head to head · open source
checkov vs Harden-Windows-Security
checkov has 9,132 GitHub stars, 1,456 forks, 170 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Harden-Windows-Security has 4,831 stars, 348 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. checkov leads on adoption by 89% (9,132 vs 4,831 stars). checkov is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Harden-Windows-Security is written in C# under MIT. checkov has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Harden-Windows-Security 7%. Harden-Windows-Security was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (compliance), 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
| checkov | Harden-Windows-Security | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.1K | ★ 4.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 348 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick checkov if
- You weight community size — 9.1K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Harden-Windows-Security if
- You want the Harden-Windows-Security feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and Harden-Windows-Security fits your workflow better
About checkov
Checkov is a static code analysis tool for infrastructure as code (IaC) and also a software composition analysis (SCA) tool for images and open source packages. It scans cloud infrastructure provisioned using Terraform, Terraform plan, Cloudformation, AWS SAM, Kubernetes, Helm charts, Kustomize, Dockerfile, Serverless, Bicep, OpenAPI, ARM Templates, or OpenTofu and detects security and compliance misconfigurations using graph based scanning. It performs Software Composition Analysis (SCA) scanning which is a scan of open source packages and images for Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs). Checkov also…
read the full checkov overview →
About Harden-Windows-Security
Harden Windows Security A New Threat to Malware Harden Windows Safely, Securely, Only With Official Microsoft Methods How To Use Related Trust Support Security Recommendations Resources License Wiki Basic FAQs Roadmap Donation [!IMPORTANT]\ Here are Quick Access Points to Important Sections of this Repository Harden System Security App AppControl Manager App Application Control for Business Resources [!NOTE]\ This repository only uses the features that have already been implemented by Microsoft in Windows OS to fine tune it towards the highest security and locked down state, without relying on any 3rd party…
read the full Harden-Windows-Security overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is checkov or Harden-Windows-Security more popular?
checkov has 9,132 GitHub stars and Harden-Windows-Security has 4,831. checkov has the larger community by that measure.
Are checkov and Harden-Windows-Security free?
Both are open source. checkov is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Harden-Windows-Security under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between checkov and Harden-Windows-Security?
checkov is written in Python and Harden-Windows-Security in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, checkov or Harden-Windows-Security?
Choose checkov if you want the larger community (9,132 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Harden-Windows-Security if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.