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Comparison · Infra & APIs

Clair vs Duplicati

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

Clair vs Duplicati: at a glance

FeatureClairDuplicati
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score2.55.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themescontainer-security, vulnerability-scanning, sbom, red-hatbackup, restore, auto-update, disk-images
Last editorial update8h ago4d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

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 →

What is Duplicati?

Duplicati's canary brings back one-click updates and restores disk backups to VHD files.

Duplicati 2.4.1 stable added delta backups for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace and scheduled restore tests. The 2.4.1.101 canary brings back the automatic updater, now a helper that verifies and installs the signed package for each OS, lets a full disk backup be restored into a raw, VHD or VHDX image, and adds an on/off switch per backup. It also fixes a scheduler that silently used UTC and a case where a vanished USB or network destination was recreated empty.

Read the full Duplicati trajectory →

Clair vs Duplicati: editorial side-by-side

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.

D
Duplicati
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Duplicati's canary brings back one-click updates and restores disk backups to VHD files.

◆ Current state

Duplicati 2.4.1 stable added delta backups for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace and scheduled restore tests. The 2.4.1.101 canary brings back the automatic updater, now a helper that verifies and installs the signed package for each OS, lets a full disk backup be restored into a raw, VHD or VHDX image, and adds an on/off switch per backup. It also fixes a scheduler that silently used UTC and a case where a vanished USB or network destination was recreated empty.

◆ Where it's heading

The canaries alternate between new restore paths and closing cases where Duplicati looked fine but wasn't, such as silent failures, wrong time zones and missing destinations. The updater makes it easier to keep desktop and server installs on the fixed versions.

◆ Prediction

Expect updater fixes in the next canaries, given that this is its first version, and the disk-image and scheduler work to move into the next stable.

Alternatives to Clair and Duplicati

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 Clair or Duplicati.

See all Clair alternatives → · See all Duplicati alternatives →

Recent activity from Clair and Duplicati

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

  1. 13h agoClairClair 4.10 RC reads CycloneDX SBOMs for Java matching
  2. 6d agoDuplicatiDuplicati canary restores the auto-updater and VHD disk restores
  3. 6d agoDuplicatiDuplicati 2.4.1.101 canary binaries published
  4. 14d agoDuplicatiDuplicati canary closes silent-failure paths in backup and restore
  5. 14d agoDuplicatiDuplicati 2.4.1.100 canary binaries published
  6. 15d agoDuplicatiDuplicati 2.4.1 stable: SaaS delta backups and restore tests
  7. 15d agoDuplicatiDuplicati 2.4.1.0 stable binaries published
  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 Clair and Duplicati?

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

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

What are the best alternatives to Duplicati?

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