head to head · open source
osv-scanner vs pika
osv-scanner has 11,136 GitHub stars, 809 forks, 113 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pika has 635 stars, 84 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. osv-scanner leads on adoption by 1,654% (11,136 vs 635 stars). osv-scanner is written in Go under Apache-2.0; pika is written in Go under Apache-2.0. osv-scanner has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, pika 13%. 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.
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Side by side
| osv-scanner | pika | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 635 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-04 | 2026-10-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 809 | ⑂ 84 |
| 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 pika if
- You want the pika 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 pika 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 pika
Pika is a lightweight probe monitoring system written in Go that gives operators real time infrastructure metrics alongside security auditing and tamper protection in one self hosted package.
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Frequently asked questions
Is osv-scanner or pika more popular?
osv-scanner has 11,136 GitHub stars and pika has 635. osv-scanner has the larger community by that measure.
Are osv-scanner and pika free?
Both are open source. osv-scanner is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pika under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between osv-scanner and pika?
osv-scanner is written in Go and pika 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 pika?
Choose osv-scanner if you want the larger community (11,136 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pika if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.