head to head · open source
PayloadsAllTheThings vs Zen-Ai-Pentest
PayloadsAllTheThings has 82,147 GitHub stars, 17,519 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Zen-Ai-Pentest has 500 stars, 88 forks, 47 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. PayloadsAllTheThings leads on adoption by 16,329% (82,147 vs 500 stars). PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python under MIT; Zen-Ai-Pentest is written in Python under MIT. PayloadsAllTheThings has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, Zen-Ai-Pentest 18%. Zen-Ai-Pentest 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 | Zen-Ai-Pentest | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 82K | ★ 500 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-08-27 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 18K | ⑂ 88 |
| 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 Zen-Ai-Pentest if
- You want the Zen-Ai-Pentest feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Zen-Ai-Pentest 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 Zen-Ai-Pentest
Professional AI Powered Penetration Testing Framework Autonomous security assessment powered by state of the art language models Features • Quick Start • Architecture • Pipelines • Security • Docs 🔥 Overview Zen AI Pentest is an autonomous, AI driven penetration testing framework that combines cutting edge large language models with 72+ professional security tools. Built for security professionals, bug bounty hunters, and enterprise red teams. ✨ Features 🤖 Autonomous AI ReAct Pattern : Reason → Act → Observe → Reflect State Machine : IDLE → PLANNING → EXECUTING → OBSERVING → REFLECTING → COMPLETED Memory…
read the full Zen-Ai-Pentest overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PayloadsAllTheThings or Zen-Ai-Pentest more popular?
PayloadsAllTheThings has 82,147 GitHub stars and Zen-Ai-Pentest has 500. PayloadsAllTheThings has the larger community by that measure.
Are PayloadsAllTheThings and Zen-Ai-Pentest free?
Both are open source. PayloadsAllTheThings is licensed under MIT and Zen-Ai-Pentest under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PayloadsAllTheThings and Zen-Ai-Pentest?
PayloadsAllTheThings is written in Python and Zen-Ai-Pentest 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 Zen-Ai-Pentest?
Choose PayloadsAllTheThings if you want the larger community (82,147 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Zen-Ai-Pentest if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.