head to head · open source
PentestGPT vs crowdsec
PentestGPT has 15,580 GitHub stars, 2,717 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. crowdsec has 14,956 stars, 719 forks, 296 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PentestGPT leads on adoption by 4% (15,580 vs 14,956 stars). PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT; crowdsec is written in Go under MIT. PentestGPT has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, crowdsec 5%. crowdsec was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| PentestGPT | crowdsec | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-07-14 | 2026-09-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 719 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PentestGPT if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick crowdsec if
- You want the crowdsec feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and crowdsec fits your workflow better
About PentestGPT
PentestGPT is an MIT licensed Python framework that uses large language models to run automated penetration tests and CTF challenges, aimed at penetration testers, security engineers and CTF players who want an agent to drive the tooling rather than working through it by hand.
read the full PentestGPT overview →
About crowdsec
CrowdSec is an open source, MIT licensed intrusion detection and prevention system, WAF and bot detection engine that analyses logs and HTTP requests and blocks malicious IPs at the firewall, reverse proxy or CDN, built for Linux, Windows, Docker and Kubernetes operators who want community sourced threat intelligence sitting behind their own infrastructure.
read the full crowdsec overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PentestGPT or crowdsec more popular?
PentestGPT has 15,580 GitHub stars and crowdsec has 14,956. PentestGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are PentestGPT and crowdsec free?
Both are open source. PentestGPT is licensed under MIT and crowdsec under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PentestGPT and crowdsec?
PentestGPT is written in Python and crowdsec in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, PentestGPT or crowdsec?
Choose PentestGPT if you want the larger community (15,580 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose crowdsec if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.