head to head · open source
ecapture vs reconftw
ecapture has 15,490 GitHub stars, 1,647 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. reconftw has 8,169 stars, 1,238 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. ecapture leads on adoption by 90% (15,490 vs 8,169 stars). ecapture is written in C under Apache-2.0; reconftw is written in Shell under MIT. ecapture has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, reconftw 15%. ecapture 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| ecapture | reconftw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 8.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-10-07 | 2026-09-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ecapture if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick reconftw if
- You want the reconftw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and reconftw fits your workflow better
About ecapture
eCapture (旁观者) is an open source eBPF tool that captures SSL/TLS plaintext, database queries, and shell history on Linux and Android for security auditors, network engineers, and self hosters who need visibility into encrypted traffic without intercepting it.
read the full ecapture overview →
About reconftw
reconFTW is an automated reconnaissance framework, written in Shell under the MIT licence, that runs a curated chain of security tools against a target domain to enumerate subdomains and hosts, gather OSINT, analyse web surfaces, and check for vulnerabilities; it is built for security researchers, penetration testers, and bug bounty hunters.
read the full reconftw overview →
More in Security & Privacy
Related comparisons
More Threat Detection & Response projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Threat Detection & Response field.
Frequently asked questions
Is ecapture or reconftw more popular?
ecapture has 15,490 GitHub stars and reconftw has 8,169. ecapture has the larger community by that measure.
Are ecapture and reconftw free?
Both are open source. ecapture is licensed under Apache-2.0 and reconftw under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ecapture and reconftw?
ecapture is written in C and reconftw in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ecapture or reconftw?
Choose ecapture if you want the larger community (15,490 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose reconftw if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.