head to head · open source
PayloadsAllTheThings vs ezXSS
PayloadsAllTheThings has 81,511 GitHub stars, 17,442 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. ezXSS has 2,340 stars, 385 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. PayloadsAllTheThings leads on adoption by 3,383% (81,511 vs 2,340 stars). PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python under MIT; ezXSS is written in PHP under MIT. PayloadsAllTheThings has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, ezXSS 16%. PayloadsAllTheThings was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (bugbounty, payload, 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 | ezXSS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 82K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-08-27 | 2026-07-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 17K | ⑂ 385 |
| 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 ezXSS if
- You want the ezXSS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and ezXSS 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 ezXSS
ezXSS is a self hostable PHP tool for penetration testers and bug bounty hunters who need to find and prove (blind) Cross Site Scripting vulnerabilities.
read the full ezXSS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PayloadsAllTheThings or ezXSS more popular?
PayloadsAllTheThings has 81,511 GitHub stars and ezXSS has 2,340. PayloadsAllTheThings has the larger community by that measure.
Are PayloadsAllTheThings and ezXSS free?
Both are open source. PayloadsAllTheThings is licensed under MIT and ezXSS under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PayloadsAllTheThings and ezXSS?
PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python and ezXSS in PHP. 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 ezXSS?
Choose PayloadsAllTheThings if you want the larger community (81,511 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ezXSS if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.