head to head · open source
lynis vs Harden-Windows-Security
lynis has 16,355 GitHub stars, 1,635 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Harden-Windows-Security has 4,747 stars, 337 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. lynis leads on adoption by 245% (16,355 vs 4,747 stars). lynis is written in Shell under GPL-3.0; Harden-Windows-Security is written in C# under MIT. lynis has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Harden-Windows-Security 7%. lynis 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
| lynis | Harden-Windows-Security | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 4.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Shell | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 337 |
| 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 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 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 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 lynis or Harden-Windows-Security more popular?
lynis has 16,355 GitHub stars and Harden-Windows-Security has 4,747. lynis has the larger community by that measure.
Are lynis and Harden-Windows-Security free?
Both are open source. lynis is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Harden-Windows-Security under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lynis and Harden-Windows-Security?
lynis is written in Shell 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, lynis or Harden-Windows-Security?
Choose lynis if you want the larger community (16,355 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Harden-Windows-Security if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.