head to head · open source
lynis vs attestix
lynis has 16,398 GitHub stars, 1,635 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. attestix has 722 stars, 83 forks, 21 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lynis leads on adoption by 2,171% (16,398 vs 722 stars). lynis is written in Shell under GPL-3.0; attestix is written in Python under Apache-2.0. lynis has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, attestix 11%. attestix was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (compliance, gdpr), 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
| lynis | attestix | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 722 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Shell | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 83 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick lynis if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick attestix if
- You want the attestix 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 attestix fits your workflow better
About lynis
Lynis is an agentless, GPL 3.0 security auditing and hardening tool that runs on the UNIX based system itself, built for system administrators, auditors, security officers, and penetration testers who need to assess security defenses and test compliance against standards such as ISO27001, PCI DSS, and HIPAA.
read the full lynis overview →
About attestix
Attestix is an open source attestation infrastructure for AI agents that provides DID based agent identity, W3C Verifiable Credentials, an EU AI Act compliance layer, delegation chains, and reputation scoring, and it is aimed at teams building or operating autonomous agents that need to prove identity and compliance to another agent, a regulator, or a downstream system.
read the full attestix overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lynis or attestix more popular?
lynis has 16,398 GitHub stars and attestix has 722. lynis has the larger community by that measure.
Are lynis and attestix free?
Both are open source. lynis is licensed under GPL-3.0 and attestix under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lynis and attestix?
lynis is written in Shell and attestix 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, lynis or attestix?
Choose lynis if you want the larger community (16,398 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose attestix if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.