head to head · open source
akto vs h5i
akto has 1,542 GitHub stars, 293 forks, 347 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. h5i has 888 stars, 78 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped yesterday. akto leads on adoption by 74% (1,542 vs 888 stars). akto is written in Java under MIT; h5i is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. akto has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, h5i 9%. h5i was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai-security), 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
| akto | h5i | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.5K | ★ 888 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 293 | ⑂ 78 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick akto if
- You weight community size — 1.5K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick h5i if
- You want the h5i feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and h5i fits your workflow better
About akto
Akto.io API Security Contributors What is Akto? How it works • Getting Started • API Inventory • API testing • Add Test • Join Discord community • Akto is an instant, open source API security platform that takes only 60 secs to get started. Akto is used by security teams to maintain a continuous inventory of APIs, test APIs for vulnerabilities and find runtime issues. Akto offers coverage for all OWASP top 10 and HackerOne Top 10 categories including BOLA, authentication, SSRF, XSS, security configurations, etc. Akto's powerful testing engine runs variety of business logic tests by reading traffic data to…
About h5i
The Red Teaming Browser for AI Agents h5i (pronounced high five ) is a lightweight browser built for AI agents to test web applications. It combines page automation with direct control over HTTP traffic, letting agents capture, inspect, modify, replay, and compare requests through one interface. Sandboxing, network policies, credential isolation, and auditable sessions keep autonomous testing contained and within scope. Agent native red teaming Browser + direct HTTP control Attack replay in CI Replay attack flows in CI Sandboxed & auditable Isolated execution with logs Fast & lightweight 3× faster, 86% less…
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Frequently asked questions
Is akto or h5i more popular?
akto has 1,542 GitHub stars and h5i has 888. akto has the larger community by that measure.
Are akto and h5i free?
Both are open source. akto is licensed under MIT and h5i under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between akto and h5i?
akto is written in Java and h5i in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, akto or h5i?
Choose akto if you want the larger community (1,542 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose h5i if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.