head to head · open source
PentestGPT vs thc-hydra
PentestGPT has 16,274 GitHub stars, 2,851 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. thc-hydra has 12,462 stars, 2,696 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. PentestGPT leads on adoption by 31% (16,274 vs 12,462 stars). PentestGPT is written in Python under MIT; thc-hydra is written in C under AGPL-3.0. PentestGPT has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, thc-hydra 22%. thc-hydra 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 | thc-hydra | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 12K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | C |
| Last push | 2026-07-14 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 2.7K |
| 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 thc-hydra if
- You want the thc-hydra feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and thc-hydra 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 thc-hydra
H Y D R A (c) 2001 2023 by van Hauser / THC Many modules were written by David (dot) Maciejak @ gmail (dot) com BFG code by Jan Dlabal Licensed under AGPLv3 (see LICENSE file) Please do not use in military or secret service organizations, or for illegal purposes. (This is the wish of the author and non binding. Many people working in these organizations do not care for laws and ethics anyway. You are not one of the "good" ones if you ignore this.) NOTE: No, this is not meant to be a markdown doc! old school! Hydra in the most current GitHub state can be directly downloaded via Docker: INTRODUCTION Number one of…
read the full thc-hydra overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PentestGPT or thc-hydra more popular?
PentestGPT has 16,274 GitHub stars and thc-hydra has 12,462. PentestGPT has the larger community by that measure.
Are PentestGPT and thc-hydra free?
Both are open source. PentestGPT is licensed under MIT and thc-hydra under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PentestGPT and thc-hydra?
PentestGPT is written in Python and thc-hydra 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 thc-hydra?
Choose PentestGPT if you want the larger community (16,274 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose thc-hydra if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.