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Tool Comparison
VS
At a Glance
| Attribute | Clair | Aqua Security |
|---|---|---|
| License / Pricing | Open Source | Licensed |
| Type | DevOps | DevOps |
| GitHub Stars | — | — |
| Rating | 4/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Key Features | 6 listed | 6 listed |
| Integrations | 3 listed | 6 listed |
| Categories | SecurityContainer SecurityVulnerability Scanning | SecurityContainer Security |
Key Features
Clair
- Scans container images against multiple vulnerability databases (NVD, Alpine, Debian, RHEL)
- REST API for integration with registries and CI/CD pipelines
- Incremental image analysis using layer-based caching
- Notification service for alerting on newly published CVEs affecting existing images
- Used by Quay.io as the default scanning backend
- Supports OCI, Docker v2, and manifest list image formats
Aqua Security
- Image scanning for vulnerabilities, malware, and misconfigurations
- Runtime security with eBPF-based threat detection (built on Tracee)
- Kubernetes security posture management (KSPM)
- Infrastructure-as-code scanning for Terraform, CloudFormation, and Kubernetes
- Software Supply Chain Security: SBOM, signed images, and pipeline integrity
- Trivy open-source scanner is part of the Aqua ecosystem
Real-World Use Cases
Clair
Registry-integrated vulnerability scanning
Deploy Clair alongside a container registry (Quay, Harbor, or custom)
Aqua Security
Shift-left security in the CI/CD pipeline
Integrate the Aqua scanner into the CI pipeline after the Docker build
Runtime protection for Kubernetes workloads
Deploy the Aqua enforcer as a DaemonSet on all Kubernetes nodes
Integrations
Clair
dockerkubernetesgithub-actions
Aqua Security
kubernetestrivydockerjenkinsgithub-actionsgitlab-ci-cd
🏆 Which should you choose?
Choose Clair if…
- → you need a fully open-source, self-hosted solution with no vendor lock-in
Choose Aqua Security if…
- → you want a managed or commercial offering with enterprise support and SLAs