head to head · open source
laravel-activitylog vs ossec-hids
laravel-activitylog has 5,901 GitHub stars, 745 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. ossec-hids has 5,057 stars, 1,074 forks, 125 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. laravel-activitylog leads on adoption by 17% (5,901 vs 5,057 stars). laravel-activitylog is written in PHP under MIT; ossec-hids is written in C under GPL-2.0. laravel-activitylog has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, ossec-hids 21%. ossec-hids 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.
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Side by side
| laravel-activitylog | ossec-hids | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.9K | ★ 5.1K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | PHP | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-08 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 745 | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick laravel-activitylog if
- You weight community size — 5.9K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ossec-hids if
- You want the ossec-hids feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and ossec-hids fits your workflow better
About laravel-activitylog
laravel activitylog is a free, MIT licensed PHP package from Spatie that records user and model activity inside a Laravel application in a single database table, aimed at Laravel developers and teams that need an auditable trail of who changed what.
read the full laravel-activitylog overview →
About ossec-hids
OSSEC is an open source host based intrusion detection system written in C and released under the GNU General Public License version 2. It combines several security functions into one platform: log analysis, file integrity checking, policy monitoring, rootkit detection, real time alerting, and active response. The project describes itself as a full platform to monitor and control systems, mixing the aspects of HIDS, log monitoring, and SIM/SIEM into a single solution. It lives in the security and compliance tooling ecosystem, with topics spanning intrusion detection, file integrity management, log analysis, PCI D…
read the full ossec-hids overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is laravel-activitylog or ossec-hids more popular?
laravel-activitylog has 5,901 GitHub stars and ossec-hids has 5,057. laravel-activitylog has the larger community by that measure.
Are laravel-activitylog and ossec-hids free?
Both are open source. laravel-activitylog is licensed under MIT and ossec-hids under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between laravel-activitylog and ossec-hids?
laravel-activitylog is written in PHP and ossec-hids 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, laravel-activitylog or ossec-hids?
Choose laravel-activitylog if you want the larger community (5,901 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ossec-hids if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.