head to head · open source
Ghostwriter vs faction
Ghostwriter has 1,916 GitHub stars, 257 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. faction has 605 stars, 65 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. Ghostwriter leads on adoption by 217% (1,916 vs 605 stars). Ghostwriter is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause; faction is written in Java under GPL-2.0. Ghostwriter has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, faction 11%. Ghostwriter was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (penetration-testing, reporting), 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
| Ghostwriter | faction | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.9K | ★ 605 |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 257 | ⑂ 65 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Ghostwriter if
- You weight community size — 1.9K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick faction if
- You want the faction feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and faction fits your workflow better
About Ghostwriter
Ghostwriter is open source Python project management and reporting engine for offensive security work. It lives in information security, penetration testing, red team ecosystem. Category: Data & Analytics, Business Intelligence & Reporting. Stack: Python 3.13, Django 5.2. Topics: informationsecurity, penetration testing, red team, reporting.
read the full Ghostwriter overview →
About faction
FACTION is an open source penetration testing report generation and assessment collaboration framework from OWASP, built for security consultancies, red teams, and internal assessment groups that need to turn raw findings into tracked, peer reviewed client deliverables.
read the full faction overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ghostwriter or faction more popular?
Ghostwriter has 1,916 GitHub stars and faction has 605. Ghostwriter has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ghostwriter and faction free?
Both are open source. Ghostwriter is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and faction under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ghostwriter and faction?
Ghostwriter is written in Python and faction in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Ghostwriter or faction?
Choose Ghostwriter if you want the larger community (1,916 stars) or its BSD-3-Clause licence terms. Choose faction if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.