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Comparison · Infra & APIs

Clair vs Expo

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

Clair vs Expo: at a glance

FeatureClairExpo
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score2.55.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themescontainer-security, vulnerability-scanning, sbom, red-hateas, workflows, integrations, react-native
Last editorial update8h ago3d ago
WebsiteVisit →—

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 Expo?

Expo keeps wiring EAS to other tools, now Supabase in one command.

Expo shipped SDK 58 as stable on October 15 and has since spent its changelog on EAS. Workflows gained custom concurrency groups, queueing and hooks at more points in a job, and a new command creates a Supabase project, installs the SDK and puts its keys into every Expo environment from the terminal.

Read the full Expo trajectory →

Clair vs Expo: 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.

E
Expo
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Expo keeps wiring EAS to other tools, now Supabase in one command.

◆ Current state

Expo shipped SDK 58 as stable on October 15 and has since spent its changelog on EAS. Workflows gained custom concurrency groups, queueing and hooks at more points in a job, and a new command creates a Supabase project, installs the SDK and puts its keys into every Expo environment from the terminal.

◆ Where it's heading

After closing its own agent in July, Expo has been connecting EAS to outside services rather than building them: PostHog in September, the Claude desktop app in August, and now Supabase. In parallel, Observe and Workflows keep getting operations features that make EAS a place to run a mobile team's release process.

◆ Prediction

Expect more one-command integrations for common backend and analytics services, and further Workflows controls of the kind that shipped on November 9.

Alternatives to Clair and Expo

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 Expo.

See all Clair alternatives → · See all Expo alternatives →

Recent activity from Clair and Expo

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

  1. 13h agoClairClair 4.10 RC reads CycloneDX SBOMs for Java matching
  2. 3d agoExpoOne command to connect Supabase with Expo
  3. 4d agoExpoConcurrency groups and hooks for Workflows
  4. 29d agoExpoExpo SDK 58 is now stable
  5. 1mo agoExpoRefreshed settings navigation on expo.dev
  6. 1mo agoExpoNative crash reporting in Expo's Observability service
  7. 1mo agoExpoExpo SDK 58 Beta is now available ⚡
  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 Expo?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Expo 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 Expo?

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

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