CoreOS Clair vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud comparison

Red Hat and Microsoft are both solutions in the Container Security category. Red Hat is ranked #29 with an average rating of 9.0, while Microsoft is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.1. Red Hat holds a 0.5% mindshare in Container Security, compared to Microsoft’s 6.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Red Hat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

CoreOS Clair

Read 2 CoreOS Clair reviews

505 Views
500 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Read 78 Microsoft Defender for Cloud reviews

21,544 Views
7,110 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

CoreOS Clair

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

CoreOS Clair and Microsoft Defender for Cloud compete in security threat detection and vulnerability scanning. CoreOS Clair is preferred for pricing and deployment, but Microsoft Defender for Cloud is superior due to its extensive features.

Features: CoreOS Clair provides container vulnerability detection, environment integration, and focuses on container security. Microsoft Defender for Cloud offers platform threat protection, real-time detection, and integrated management tools, with comprehensive security features for network functions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: CoreOS Clair features straightforward deployment and easy integration into containerized environments. Microsoft Defender for Cloud has a complex deployment model, but benefits from robust support systems.

Pricing and ROI: CoreOS Clair offers lower setup costs, appealing for budget-conscious container security. Microsoft Defender for Cloud involves higher costs upfront but offers significant ROI with a broad security suite.

To learn more, read our detailed CoreOS Clair vs. Microsoft Defender for Cloud Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

CoreOS Clair vs. Microsoft Defender for Cloud

July 2025

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Helped 865,384 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

CoreOS Clair

Ranking in Container Security

29th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Ranking in Container Security

7th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Vulnerability Management (7th), Container Management (8th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (4th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (4th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (7th), Compliance Management (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Container Security category, the mindshare of CoreOS Clair is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 6.7%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Container Security

Featured Reviews

Felipe Giffu

Red Hat Solution Architect at Seprol Computadores e Sistemas

An operational system, similar to Linux where you can run your applications inside containers

With CoreOS, you can run your applications inside containers. For example, if you have an application that needs to run on Linux, you can create and install a container. However, it's important to note that you don't install CoreOS inside a container; CoreOS is the host operating system that manages containers. When you mentioned using Nacula as part of your CI/CD pipeline, it means your application is deployed and managed automatically through the CI/CD process. Containers are used to deploy your application within this pipeline, but CoreOS does not run inside these containers. Instead, CoreOS is the base operating system that supports and manages these containers.

Read full review

Vibhor Goel

Senior Cloud Platform Engineer at Deutsche Börse

A single tool for complete visibility and addressing security gaps

Currently, issues are structured in Microsoft Defender for Cloud at severity levels of high, critical, or warning, but these severity levels are not always right. For example, Microsoft might consider a port being open as critical, but that might not be the case for our company. Similarly, it might suggest closing some management ports, but you might need them to be able to log in, so the severity levels for certain things can be improved. Even though Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides a way to temporarily disable certain alerts or notifications without affecting our security score, it would be better to have more granularized control over these recommendations. Currently, we cannot even disable certain alerts or notifications. There should be an automated mechanism to design Azure policies based on the recommendations, possibly with AI integration. Instead of an engineer having to write a policy to fix security gaps, which is very time-consuming, there should be an inbuilt capability to auto-remediate everything and have proper control in place. Additionally, enabling Defender for Cloud at the resource group level, rather than only at the subscription level, would be beneficial.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"CoreOS Clair's best feature is detection accuracy."

"With CoreOS, you can run your applications inside containers. For example, if you have an application that needs to run on Linux, you can create and install a container. However, it's important to note that you don't install CoreOS inside a container; CoreOS is the host operating system that manages containers."

"Defender for Cloud has improved our security posture."

"Threat protection is comprehensive and simple."

"It alerts us to our vulnerabilities and ensures compliance by marking off a compliance tool checklist."

"Using Security Center, you have a full view, at any given time, of what's deployed, and that is something that is very useful."

"The most valuable features offer the latest threat detection and response capabilities."

"The vulnerability reporting is helpful. When we initially deployed Defender, it reported many more threats than we currently see. It gave us insight into areas we had not previously considered, so we knew where we needed to act."

"The integration with Logic Apps allows for automated responses to incidents."

"With respect to improving our security posture, it helps us to understand where we are in terms of compliance. We can easily know when we are below the standard because of the scores it calculates."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud pros

Cons

"An area for improvement is that CoreOS Clair doesn't provide information about the location of vulnerabilities it detects."

"It can be improved in its support response. They usually take up to seven days to resolve the issue."

"There are challenges with the licensing policies, which are quite complicated."

