head to head · open source
PentestGPT vs artex-global
PentestGPT has 16,036 GitHub stars, 2,976 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. artex-global has 1,734 stars, 2,016 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. PentestGPT leads on adoption by 825% (16,036 vs 1,734 stars). PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT; artex-global is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. PentestGPT has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, artex-global 116%. artex-global was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (llm, 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
| PentestGPT | artex-global | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-07-14 | 2026-10-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| 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 artex-global if
- You want the artex-global 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 artex-global 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 →…
read the full PentestGPT overview →
About artex-global
ARTEX — Global Edition An autonomous penetration testing system driven by LLM multi agents (Go backend + Next.js frontend) The UI and generated output default to English, and can be switched to Korean, Chinese, Spanish or Japanese in Settings (System → Settings → Display language). Changing the language also changes the language of agent generated reports, summaries and chat replies. English · 한국어 · 中文 · Español · 日本語 🚨 Security & misuse warning — read this first This repository is published for use only within authorized environments, and only to build defensive and detection capabilities. ARTEX is an…
read the full artex-global overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PentestGPT or artex-global more popular?
PentestGPT has 16,036 GitHub stars and artex-global has 1,734. PentestGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are PentestGPT and artex-global free?
Both are open source. PentestGPT is licensed under MIT and artex-global under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PentestGPT and artex-global?
PentestGPT is written in Python and artex-global 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, PentestGPT or artex-global?
Choose PentestGPT if you want the larger community (16,036 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose artex-global if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.