head to head · open source
PayloadsAllTheThings vs ecapture
PayloadsAllTheThings has 81,538 GitHub stars, 17,449 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. ecapture has 15,490 stars, 1,647 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PayloadsAllTheThings leads on adoption by 426% (81,538 vs 15,490 stars). PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python under MIT; ecapture is written in C under Apache-2.0. PayloadsAllTheThings has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, ecapture 11%. ecapture 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
| PayloadsAllTheThings | ecapture | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 82K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | C |
| Last push | 2026-08-27 | 2026-10-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 17K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PayloadsAllTheThings if
- You weight community size — 82K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ecapture if
- You want the ecapture feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and ecapture fits your workflow better
About PayloadsAllTheThings
Payloads All The Things is an MIT licensed, community maintained collection of web application security payloads, bypass techniques and pentest methodology notes, written for penetration testers, bug bounty hunters, CTF players and red teamers who need a reference they can copy from during an engagement.
read the full PayloadsAllTheThings overview →
About ecapture
eCapture (旁观者) is an open source eBPF tool that captures SSL/TLS plaintext, database queries, and shell history on Linux and Android for security auditors, network engineers, and self hosters who need visibility into encrypted traffic without intercepting it.
read the full ecapture overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PayloadsAllTheThings or ecapture more popular?
PayloadsAllTheThings has 81,538 GitHub stars and ecapture has 15,490. PayloadsAllTheThings has the larger community by that measure.
Are PayloadsAllTheThings and ecapture free?
Both are open source. PayloadsAllTheThings is licensed under MIT and ecapture under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PayloadsAllTheThings and ecapture?
PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python and ecapture in C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, PayloadsAllTheThings or ecapture?
Choose PayloadsAllTheThings if you want the larger community (81,538 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ecapture if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.