head to head · open source
PayloadsAllTheThings vs PentestGPT
PayloadsAllTheThings has 80,968 GitHub stars, 17,378 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 23 days ago. PentestGPT has 15,521 stars, 2,700 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. PayloadsAllTheThings leads on adoption by 422% (80,968 vs 15,521 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 | ★ 81K | ★ 16K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-08-27 | 2026-07-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 17K | ⑂ 2.7K |
| 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 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 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 PentestGPT
PentestGPT is an MIT licensed Python framework that uses large language models to run automated penetration tests and CTF challenges, aimed at penetration testers, security engineers and CTF players who want an agent to drive the tooling rather than working through it by hand.
read the full PentestGPT overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PayloadsAllTheThings or PentestGPT more popular?
PayloadsAllTheThings has 80,968 GitHub stars and PentestGPT has 15,521. 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 (80,968 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose PentestGPT if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.