head to head · open source
garak vs pentest-ai
garak has 9,850 GitHub stars, 1,439 forks, 429 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. pentest-ai has 1,799 stars, 329 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. garak leads on adoption by 448% (9,850 vs 1,799 stars). garak is written in Python under Apache-2.0; pentest-ai is written in Python under MIT. garak has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, pentest-ai 18%. pentest-ai 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
| garak | pentest-ai | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.8K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 329 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick garak if
- You weight community size — 9.8K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pentest-ai if
- You want the pentest-ai feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pentest-ai fits your workflow better
About garak
garak, LLM vulnerability scanner Generative AI Red teaming & Assessment Kit garak checks if an LLM can be made to fail in a way we don't want. garak probes for hallucination, data leakage, prompt injection, misinformation, toxicity generation, jailbreaks, and many other weaknesses. If you know nmap or msf / Metasploit Framework, garak does somewhat similar things to them, but for LLMs. garak focuses on ways of making an LLM or dialog system fail. It combines static, dynamic, and adaptive probes to explore this. garak 's a free tool. We love developing it and are always interested in adding functionality to…
read the full garak overview →
About pentest-ai
Website · Quick start · Verification · Documentation · Issues Pentest AI connects an AI client or model to a penetration testing workflow. It investigates applications, records findings, and uses machine oracles to check whether an exploit can be reproduced . Verified findings carry evidence you can replay. Use it through MCP , from the CLI , or in CI . The model helps drive the investigation; an oracle determines whether a finding earns a verified verdict. Test only systems you own or have explicit authorization to assess. Read the acceptable use policy and terms before running an engagement. Quick start…
read the full pentest-ai overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is garak or pentest-ai more popular?
garak has 9,850 GitHub stars and pentest-ai has 1,799. garak has the larger community by that measure.
Are garak and pentest-ai free?
Both are open source. garak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pentest-ai under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between garak and pentest-ai?
garak is written in Python and pentest-ai 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, garak or pentest-ai?
Choose garak if you want the larger community (9,850 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pentest-ai if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.