head to head · open source
vuls vs Nettacker
vuls has 12,264 GitHub stars, 1,243 forks, 92 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Nettacker has 5,596 stars, 1,181 forks, 249 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. vuls leads on adoption by 119% (12,264 vs 5,596 stars). vuls is written in Go under GPL-3.0; Nettacker is written in Python under Apache-2.0. vuls has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Nettacker 21%. vuls 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
| vuls | Nettacker | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 5.6K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vuls if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Nettacker if
- You want the Nettacker 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 Nettacker fits your workflow better
About vuls
Vuls is an agent less vulnerability scanner written in Go and licensed under GPL 3.0, aimed at system administrators and security teams that must find and track known vulnerabilities across Linux, FreeBSD, Windows and macOS hosts, containers, WordPress installs, programming language libraries and network devices without installing an agent on every machine.
About Nettacker
OWASP Nettacker is an open source, Python based automated penetration testing and information gathering framework for cyber security professionals and ethical hackers who need to run reconnaissance, vulnerability assessment, and network security audits efficiently.
read the full Nettacker overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vuls or Nettacker more popular?
vuls has 12,264 GitHub stars and Nettacker has 5,596. vuls has the larger community by that measure.
Are vuls and Nettacker free?
Both are open source. vuls is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Nettacker under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vuls and Nettacker?
vuls is written in Go and Nettacker 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, vuls or Nettacker?
Choose vuls if you want the larger community (12,264 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Nettacker if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.