head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs pentestagent
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars, 81,978 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pentestagent has 3,083 stars, 613 forks, 30 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 12,549% (389,982 vs 3,083 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; pentestagent is written in Python under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, pentestagent 20%. OpenClaw was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), 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
| OpenClaw | pentestagent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 390K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 82K | ⑂ 613 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenClaw if
- You weight community size — 390K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pentestagent if
- You want the pentestagent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pentestagent fits your workflow better
About OpenClaw
OpenClaw is an open source, self hosted AI assistant in the AI & Machine Learning / AI Interaction & Interfaces category that runs on hardware the user controls and meets them inside the messaging channels they already use, for individuals who want a personal assistant on a laptop and teams that want a shared deployment.
read the full OpenClaw overview →
About pentestagent
PentestAgent is Python based AI agent framework for black box security testing. Project lives in AI & Machine Learning / AI Interaction & Interfaces ecosystem. It supports bug bounty, red team, and penetration testing workflows. It provides terminal user interface, Docker tool execution, multi agent orchestration, and model access through OpenAI, Anthropic, or other LiteLLM supported providers.
read the full pentestagent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or pentestagent more popular?
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars and pentestagent has 3,083. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and pentestagent free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw has no licence declared in this registry, and pentestagent is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and pentestagent?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and pentestagent 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, OpenClaw or pentestagent?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (389,982 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose pentestagent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.