head to head · open source
PentestGPT vs cve-lite-cli
PentestGPT has 16,382 GitHub stars, 2,870 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. cve-lite-cli has 792 stars, 198 forks, 49 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PentestGPT leads on adoption by 1,968% (16,382 vs 792 stars). PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT; cve-lite-cli is written in TypeScript under MIT. PentestGPT has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, cve-lite-cli 25%. cve-lite-cli 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 | cve-lite-cli | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 792 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-07-14 | 2026-11-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 198 |
| 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 cve-lite-cli if
- You want the cve-lite-cli feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and cve-lite-cli 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 cve-lite-cli
Most tools tell you what's wrong. CVE Lite CLI tells you what to run. CVE Lite CLI 🏆 Officially recognized as an OWASP Lab Project Vulnerability scanning that starts in your terminal and fits cleanly into CI. Scan your lockfile, get copy and run fix commands, and ship clean code. Scan. Understand. Fix. 🏆 🎯 🔒 OWASP Lab Project Peer reviewed by the org behind the OWASP Top 10 — the security standard followed by millions of developers Remediation first Validated fix commands + parent aware transitive guidance — not just CVE IDs Runs locally Nothing leaves your machine — not your code, not your dependency tree…
read the full cve-lite-cli overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PentestGPT or cve-lite-cli more popular?
PentestGPT has 16,382 GitHub stars and cve-lite-cli has 792. PentestGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are PentestGPT and cve-lite-cli free?
Both are open source. PentestGPT is licensed under MIT and cve-lite-cli under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PentestGPT and cve-lite-cli?
PentestGPT is written in Python and cve-lite-cli in TypeScript. 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 cve-lite-cli?
Choose PentestGPT if you want the larger community (16,382 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose cve-lite-cli if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.