head to head · open source
PayloadsAllTheThings vs emba
PayloadsAllTheThings has 80,984 GitHub stars, 17,384 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 24 days ago. emba has 3,672 stars, 325 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. PayloadsAllTheThings leads on adoption by 2,105% (80,984 vs 3,672 stars). PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python under MIT; emba is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. PayloadsAllTheThings has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, emba 9%. emba was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (hacking, penetration-testing), 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
| PayloadsAllTheThings | emba | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 3.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-08-27 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 17K | ⑂ 325 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PayloadsAllTheThings if
- You weight community size — 81K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick emba if
- You want the emba feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and emba 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 emba
EMBA is the open source security analyzer for firmware of embedded devices, a Shell based command line tool that carries penetration testers, product security teams, developers and product managers from firmware extraction through static analysis, emulation based dynamic analysis and SBOM creation to a web based vulnerability report.
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Frequently asked questions
Is PayloadsAllTheThings or emba more popular?
PayloadsAllTheThings has 80,984 GitHub stars and emba has 3,672. PayloadsAllTheThings has the larger community by that measure.
Are PayloadsAllTheThings and emba free?
Both are open source. PayloadsAllTheThings is licensed under MIT and emba under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PayloadsAllTheThings and emba?
PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python and emba in Shell. 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 emba?
Choose PayloadsAllTheThings if you want the larger community (80,984 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose emba if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.