head to head · open source
Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF vs karate
Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF has 21,789 GitHub stars, 3,760 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. karate has 8,957 stars, 2,044 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF leads on adoption by 143% (21,789 vs 8,957 stars). Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; karate is written in Java under MIT. Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, karate 23%. karate was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (api-testing), 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
| Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF | karate | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 9.0K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick karate if
- You want the karate feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and karate fits your workflow better
About Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF
Mobile Security Framework (MobSF) is an open source, automated, all in one framework for mobile application security testing across Android, iOS, and Windows Mobile that performs static and dynamic analysis for penetration testing, malware analysis, and privacy assessment, built for security researchers, penetration testers, and DevSecOps teams.
read the full Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF overview →
About karate
Karate is an open source, MIT licensed Java framework that combines API testing, mocks, performance testing and UI automation into a single unified tool, aimed at teams that need to test APIs and services without stitching several separate tools together.
read the full karate overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF or karate more popular?
Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF has 21,789 GitHub stars and karate has 8,957. Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF and karate free?
Both are open source. Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF is licensed under GPL-3.0 and karate under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF and karate?
Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF is written in JavaScript and karate in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF or karate?
Choose Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF if you want the larger community (21,789 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose karate if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.