head to head · open source
prowler vs rudder
prowler has 14,830 GitHub stars, 2,390 forks, 371 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rudder has 712 stars, 91 forks, 45 open issues and last shipped yesterday. prowler leads on adoption by 1,983% (14,830 vs 712 stars). prowler is written in Python under Apache-2.0; rudder is written in Scala under GPL-3.0. prowler has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, rudder 13%. 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 | rudder | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 712 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Scala |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 91 |
| 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 rudder if
- You want the rudder feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Scala
- You evaluated both and rudder 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 rudder
Infrastructure automation for security posture Website • Docs • Chat • Videos • Bug tracker X (Twitter) • Bluesky • Mastodon • LinkedIn What is Rudder? Rudder is a system infrastructure automation platform, dedicated to empowering IT operational teams to ensure and improve their security posture and fostering collaboration in Security Operations (SecOps). Features Security posture management: Automate critical IT operations to fortify infrastructure security: Automated systems inventory Patch management Vulnerability management System hardening and security standards compliance Configuration management: Streamlin…
read the full rudder overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is prowler or rudder more popular?
prowler has 14,830 GitHub stars and rudder has 712. prowler has the larger community by that measure.
Are prowler and rudder free?
Both are open source. prowler is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rudder under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between prowler and rudder?
prowler is written in Python and rudder in Scala. 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 rudder?
Choose prowler if you want the larger community (14,830 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rudder if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.