head to head · open source
prowler vs Harden-Windows-Security
prowler has 14,830 GitHub stars, 2,389 forks, 371 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Harden-Windows-Security has 4,747 stars, 337 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. prowler leads on adoption by 212% (14,830 vs 4,747 stars). prowler is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Harden-Windows-Security is written in C# under MIT. prowler has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Harden-Windows-Security 7%. 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 | Harden-Windows-Security | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 4.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 337 |
| 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 Harden-Windows-Security if
- You want the Harden-Windows-Security feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and Harden-Windows-Security 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 Harden-Windows-Security
Harden Windows Security is a GitHub repository and Windows focused security project written in C under the MIT license. It provides guides and tools for hardening Windows devices by using official, supported Microsoft methods rather than third party components. The project lives in the Windows and Microsoft security ecosystem, including Defender, BitLocker, firewall configuration, audit, encryption, compliance, enterprise security, and Intune.
read the full Harden-Windows-Security overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is prowler or Harden-Windows-Security more popular?
prowler has 14,830 GitHub stars and Harden-Windows-Security has 4,747. prowler has the larger community by that measure.
Are prowler and Harden-Windows-Security free?
Both are open source. prowler is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Harden-Windows-Security under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between prowler and Harden-Windows-Security?
prowler is written in Python and Harden-Windows-Security 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, prowler or Harden-Windows-Security?
Choose prowler if you want the larger community (14,830 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Harden-Windows-Security if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.