head to head · open source
lighthouse vs lynis
lighthouse has 31,005 GitHub stars, 9,785 forks, 470 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lynis has 16,611 stars, 1,645 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. lighthouse leads on adoption by 87% (31,005 vs 16,611 stars). lighthouse is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; lynis is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. lighthouse has attracted 32% as many forks as stars, lynis 10%. lighthouse 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 | lynis | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 17K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.8K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| 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 lynis if
- You want the lynis feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and lynis 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 lynis
[Documentation] [Documentation]: Do you like this software? Star the project and become a stargazer. lynis Lynis Security auditing and hardening tool, for UNIX based systems. Lynis is a security auditing tool for systems based on UNIX like Linux, macOS, BSD, and others. It performs an in depth security scan and runs on the system itself. The primary goal is to test security defenses and provide tips for further system hardening . It will also scan for general system information, vulnerable software packages, and possible configuration issues. Lynis was commonly used by system administrators and auditors to…
read the full lynis overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lighthouse or lynis more popular?
lighthouse has 31,005 GitHub stars and lynis has 16,611. lighthouse has the larger community by that measure.
Are lighthouse and lynis free?
Both are open source. lighthouse is licensed under Apache-2.0 and lynis under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lighthouse and lynis?
lighthouse is written in JavaScript and lynis in Shell. 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 lynis?
Choose lighthouse if you want the larger community (31,005 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose lynis if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.