head to head · open source
osv-scanner vs dockle
osv-scanner has 11,061 GitHub stars, 794 forks, 113 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dockle has 3,295 stars, 167 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. osv-scanner leads on adoption by 236% (11,061 vs 3,295 stars). osv-scanner is written in Go under Apache-2.0; dockle is written in Go under Apache-2.0. osv-scanner has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, dockle 5%. osv-scanner was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (security-audit, security-tools), 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 | dockle | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-08-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 794 | ⑂ 167 |
| 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 dockle if
- You want the dockle feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and dockle 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 dockle
Dockle is an open source container image linter written in Go that audits already built Docker images against security and best practice checkpoints, aimed at developers and DevSecOps teams who ship containers and want that audit to run automatically.
read the full dockle overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is osv-scanner or dockle more popular?
osv-scanner has 11,061 GitHub stars and dockle has 3,295. osv-scanner has the larger community by that measure.
Are osv-scanner and dockle free?
Both are open source. osv-scanner is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dockle under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between osv-scanner and dockle?
osv-scanner is written in Go and dockle 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, osv-scanner or dockle?
Choose osv-scanner if you want the larger community (11,061 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dockle if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.