head to head · open source
PentestGPT vs ARL-Next
PentestGPT has 16,310 GitHub stars, 2,854 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. ARL-Next has 504 stars, 92 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. PentestGPT leads on adoption by 3,136% (16,310 vs 504 stars). PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT; ARL-Next is written in Python under GPL-3.0. PentestGPT has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, ARL-Next 18%. ARL-Next 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
| PentestGPT | ARL-Next | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 504 |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-07-14 | 2026-11-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 92 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PentestGPT if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ARL-Next if
- You want the ARL-Next feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and ARL-Next fits your workflow better
About PentestGPT
[![Contributors][contributors shield]][contributors url] [![Forks][forks shield]][forks url] [![Stargazers][stars shield]][stars url] [![Issues][issues shield]][issues url] [![MIT License][license shield]][license url] [![Discord][discord shield]][discord url] PentestGPT AI Powered Autonomous Penetration Testing Agent Published at USENIX Security 2024 Official Website: pentestgpt.com » Research Paper · Report Bug · Request Feature Demo Installation Watch on YouTube PentestGPT in Action Watch on YouTube What's New in v1.0 (Agentic Upgrade) Multi Stage Pipeline The agent works through staged phases (recon →…
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About ARL-Next
English 简体中文 ARL Next 现代化资产测绘与漏洞监控平台 Modern Attack Surface Reconnaissance & Asset Intelligence Platform 企业资产关联 · 异步解耦调度 · 原生 MCP 协议集成 · 容器化开箱部署 🚀 快速入门（5 分钟） • ⚡ 快速部署指南 • 💡 架构演进对比 • ✨ 核心特性 • 🔌 API对接指南 • 🤖 MCP配置指南 • 🎯 MCP实战用例 • 📜 更新日志 • 💬 讨论交流 • 📄 开源协议 💡 什么是 ARL Next？ ARL Next 是基于经典开源项目 ARL (资产侦察灯塔) 进行架构重构与持续演进的资产测绘平台。 针对大规模扫描场景下的任务队列阻塞、长时间运行内存增长以及历史依赖过时等工程瓶颈，系统实施了微服务拆分与异步任务解耦，全面升级现代运行时环境与测绘工具链，并集成了 Model Context Protocol (MCP) 标准协议，支持自动化资产透视与 AI 协同分析。 💡 架构演进与技术方案基准对比 ✨ 核心特性矩阵 🤖 AI Agent 原生集成与 MCP 治理中心 (MCP 2.0) ：遵循 Model Context Protocol (2024 11 05) 标准，提供 远程原生 SSE 直连 （Cursor / Claude Desktop 粘贴即用）与 本地…
read the full ARL-Next overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PentestGPT or ARL-Next more popular?
PentestGPT has 16,310 GitHub stars and ARL-Next has 504. PentestGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are PentestGPT and ARL-Next free?
Both are open source. PentestGPT is licensed under MIT and ARL-Next under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PentestGPT and ARL-Next?
PentestGPT is written in Python and ARL-Next 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, PentestGPT or ARL-Next?
Choose PentestGPT if you want the larger community (16,310 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ARL-Next if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.