head to head · open source
PayloadsAllTheThings vs PentestGPT
PayloadsAllTheThings has 82,315 GitHub stars, 17,560 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. PentestGPT has 16,247 stars, 2,838 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. PayloadsAllTheThings leads on adoption by 407% (82,315 vs 16,247 stars). PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python under MIT; PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT. PayloadsAllTheThings has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, PentestGPT 17%. PayloadsAllTheThings was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | PentestGPT | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 82K | ★ 16K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-07-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 18K | ⑂ 2.8K |
| 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 PentestGPT if
- You want the PentestGPT feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and PentestGPT fits your workflow better
About PayloadsAllTheThings
Payloads All The Things A list of useful payloads and bypasses for Web Application Security. Feel free to improve with your payloads and techniques! You can also contribute with a :beers: IRL, or using the sponsor button. An alternative display version is available at PayloadsAllTheThingsWeb. :book: Documentation Every section contains the following files, you can use the template vuln folder to create a new chapter: README.md vulnerability description and how to exploit it, including several payloads Intruder a set of files to give to Burp Intruder Images pictures for the README.md Files some files referenced…
read the full PayloadsAllTheThings overview →
About PentestGPT
[![Contributors][contributors shield]][contributors url] [![Forks][forks shield]][forks url] [![Stargazers][stars shield]][stars url] [![Issues][issues shield]][issues url] [![MIT License][license shield]][license url] [![Discord][discord shield]][discord url] PentestGPT AI Powered Autonomous Penetration Testing Agent Published at USENIX Security 2024 Official Website: pentestgpt.com » Research Paper · Report Bug · Request Feature Demo Installation Watch on YouTube PentestGPT in Action Watch on YouTube What's New in v1.0 (Agentic Upgrade) Multi Stage Pipeline The agent works through staged phases (recon →…
read the full PentestGPT overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PayloadsAllTheThings or PentestGPT more popular?
PayloadsAllTheThings has 82,315 GitHub stars and PentestGPT has 16,247. PayloadsAllTheThings has the larger community by that measure.
Are PayloadsAllTheThings and PentestGPT free?
Both are open source. PayloadsAllTheThings is licensed under MIT and PentestGPT under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PayloadsAllTheThings and PentestGPT?
PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python and PentestGPT 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 PentestGPT?
Choose PayloadsAllTheThings if you want the larger community (82,315 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose PentestGPT if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.