head to head · open source
thc-hydra vs Pentest-Swarm-AI
thc-hydra has 12,454 GitHub stars, 2,690 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Pentest-Swarm-AI has 3,115 stars, 570 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. thc-hydra leads on adoption by 300% (12,454 vs 3,115 stars). thc-hydra is written in C under AGPL-3.0; Pentest-Swarm-AI is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. thc-hydra has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Pentest-Swarm-AI 18%. Pentest-Swarm-AI 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
| thc-hydra | Pentest-Swarm-AI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 570 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick thc-hydra if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Pentest-Swarm-AI if
- You want the Pentest-Swarm-AI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Pentest-Swarm-AI fits your workflow better
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 →
About Pentest-Swarm-AI
The open source XBOW alternative — an autonomous API & web app pentester. Dozens of AI agents don't just scan — they exploit . They chain attacks (BOLA/IDOR, JWT forgery, mass assignment, SSRF, injection), build and score attack paths, and prove real vulnerabilities at machine speed. Built for pentesters · bug bounty hunters · red teamers · security researchers 📖 Documentation · Quick Start · vs. XBOW · Swarm vs. Multi Agent · How It Works · Roadmap Hack at machine speed. 📖 New here? Start with the documentation — quickstart, provider setup, CLI reference, and…
read the full Pentest-Swarm-AI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is thc-hydra or Pentest-Swarm-AI more popular?
thc-hydra has 12,454 GitHub stars and Pentest-Swarm-AI has 3,115. thc-hydra has the larger community by that measure.
Are thc-hydra and Pentest-Swarm-AI free?
Both are open source. thc-hydra is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Pentest-Swarm-AI under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between thc-hydra and Pentest-Swarm-AI?
thc-hydra is written in C and Pentest-Swarm-AI 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, thc-hydra or Pentest-Swarm-AI?
Choose thc-hydra if you want the larger community (12,454 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Pentest-Swarm-AI if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.