head to head · open source
osv-scanner vs afrog
osv-scanner has 11,061 GitHub stars, 794 forks, 113 open issues and last shipped yesterday. afrog has 4,418 stars, 484 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. osv-scanner leads on adoption by 150% (11,061 vs 4,418 stars). osv-scanner is written in Go under Apache-2.0; afrog is written in HTML under MIT. osv-scanner has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, afrog 11%. osv-scanner was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (vulnerability-scanner), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| osv-scanner | afrog | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | HTML |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 794 | ⑂ 484 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick osv-scanner if
- You weight community size — 11K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick afrog if
- You want the afrog feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You evaluated both and afrog fits your workflow better
About osv-scanner
OSV Scanner is an Apache 2.0 licensed vulnerability scanner written in Go that connects a project's list of dependencies with the vulnerabilities affecting them, using data from the open OSV.dev database, and it is aimed at developers, maintainers, and security teams who need to find known vulnerabilities in the dependencies they already ship.
read the full osv-scanner overview →
About afrog
afrog is an MIT licensed vulnerability scanner built for bug bounty, penetration testing and red teaming, aimed at testers who need fast verification of web targets and network services with low false positives.
read the full afrog overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is osv-scanner or afrog more popular?
osv-scanner has 11,061 GitHub stars and afrog has 4,418. osv-scanner has the larger community by that measure.
Are osv-scanner and afrog free?
Both are open source. osv-scanner is licensed under Apache-2.0 and afrog under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between osv-scanner and afrog?
osv-scanner is written in Go and afrog in HTML. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, osv-scanner or afrog?
Choose osv-scanner if you want the larger community (11,061 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose afrog if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.