Skip to content
Reviews onCapterraSourceForge
86 reviews tracked

The Bottom Line

Entry price

Free, no paid tier

Biggest pro

Container vulnerability scanning

Biggest con

Setup complexity

TL;DR - Clair

  • Clair is an open-source vulnerability scanner for container images
  • It analyzes container layers and reports known security vulnerabilities from multiple databases
  • Completely free and open-source
Pricing: Free forever
Best for: Individuals & startups
4.4/5 across review platforms

What is Clair?

Editorial review
Clair scans container images for vulnerabilities before you deploy them. Feed it an image, get back a list of known CVEs in the packages it contains-security visibility into what you're running. Integration into registries enables automatic scanning. The vulnerability database updates continuously. API access enables custom workflows. Container security starts with knowing what vulnerabilities exist. Clair provides that visibility for organizations running containerized workloads.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Container vulnerability scanning
  • Open source
  • Quay.io integration
  • Good accuracy
  • Active development

Cons

  • Setup complexity
  • Learning curve
  • UI basic
  • Documentation improving
  • Less known

Ratings Across the Web

4.4(86 reviews)

Ratings aggregated from independent review platforms. Learn more

Key Features

Vulnerability scanningContainer imagesAPI-drivenMultiple sourcesOpen sourceRed Hat

Pricing Plans

Pricing checked May 29, 2026

Open Source

Free

Apache 2.0 License

  • Container vulnerability scanning
  • Multi-distro support
  • 49+ languages
  • OCI & Docker support

Reviews

4.4/5

Across 86 verified user reviews on SourceForge, Capterra

Add your hands-on experience to help the next buyer.

Best Clair Alternatives

Top alternatives based on features, pricing, and user needs.

Most buyers shortlist 2 or 3 tools before committing. Pull a side-by-side comparison or browse the full alternatives shortlist below.

Explore More

Clair FAQ

Is Clair free?

Yes, Clair is free and open source. Apache 2.0 license. Container vulnerability scanner.

What is Clair?

Clair is a container vulnerability scanner. Analyzes container images for known vulnerabilities. Made by Red Hat.

Clair vs Trivy?

Trivy is easier to use and more comprehensive. Clair is designed for registry integration. Trivy for CLI; Clair for registries.

How does Clair work?

Scans container layers against vulnerability databases. Integrates with registries like Quay. Continuous scanning.

Source: quay.io

Guides & Articles