head to head · open source
osv-scanner vs KubeHound
osv-scanner has 11,131 GitHub stars, 808 forks, 113 open issues and last shipped yesterday. KubeHound has 1,004 stars, 67 forks, 30 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. osv-scanner leads on adoption by 1,009% (11,131 vs 1,004 stars). osv-scanner is written in Go under Apache-2.0; KubeHound is written in Go under Apache-2.0. osv-scanner has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, KubeHound 7%. osv-scanner was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (security-audit), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| osv-scanner | KubeHound | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 1.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-02 | 2026-09-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 808 | ⑂ 67 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick osv-scanner if
- You weight community size — 11K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick KubeHound if
- You want the KubeHound feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and KubeHound fits your workflow better
About osv-scanner
OSV Scanner is an Apache 2.0 licensed vulnerability scanner written in Go that connects a project's list of dependencies with the vulnerabilities affecting them, using data from the open OSV.dev database, and it is aimed at developers, maintainers, and security teams who need to find known vulnerabilities in the dependencies they already ship.
read the full osv-scanner overview →
About KubeHound
KubeHound is an open source Go tool for Kubernetes security teams that automatically calculates attack paths between assets in a cluster and builds them into a queryable attack graph.
read the full KubeHound overview →
More in Security & Privacy
Related comparisons
More Threat Detection & Response projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Threat Detection & Response field.
Frequently asked questions
Is osv-scanner or KubeHound more popular?
osv-scanner has 11,131 GitHub stars and KubeHound has 1,004. osv-scanner has the larger community by that measure.
Are osv-scanner and KubeHound free?
Both are open source. osv-scanner is licensed under Apache-2.0 and KubeHound under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between osv-scanner and KubeHound?
osv-scanner is written in Go and KubeHound in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, osv-scanner or KubeHound?
Choose osv-scanner if you want the larger community (11,131 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose KubeHound if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.