head to head · open source
prowler vs openscap
prowler has 15,159 GitHub stars, 2,479 forks, 371 open issues and last shipped yesterday. openscap has 1,837 stars, 457 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. prowler leads on adoption by 725% (15,159 vs 1,837 stars). prowler is written in Python under Apache-2.0; openscap is written in XSLT under LGPL-2.1. prowler has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, openscap 25%. 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 | openscap | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Written in | Python | XSLT |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 457 |
| 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 openscap if
- You want the openscap feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-2.1 license terms
- Your stack matches XSLT
- You evaluated both and openscap fits your workflow better
About prowler
Prowler is the Open Cloud Security Platform trusted by thousands to automate security and compliance in any cloud environment. With thousands of ready to use checks and compliance frameworks, Prowler delivers real time, customizable monitoring and seamless integrations, making cloud security simple, scalable, and cost effective for organizations of any size. The Agentic Cloud Defender Try Prowler Cloud Join our Prowler community! Description Prowler is the world’s most widely used Open Source Cloud Security Platform that automates security and compliance across any cloud environment . With thousands of ready to…
read the full prowler overview →
About openscap
OpenSCAP Open Source Security Compliance Solution About The oscap program is a command line tool that allows users to load, scan, validate, edit, and export SCAP documents. Homepage of the project: www.open scap.org User Manual: OpenSCAP User Manual Compilation, testing and debugging: OpenSCAP Developer Manual For new contributors: How to contribute Contributing We welcome all contributions to the OpenSCAP project. If you would like to contribute, either by fixing existing issues or adding new features, please check out our contribution guide to get started. If you would like to discuss anything, ask questions…
read the full openscap overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is prowler or openscap more popular?
prowler has 15,159 GitHub stars and openscap has 1,837. prowler has the larger community by that measure.
Are prowler and openscap free?
Both are open source. prowler is licensed under Apache-2.0 and openscap under LGPL-2.1. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between prowler and openscap?
prowler is written in Python and openscap in XSLT. 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 openscap?
Choose prowler if you want the larger community (15,159 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose openscap if its feature set, stack or LGPL-2.1 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.