head to head · open source
PentestGPT vs DSInternals
PentestGPT has 16,313 GitHub stars, 2,855 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. DSInternals has 1,978 stars, 277 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped 28 days ago. PentestGPT leads on adoption by 725% (16,313 vs 1,978 stars). PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT; DSInternals is written in C# under MIT. PentestGPT has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, DSInternals 14%. DSInternals 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| PentestGPT | DSInternals | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | C# |
| Last push | 2026-07-14 | 2026-10-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 277 |
| 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 DSInternals if
- You want the DSInternals feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and DSInternals 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 DSInternals
Directory Services Internals PowerShell Module and Framework Introduction The DSInternals project consists of these two parts: The DSInternals Framework exposes several internal features of Active Directory and can be used from any .NET application. The codebase has already been integrated into several 3 rd party commercial products that use it in scenarios like Active Directory disaster recovery, identity management, cross forest migrations and password strength auditing. The DSInternals PowerShell Module provides easy to use cmdlets that are built on top of the Framework. These are the main features: Active…
read the full DSInternals overview →
More in Security & Privacy
Related comparisons
More Threat Detection & Response projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Threat Detection & Response field.
Frequently asked questions
Is PentestGPT or DSInternals more popular?
PentestGPT has 16,313 GitHub stars and DSInternals has 1,978. PentestGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are PentestGPT and DSInternals free?
Both are open source. PentestGPT is licensed under MIT and DSInternals under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PentestGPT and DSInternals?
PentestGPT is written in Python and DSInternals in C#. 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 DSInternals?
Choose PentestGPT if you want the larger community (16,313 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose DSInternals if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.