head to head · open source
PayloadsAllTheThings vs malicious-pdf
PayloadsAllTheThings has 81,419 GitHub stars, 17,434 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. malicious-pdf has 4,449 stars, 588 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. PayloadsAllTheThings leads on adoption by 1,730% (81,419 vs 4,449 stars). PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python under MIT; malicious-pdf is written in Python under BSD-2-Clause. PayloadsAllTheThings has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, malicious-pdf 13%. malicious-pdf was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (bugbounty, 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 | malicious-pdf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | MIT | BSD-2-Clause |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-08-27 | 2026-08-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 17K | ⑂ 588 |
| 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 malicious-pdf if
- You want the malicious-pdf feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and malicious-pdf 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 malicious-pdf
malicious pdf is a Python generator of 67 malicious PDF test files for penetration testers, bug bounty hunters, and red teams who need to probe how PDF viewers, converters, and web applications handle hostile document content.
read the full malicious-pdf overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PayloadsAllTheThings or malicious-pdf more popular?
PayloadsAllTheThings has 81,419 GitHub stars and malicious-pdf has 4,449. PayloadsAllTheThings has the larger community by that measure.
Are PayloadsAllTheThings and malicious-pdf free?
Both are open source. PayloadsAllTheThings is licensed under MIT and malicious-pdf under BSD-2-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PayloadsAllTheThings and malicious-pdf?
PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python and malicious-pdf in Python. 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 malicious-pdf?
Choose PayloadsAllTheThings if you want the larger community (81,419 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose malicious-pdf if its feature set, stack or BSD-2-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.