head to head · open source
thc-hydra vs osv-scanner
thc-hydra has 12,470 GitHub stars, 2,698 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. osv-scanner has 11,421 stars, 843 forks, 113 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. thc-hydra leads on adoption by 9% (12,470 vs 11,421 stars). thc-hydra is written in C under AGPL-3.0; osv-scanner is written in Go under Apache-2.0. thc-hydra has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, osv-scanner 7%. osv-scanner 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
| thc-hydra | osv-scanner | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 11K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 843 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick thc-hydra if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick osv-scanner if
- You want the osv-scanner 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 osv-scanner fits your workflow better
About thc-hydra
H Y D R A (c) 2001 2023 by van Hauser / THC Many modules were written by David (dot) Maciejak @ gmail (dot) com BFG code by Jan Dlabal Licensed under AGPLv3 (see LICENSE file) Please do not use in military or secret service organizations, or for illegal purposes. (This is the wish of the author and non binding. Many people working in these organizations do not care for laws and ethics anyway. You are not one of the "good" ones if you ignore this.) NOTE: No, this is not meant to be a markdown doc! old school! Hydra in the most current GitHub state can be directly downloaded via Docker: INTRODUCTION Number one of…
read the full thc-hydra overview →
About osv-scanner
Use OSV Scanner to find existing vulnerabilities affecting your project's dependencies. OSV Scanner provides an officially supported frontend to the OSV database and CLI interface to OSV Scalibr that connects a project’s list of dependencies with the vulnerabilities that affect them. OSV Scanner supports a wide range of project types, package managers and features, including but not limited to: Languages: C/C++, Dart, Elixir, Go, Java, Javascript, PHP, Python, R, Ruby, Rust. Package Managers: npm, pip, yarn, maven, go modules, cargo, gem, composer, nuget and others. Operating Systems: Detects vulnerabilities in…
read the full osv-scanner overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is thc-hydra or osv-scanner more popular?
thc-hydra has 12,470 GitHub stars and osv-scanner has 11,421. thc-hydra has the larger community by that measure.
Are thc-hydra and osv-scanner free?
Both are open source. thc-hydra is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and osv-scanner under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between thc-hydra and osv-scanner?
thc-hydra is written in C and osv-scanner 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, thc-hydra or osv-scanner?
Choose thc-hydra if you want the larger community (12,470 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose osv-scanner if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.