head to head · open source
prowler vs appshark
prowler has 14,830 GitHub stars, 2,389 forks, 371 open issues and last shipped yesterday. appshark has 1,751 stars, 181 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. prowler leads on adoption by 747% (14,830 vs 1,751 stars). prowler is written in Python under Apache-2.0; appshark is written in Kotlin under Apache-2.0. prowler has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, appshark 10%. prowler was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (compliance), 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
| prowler | appshark | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 181 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick prowler if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick appshark if
- You want the appshark feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and appshark fits your workflow better
About prowler
Prowler is an Apache 2.0, Python based open source cloud security platform that automates security and compliance assessments across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud through thousands of ready to use checks, aimed at cloud security, compliance, and DevSecOps teams that need continuous posture management without a commercial licence.
read the full prowler overview →
About appshark
AppShark is static taint analysis platform for Android app. It scans APK file for vulnerability and compliance problem. It lives in Android security and compliance ecosystem. Analysis output reports app package, permissions, components, deep link, HTTP API, JS bridge, and native interface data. It finds risk paths by taint analysis. It is written in Kotlin and licensed under Apache 2.0.
read the full appshark overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is prowler or appshark more popular?
prowler has 14,830 GitHub stars and appshark has 1,751. prowler has the larger community by that measure.
Are prowler and appshark free?
Both are open source. prowler is licensed under Apache-2.0 and appshark under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between prowler and appshark?
prowler is written in Python and appshark in Kotlin. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, prowler or appshark?
Choose prowler if you want the larger community (14,830 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose appshark if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.