head to head · open source
PentestGPT vs Pentest-Swarm-AI
PentestGPT has 15,730 GitHub stars, 2,739 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Pentest-Swarm-AI has 2,733 stars, 499 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. PentestGPT leads on adoption by 476% (15,730 vs 2,733 stars). PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT; Pentest-Swarm-AI is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. PentestGPT has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, Pentest-Swarm-AI 18%. Pentest-Swarm-AI 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 | Pentest-Swarm-AI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-07-14 | 2026-10-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 499 |
| 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 Pentest-Swarm-AI if
- You want the Pentest-Swarm-AI 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 Pentest-Swarm-AI 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 Pentest-Swarm-AI
Pentest Swarm AI is an open source, self hosted autonomous penetration testing framework in Go that puts a swarm of AI agents against APIs and web applications for authorized security work.
read the full Pentest-Swarm-AI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PentestGPT or Pentest-Swarm-AI more popular?
PentestGPT has 15,730 GitHub stars and Pentest-Swarm-AI has 2,733. PentestGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are PentestGPT and Pentest-Swarm-AI free?
Both are open source. PentestGPT is licensed under MIT and Pentest-Swarm-AI under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PentestGPT and Pentest-Swarm-AI?
PentestGPT is written in Python and Pentest-Swarm-AI 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 Pentest-Swarm-AI?
Choose PentestGPT if you want the larger community (15,730 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Pentest-Swarm-AI if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.