head to head · open source
lighthouse vs checkov
lighthouse has 31,005 GitHub stars, 9,785 forks, 470 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. checkov has 9,127 stars, 1,452 forks, 170 open issues and last shipped yesterday. lighthouse leads on adoption by 240% (31,005 vs 9,127 stars). lighthouse is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; checkov is written in Python under Apache-2.0. lighthouse has attracted 32% as many forks as stars, checkov 16%. checkov 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
| lighthouse | checkov | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 9.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.8K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick lighthouse if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick checkov if
- You want the checkov feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and checkov fits your workflow better
About lighthouse
Lighthouse Lighthouse analyzes web apps and web pages, collecting modern performance metrics and insights on developer best practices. Using Lighthouse Using Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools Using the Chrome extension Using the Node CLI CLI options Using the Node module Viewing a report Online Viewer Docs & Recipes Developing Lighthouse Setup Run Tests Docs Associated Products and Projects Lighthouse Integrations in Web Perf services Lighthouse Integrations in non Web Perf services Plugins Related projects FAQ How does Lighthouse work? Can I configure the lighthouse run? How does Lighthouse use network throttling…
read the full lighthouse overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lighthouse or checkov more popular?
lighthouse has 31,005 GitHub stars and checkov has 9,127. lighthouse has the larger community by that measure.
Are lighthouse and checkov free?
Both are open source. lighthouse is licensed under Apache-2.0 and checkov under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lighthouse and checkov?
lighthouse is written in JavaScript and checkov in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, lighthouse or checkov?
Choose lighthouse if you want the larger community (31,005 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose checkov if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.