head to head · open source
PentestGPT vs npq
PentestGPT has 16,418 GitHub stars, 2,874 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. npq has 1,796 stars, 43 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. PentestGPT leads on adoption by 814% (16,418 vs 1,796 stars). PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT; npq is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. PentestGPT has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, npq 2%. npq 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
| PentestGPT | npq | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-07-14 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 43 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PentestGPT if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick npq if
- You want the npq feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and npq fits your workflow better
About PentestGPT
[![Contributors][contributors shield]][contributors url] [![Forks][forks shield]][forks url] [![Stargazers][stars shield]][stars url] [![Issues][issues shield]][issues url] [![MIT License][license shield]][license url] [![Discord][discord shield]][discord url] PentestGPT AI Powered Autonomous Penetration Testing Agent Published at USENIX Security 2024 Official Website: pentestgpt.com » Research Paper · Report Bug · Request Feature Demo Installation Watch on YouTube PentestGPT in Action Watch on YouTube What's New in v1.0 (Agentic Upgrade) Multi Stage Pipeline The agent works through staged phases (recon →…
read the full PentestGPT overview →
About npq
npq allows you to audit npm packages before you install them TL;DR how to use npq: What it does: the npx tool downloads and execute npq package, runs an install check for the express package and dry run means npq exists regardless of success/errors . Here's a screenshot of npq in action: Media coverage about npq: As mentioned on Thomas Gentilhomme's French book of Become a Node.js Developer Tao Bojlén's A web of trust for npm Zander's favorite list of command line tools Ran Bar Zik's npq review to install safe modules ostechnix's How To Safely Install Packages Using Npm Or Yarn On Linux debricked's How to…
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Frequently asked questions
Is PentestGPT or npq more popular?
PentestGPT has 16,418 GitHub stars and npq has 1,796. PentestGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are PentestGPT and npq free?
Both are open source. PentestGPT is licensed under MIT and npq under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PentestGPT and npq?
PentestGPT is written in Python and npq in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, PentestGPT or npq?
Choose PentestGPT if you want the larger community (16,418 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose npq if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.