head to head · open source
gitleaks vs layer5
gitleaks has 30,603 GitHub stars, 2,330 forks, 481 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. layer5 has 1,149 stars, 1,661 forks, 164 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gitleaks leads on adoption by 2,563% (30,603 vs 1,149 stars). gitleaks is written in Go under MIT; layer5 is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. gitleaks has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, layer5 145%. layer5 was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (hacktoberfest), 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
| gitleaks | layer5 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.3K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick gitleaks if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick layer5 if
- You want the layer5 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and layer5 fits your workflow better
About gitleaks
Gitleaks [!WARNING] Gitleaks is feature complete. I'm not merging new features into Gitleaks. Future releases will be security patches only. I'm shifting my focus to Betterleaks [license]: ./LICENSE [badge license]: [go docs badge]: [go docs]: [badge build]: [build]: [go report card badge]: [go report card]: [dockerhub]: [dockerhub badge]: [gitleaks action]: [gitleaks badge]: [![GitHub Action Test][badge build]][build] [![Docker Hub][dockerhub badge]][dockerhub] [![Gitleaks Action][gitleaks badge]][gitleaks action] [![GoDoc][go docs badge]][go docs] [![GoReportCard][go report card badge]][go report card]…
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About layer5
If you’re using Layer5 products or if you like the project, please ★ this repository to show your support! 🤩 About Layer5 Layer5's cloud native application and infrastructure management software enables you to expect more from your infrastructure. We embrace developer defined infrastructure. We empower developers to change how they write applications, support operators in rethinking how they run modern infrastructure, and enable teams to stop finger pointing and start collaborating. Docs Projects Meshery Meshery is the collaborative cloud native manager that enables the adoption, operation, and management of…
read the full layer5 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is gitleaks or layer5 more popular?
gitleaks has 30,603 GitHub stars and layer5 has 1,149. gitleaks has the larger community by that measure.
Are gitleaks and layer5 free?
Both are open source. gitleaks is licensed under MIT and layer5 under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between gitleaks and layer5?
gitleaks is written in Go and layer5 in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, gitleaks or layer5?
Choose gitleaks if you want the larger community (30,603 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose layer5 if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.