head to head · open source
PayloadsAllTheThings vs thc-hydra
PayloadsAllTheThings has 82,382 GitHub stars, 17,554 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. thc-hydra has 12,462 stars, 2,696 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. PayloadsAllTheThings leads on adoption by 561% (82,382 vs 12,462 stars). PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python under MIT; thc-hydra is written in C under AGPL-3.0. PayloadsAllTheThings has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, thc-hydra 22%. 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| PayloadsAllTheThings | thc-hydra | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 82K | ★ 12K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 18K | ⑂ 2.7K |
| 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 thc-hydra if
- You want the thc-hydra feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and thc-hydra 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 thc-hydra
H Y D R A (c) 2001 2023 by van Hauser / THC Many modules were written by David (dot) Maciejak @ gmail (dot) com BFG code by Jan Dlabal Licensed under AGPLv3 (see LICENSE file) Please do not use in military or secret service organizations, or for illegal purposes. (This is the wish of the author and non binding. Many people working in these organizations do not care for laws and ethics anyway. You are not one of the "good" ones if you ignore this.) NOTE: No, this is not meant to be a markdown doc! old school! Hydra in the most current GitHub state can be directly downloaded via Docker: INTRODUCTION Number one of…
read the full thc-hydra overview →
More in Security & Privacy
Related comparisons
More Threat Detection & Response projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Threat Detection & Response field.
Frequently asked questions
Is PayloadsAllTheThings or thc-hydra more popular?
PayloadsAllTheThings has 82,382 GitHub stars and thc-hydra has 12,462. PayloadsAllTheThings has the larger community by that measure.
Are PayloadsAllTheThings and thc-hydra free?
Both are open source. PayloadsAllTheThings is licensed under MIT and thc-hydra under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PayloadsAllTheThings and thc-hydra?
PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python and thc-hydra in C. 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 thc-hydra?
Choose PayloadsAllTheThings if you want the larger community (82,382 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose thc-hydra if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.