head to head · open source
PentestGPT vs linWinPwn
PentestGPT has 15,817 GitHub stars, 2,755 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. linWinPwn has 2,224 stars, 311 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. PentestGPT leads on adoption by 611% (15,817 vs 2,224 stars). PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT; linWinPwn is written in Shell under MIT. PentestGPT has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, linWinPwn 14%. linWinPwn 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
| PentestGPT | linWinPwn | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-07-14 | 2026-09-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.8K | ⑂ 311 |
| 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 linWinPwn if
- You want the linWinPwn feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and linWinPwn fits your workflow better
About PentestGPT
PentestGPT is an MIT licensed Python framework that uses large language models to run automated penetration tests and CTF challenges, aimed at penetration testers, security engineers and CTF players who want an agent to drive the tooling rather than working through it by hand.
read the full PentestGPT overview →
About linWinPwn
linWinPwn is a bash script that wraps and streamlines a large collection of Active Directory penetration testing tools on Linux, aimed at security testers who work in Active Directory environments.
read the full linWinPwn overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PentestGPT or linWinPwn more popular?
PentestGPT has 15,817 GitHub stars and linWinPwn has 2,224. PentestGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are PentestGPT and linWinPwn free?
Both are open source. PentestGPT is licensed under MIT and linWinPwn under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PentestGPT and linWinPwn?
PentestGPT is written in Python and linWinPwn in Shell. 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 linWinPwn?
Choose PentestGPT if you want the larger community (15,817 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose linWinPwn if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.