head to head · open source
PayloadsAllTheThings vs HashiCorp Vault
PayloadsAllTheThings has 82,404 GitHub stars, 17,557 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. HashiCorp Vault has 36,468 stars, 4,808 forks, 1,435 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PayloadsAllTheThings leads on adoption by 126% (82,404 vs 36,468 stars). PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python under MIT; HashiCorp Vault is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. PayloadsAllTheThings has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, HashiCorp Vault 13%. HashiCorp Vault was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | HashiCorp Vault | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 82K | ★ 36K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 18K | ⑂ 4.8K |
| 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 HashiCorp Vault if
- You want the HashiCorp Vault feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and HashiCorp Vault 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 HashiCorp Vault
Vault Please note : We take Vault's security and our users' trust very seriously. If you believe you have found a security issue in Vault, please responsibly disclose by contacting us at security@hashicorp.com. Website: developer.hashicorp.com/vault Announcement list: Google Groups Discussion forum: Discuss Documentation: Tutorials: Certification exam: Documentation source: Vault is a tool for securely accessing secrets. A secret is anything that you want to tightly control access to, such as API keys, passwords, certificates, and more. Vault provides a unified interface to any secret, while providing tight…
read the full HashiCorp Vault overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PayloadsAllTheThings or HashiCorp Vault more popular?
PayloadsAllTheThings has 82,404 GitHub stars and HashiCorp Vault has 36,468. PayloadsAllTheThings has the larger community by that measure.
Are PayloadsAllTheThings and HashiCorp Vault free?
Both are open source. PayloadsAllTheThings is licensed under MIT, and HashiCorp Vault has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between PayloadsAllTheThings and HashiCorp Vault?
PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python and HashiCorp Vault in Go. 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 HashiCorp Vault?
Choose PayloadsAllTheThings if you want the larger community (82,404 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose HashiCorp Vault if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.