head to head · open source
PentestGPT vs scilla
PentestGPT has 16,095 GitHub stars, 2,819 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. scilla has 1,274 stars, 143 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. PentestGPT leads on adoption by 1,163% (16,095 vs 1,274 stars). PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT; scilla is written in Go under GPL-3.0. PentestGPT has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, scilla 11%. scilla 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 | scilla | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-07-14 | 2026-10-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.8K | ⑂ 143 |
| 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 scilla if
- You want the scilla feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and scilla 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 scilla
🏴☠️ Information Gathering tool 🏴☠️ DNS / Subdomains / Ports / Directories enumeration Coded with 💙 by edoardottt Share on Twitter! Install • Get Started • Examples • Changelog • Contributing • License Installation 📡 Homebrew Snap Golang Building from source You need Go ( =1.23) Building from source for Linux and Windows Linux Edit the /.config/scilla/keys.yaml file if you want to use API keys. One liner: git clone && cd scilla && go get ./... && make linux Windows Note that the executable works only in cariddi folder (Alias?). Create a keys.yaml file if you want to use API keys. Using Docker Examples 💡…
read the full scilla overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PentestGPT or scilla more popular?
PentestGPT has 16,095 GitHub stars and scilla has 1,274. PentestGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are PentestGPT and scilla free?
Both are open source. PentestGPT is licensed under MIT and scilla under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PentestGPT and scilla?
PentestGPT is written in Python and scilla 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 scilla?
Choose PentestGPT if you want the larger community (16,095 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose scilla if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.