head to head · open source
tfsec vs Harden-Windows-Security
tfsec has 7,038 GitHub stars, 558 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. Harden-Windows-Security has 4,746 stars, 337 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tfsec leads on adoption by 48% (7,038 vs 4,746 stars). tfsec is written in Go under MIT; Harden-Windows-Security is written in C# under MIT. tfsec has attracted 8% 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
| tfsec | Harden-Windows-Security | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.0K | ★ 4.7K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Go | C# |
| Last push | 2026-03-25 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 558 | ⑂ 337 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick tfsec if
- You weight community size — 7.0K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- 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 tfsec
tfsec is a static analysis security scanner for Terraform code, written in Go and released under the MIT license. It lives in the infrastructure as code and DevSecOps ecosystem, alongside tools such as linters and CI scanners. The project is now part of Trivy, Aqua Security's broader open source security scanner, and its Terraform scanning engine forms the foundation of Trivy's IaC and misconfiguration scanning capabilities. The repository remains available, but engineering attention is directed at Trivy going forward.
read the full tfsec overview →
About Harden-Windows-Security
Harden Windows Security is a GitHub repository and Windows focused security project written in C under the MIT license. It provides guides and tools for hardening Windows devices by using official, supported Microsoft methods rather than third party components. The project lives in the Windows and Microsoft security ecosystem, including Defender, BitLocker, firewall configuration, audit, encryption, compliance, enterprise security, and Intune.
read the full Harden-Windows-Security overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tfsec or Harden-Windows-Security more popular?
tfsec has 7,038 GitHub stars and Harden-Windows-Security has 4,746. tfsec has the larger community by that measure.
Are tfsec and Harden-Windows-Security free?
Both are open source. tfsec is licensed under MIT and Harden-Windows-Security under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tfsec and Harden-Windows-Security?
tfsec is written in Go 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, tfsec or Harden-Windows-Security?
Choose tfsec if you want the larger community (7,038 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Harden-Windows-Security if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.