what the panel manages: systemd units, nftables, Kea DHCP, Btrfs quotas, and now containers. Webmin follows current Linux plumbing, and Virtualmin builds app-hosting features (Podman recipes, Django and Matomo installers) on top.

◆ Prediction

Expect the Podman plugin to keep growing its recipe catalog and Btrfs quota support to spread across modules. Webmin 2.680 will likely continue the pattern of a new module plus distro-support updates.

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 Webmin 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 Webmin or Clair.

See all Webmin alternatives → · See all Clair alternatives →

Recent activity from Webmin 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. 1mo agoWebminVirtualmin 8.3.0 released
  3. 1mo agoWebminWebmin 2.670 and Usermin 2.570 released
  4. 2mo agoWebminVirtualmin 8.2.0 released ⚡
  5. 3mo agoWebminWebmin 2.660 and Usermin 2.560 released
  6. 3mo agoWebminWebmin 2.653 and Usermin 2.552 released
  7. 4mo agoWebminWebmin 2.652 and Usermin 2.551 released
  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 Webmin and Clair?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Webmin 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 Webmin better than Clair?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Webmin 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 Webmin?

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