head to head · open source
ossec-hids vs flashlight
ossec-hids has 5,057 GitHub stars, 1,074 forks, 125 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. flashlight has 1,605 stars, 48 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ossec-hids leads on adoption by 215% (5,057 vs 1,605 stars). ossec-hids is written in C under GPL-2.0; flashlight is written in TypeScript under MIT. ossec-hids has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, flashlight 3%. flashlight 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
| ossec-hids | flashlight | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.1K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 48 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ossec-hids if
- You weight community size — 5.1K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick flashlight if
- You want the flashlight feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and flashlight fits your workflow better
About ossec-hids
OSSEC is an open source host based intrusion detection system written in C and released under the GNU General Public License version 2. It combines several security functions into one platform: log analysis, file integrity checking, policy monitoring, rootkit detection, real time alerting, and active response. The project describes itself as a full platform to monitor and control systems, mixing the aspects of HIDS, log monitoring, and SIM/SIEM into a single solution. It lives in the security and compliance tooling ecosystem, with topics spanning intrusion detection, file integrity management, log analysis, PCI D…
read the full ossec-hids overview →
About flashlight
Flashlight is an open source Android mobile performance audit tool written in TypeScript and licensed under MIT. It is positioned as a Lighthouse for Mobile tool, and it gives Android applications a performance score by aggregating different metrics. The project lives in the Android mobile ecosystem and covers native Android apps, React Native apps, and Flutter apps.
read the full flashlight overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ossec-hids or flashlight more popular?
ossec-hids has 5,057 GitHub stars and flashlight has 1,605. ossec-hids has the larger community by that measure.
Are ossec-hids and flashlight free?
Both are open source. ossec-hids is licensed under GPL-2.0 and flashlight under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ossec-hids and flashlight?
ossec-hids is written in C and flashlight in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ossec-hids or flashlight?
Choose ossec-hids if you want the larger community (5,057 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose flashlight if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.