head to head · open source
lynis vs bernstein
lynis has 16,398 GitHub stars, 1,635 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. bernstein has 1,312 stars, 176 forks, 368 open issues and last shipped today. lynis leads on adoption by 1,150% (16,398 vs 1,312 stars). lynis is written in Shell under GPL-3.0; bernstein is written in Python under Apache-2.0. lynis has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, bernstein 13%. bernstein was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (compliance), 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
| lynis | bernstein | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Shell | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 176 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick lynis if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick bernstein if
- You want the bernstein feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and bernstein fits your workflow better
About lynis
Lynis is an agentless, GPL 3.0 security auditing and hardening tool that runs on the UNIX based system itself, built for system administrators, auditors, security officers, and penetration testers who need to assess security defenses and test compliance against standards such as ISO27001, PCI DSS, and HIPAA.
read the full lynis overview →
About bernstein
Bernstein is an open source, Apache 2.0 governance and orchestration framework for fleets of AI agents, built for teams that want to write their operating rules declaratively, have those rules enforced at runtime, and keep a verifiable, replayable record of what every agent did.
read the full bernstein overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lynis or bernstein more popular?
lynis has 16,398 GitHub stars and bernstein has 1,312. lynis has the larger community by that measure.
Are lynis and bernstein free?
Both are open source. lynis is licensed under GPL-3.0 and bernstein under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lynis and bernstein?
lynis is written in Shell and bernstein in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, lynis or bernstein?
Choose lynis if you want the larger community (16,398 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose bernstein if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.