head to head · open source
prowler vs windows_hardening
prowler has 14,830 GitHub stars, 2,389 forks, 371 open issues and last shipped yesterday. windows_hardening has 2,658 stars, 331 forks, 21 open issues and last shipped 18 days ago. prowler leads on adoption by 458% (14,830 vs 2,658 stars). prowler is written in Python under Apache-2.0; windows_hardening is written in PowerShell under MIT. prowler has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, windows_hardening 12%. 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 | windows_hardening | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | PowerShell |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 331 |
| 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 windows_hardening if
- You want the windows_hardening feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PowerShell
- You evaluated both and windows_hardening 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 windows_hardening
HardeningKitty and Windows Hardening Settings is a PowerShell project for Windows security baselines, compliance checklists, and system hardening. It began as a simple Windows 10 hardening list and later became a tool that supports Microsoft guidelines, CIS Benchmarks, DoD STIG, BSI SiSyPHuS Win10, and the project's own list. The project lives in the Windows PowerShell and security baseline ecosystem.
read the full windows_hardening overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is prowler or windows_hardening more popular?
prowler has 14,830 GitHub stars and windows_hardening has 2,658. prowler has the larger community by that measure.
Are prowler and windows_hardening free?
Both are open source. prowler is licensed under Apache-2.0 and windows_hardening under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between prowler and windows_hardening?
prowler is written in Python and windows_hardening 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 windows_hardening?
Choose prowler if you want the larger community (14,830 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose windows_hardening if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.