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Comparison · Infra & APIs

Clair vs Oh Dear

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

Clair vs Oh Dear: at a glance

FeatureClairOh Dear
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score2.55.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themescontainer-security, vulnerability-scanning, sbom, red-hatuptime-monitoring, free-tools, security, status-pages
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 Oh Dear?

Oh Dear adds free public tools after five weeks of security fixes

Oh Dear, an uptime and site monitoring service, publishes a changelog each week. The 6 November entry adds free public tools, a cron expression editor, SSL certificate checker, redirect checker and DNS watch, and fixes confusing wording on passing certificate checks. The weeks before brought custom webhook headers, 30 to 90 days of status page history and AI fix prompts in Broken Links alerts, along with fixes for a high-severity SSRF, a status page CNAME takeover and scoped API token access.

Read the full Oh Dear trajectory →

Clair vs Oh Dear: 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.

O
Oh Dear
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Oh Dear adds free public tools after five weeks of security fixes

◆ Current state

Oh Dear, an uptime and site monitoring service, publishes a changelog each week. The 6 November entry adds free public tools, a cron expression editor, SSL certificate checker, redirect checker and DNS watch, and fixes confusing wording on passing certificate checks. The weeks before brought custom webhook headers, 30 to 90 days of status page history and AI fix prompts in Broken Links alerts, along with fixes for a high-severity SSRF, a status page CNAME takeover and scoped API token access.

◆ Where it's heading

After a run of security fixes, Oh Dear is adding top-of-funnel tools that let non-customers test one thing for free. Product work is otherwise steady small improvements to notifications and status pages.

◆ Prediction

More free single-purpose tools are likely, along with continued weekly notification and status page polish.

Alternatives to Clair and Oh Dear

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 Oh Dear.

See all Clair alternatives → · See all Oh Dear alternatives →

Recent activity from Clair and Oh Dear

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

  1. 13h agoClairClair 4.10 RC reads CycloneDX SBOMs for Java matching
  2. 7d agoOh DearChangelog: 2026-11-06
  3. 14d agoOh DearWebhook custom headers, uptime header rules, reseller teams page
  4. 21d agoOh DearAI fix prompts in Broken Links alerts, PHP CVE warnings
  5. 22d agoOh DearScoped tokens locked out of team-wide endpoints
  6. 28d agoOh DearHigh-severity SSRF fixed in uptime checks and AI fetches
  7. 1mo agoOh DearLonger status page history; MCP consent and CNAME fixes
  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 Oh Dear?

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

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

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