"Azure's system could be more on point like AWS support. For example, if I have an issue with AWS, I create a support ticket, then I get a call or a message. With Azure support, you raise a ticket, and somebody calls back depending on their availability and the priority, which might not align with your business priority."

"I felt that there was disconnection in terms of understanding the UI. The communication for moving from the old UI to the new UI could be improved. It was a bit awkward."

"If a customer is already using Okta as an SSO in its entire environment, they will want to continue with it. But Security Center doesn't understand that and keeps making recommendations. It would help if it let us resolve a recommendation, even if it is not implemented."

"It's hard to reach someone who understands my problems. I haven't had many issues, so I haven't called them."

"The solution could improve by being more intuitive and easier to use requiring less technical knowledge."

"The product must improve its UI."

"Although Microsoft Defender for Cloud is based on security, I wish it went beyond providing assessments, reports, and generic steps. More detailed procedures would be helpful, especially for lower-level support staff."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"CoreOS Clair is open-source and free of charge."

"The pricing is very difficult because every type of Defender for Cloud has its own metrics and pricing. If you have Cloud for Key Vault, the pricing is different than it is for storage. Every type has its own pricing list and rules."

"The licensing cost per server is $15 per month."

"Defender for Cloud is pretty costly for a single line. It's incredibly high to pay monthly for security per server. The cost is considerable for an enterprise with 500-plus virtual machines, and the monthly bill can spike."

"Currently, Microsoft offers only one plan at the enterprise level which is $15 per machine."

"I am not involved much with the pricing but the bundle offering is good."

"Its pricing is a little bit high in terms of Azure Security Center, but the good thing is that we don't need to maintain and deploy it. So, while the pricing is high, it is native to Azure which is why we prefer using this tool."

"I rate Microsoft Defender a three out of ten for affordability. The price could be a little lower."

"The solution is expensive, and I rate it a five to six out of ten."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

11%

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CoreOS Clair?

If you work with CoreOS or OpenShift, you don't need to pay for CoreOS separately. When you pay for OpenShift, you get CoreOS included, so you don't need to pay for the operating system separately....

See all answers

What needs improvement with CoreOS Clair?

It can be improved in its support response. They usually take up to seven days to resolve the issue.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for CoreOS Clair?

We use the tool to manage and secure the event file system. CoreOS Clair is an operational system that is very similar to Linux and offers benefits to other Linux operating systems. One major advan...

See all answers

How is Prisma Cloud vs Azure Security Center for security?

Azure Security Center is very easy to use, integrates well, and gives very good visibility on what is happening across your ecosystem. It also has great remote workforce capabilities and supports a...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Cloud?

The entire Defender Suite is tightly coupled, integrated, and collaborative.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Cloud?

The pricing is pretty standard.

See all answers

Comparisons

JFrog Xray vs CoreOS Clair

Compared 23% of the time

Snyk vs CoreOS Clair

Compared 20% of the time

Trivy vs CoreOS Clair

Compared 18% of the time

Tenable.io Container Security vs CoreOS Clair

Compared 16% of the time

Qualys VMDR vs CoreOS Clair

Compared 14% of the time

More CoreOS Clair Competitors

AWS GuardDuty vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 25% of the time

Wiz vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 12% of the time

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 4% of the time

Orca Security vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Container Security

July 2025

Download CoreOS Clair product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

August 2025

Download Microsoft Defender for Cloud product report

Also Known As

No data available

Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Red Hat

Microsoft

Overview

Clair is an open source project for the static analysis of vulnerabilities in appc and docker containers.

Vulnerability data is continuously imported from a known set of sources and correlated with the indexed contents of container images in order to produce lists of vulnerabilities that threaten a container. When vulnerability data changes upstream, the previous state and new state of the vulnerability along with the images they affect can be sent via webhook to a configured endpoint. All major components can be customized programmatically at compile-time without forking the project.

Red Hat

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for cloud workloads. It offers real-time visibility into the security posture of cloud environments, enabling organizations to quickly identify and respond to potential threats. With its advanced machine learning capabilities, Microsoft Defender for Cloud can detect and block sophisticated attacks, including zero-day exploits and fileless malware.

The solution also provides automated remediation capabilities, allowing security teams to quickly and easily respond to security incidents. With Microsoft Defender for Cloud, organizations can ensure the security and compliance of their cloud workloads, while reducing the burden on their security teams.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

eBay, Veritas, Verizon, SalesForce

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.

Buyer's Guide

CoreOS Clair vs. Microsoft Defender for Cloud

July 2025

Free Report: CoreOS Clair vs. Microsoft Defender for Cloud

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