head to head · open source
prowler vs HardeningKitty
prowler has 14,830 GitHub stars, 2,389 forks, 371 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HardeningKitty has 1,838 stars, 213 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. prowler leads on adoption by 707% (14,830 vs 1,838 stars). prowler is written in Python under Apache-2.0; HardeningKitty is written in PowerShell under MIT. prowler has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, HardeningKitty 12%. prowler was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| prowler | HardeningKitty | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | PowerShell |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-07-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 213 |
| 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 HardeningKitty if
- You want the HardeningKitty feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PowerShell
- You evaluated both and HardeningKitty 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 HardeningKitty
HardeningKitty is a PowerShell security tool from the Windows Hardening Project by Michael Schneider. It lives in the Windows ecosystem and supports audit, hardening, registry, checklist, and defense work. The stable version is signed with the code signing certificate of scip AG, and pull requests are sent to the development repository.
read the full HardeningKitty overview →
More in Business Software
Related comparisons
More Compliance & Risk Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Compliance & Risk Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is prowler or HardeningKitty more popular?
prowler has 14,830 GitHub stars and HardeningKitty has 1,838. prowler has the larger community by that measure.
Are prowler and HardeningKitty free?
Both are open source. prowler is licensed under Apache-2.0 and HardeningKitty under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between prowler and HardeningKitty?
prowler is written in Python and HardeningKitty in PowerShell. 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 HardeningKitty?
Choose prowler if you want the larger community (14,830 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose HardeningKitty if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.