head to head · open source
PayloadsAllTheThings vs WhatWeb
PayloadsAllTheThings has 81,182 GitHub stars, 17,411 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 29 days ago. WhatWeb has 6,855 stars, 1,013 forks, 51 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. PayloadsAllTheThings leads on adoption by 1,084% (81,182 vs 6,855 stars). PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python under MIT; WhatWeb is written in Ruby under GPL-2.0. PayloadsAllTheThings has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, WhatWeb 15%. PayloadsAllTheThings was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (hacking, penetration-testing, pentest), 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 | WhatWeb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 81K | ★ 6.9K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-08-27 | 2026-04-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 17K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 WhatWeb if
- You want the WhatWeb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and WhatWeb 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 WhatWeb
WhatWeb is a free, GPL 2.0 licensed web scanner written in Ruby that identifies the technologies powering a website — content management systems, blogging platforms, analytics packages, JavaScript libraries, web servers and embedded devices — and it is built for penetration testers, security analysts and network defenders who need to answer the question, "What is that Website?"
read the full WhatWeb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PayloadsAllTheThings or WhatWeb more popular?
PayloadsAllTheThings has 81,182 GitHub stars and WhatWeb has 6,855. PayloadsAllTheThings has the larger community by that measure.
Are PayloadsAllTheThings and WhatWeb free?
Both are open source. PayloadsAllTheThings is licensed under MIT and WhatWeb under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PayloadsAllTheThings and WhatWeb?
PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python and WhatWeb in Ruby. 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 WhatWeb?
Choose PayloadsAllTheThings if you want the larger community (81,182 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose WhatWeb if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.