head to head · open source
shannon vs PyRIT
shannon has 50,964 GitHub stars, 5,926 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. PyRIT has 4,731 stars, 1,012 forks, 281 open issues and last shipped today. shannon leads on adoption by 977% (50,964 vs 4,731 stars). shannon is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; PyRIT is written in Python under MIT. shannon has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, PyRIT 21%. PyRIT was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai-security), 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
| shannon | PyRIT | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 51K | ★ 4.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-27 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick shannon if
- You weight community size — 51K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick PyRIT if
- You want the PyRIT feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and PyRIT fits your workflow better
About shannon
[!NOTE] Shannon 3.0 is live: deeper security code analysis, more thoroughly vetted findings, a rebuilt CLI, native CI/CD, professional PDF reports, and SARIF. Shannon is an autonomous, AI pentester for web applications and APIs. It analyzes your source code, identifies attack paths, and executes real exploits to prove vulnerabilities before they reach production. No exploit, no report. This repository is Shannon Open Source: the full agent, run locally from your command line. Launch Shannon The interactive launcher will guide you through setup and your first pentest. [!TIP] AI agents and LLMs: start with…
read the full shannon overview →
About PyRIT
Python Risk Identification Tool for generative AI (PyRIT) The Python Risk Identification Tool for generative AI (PyRIT) is an open source framework built to empower security professionals and engineers to proactively identify risks in generative AI systems. Check out our website for more information about how to use, install, or contribute to PyRIT. Review our security policy to report vulnerabilities privately through the Microsoft Security Response Center. Visit our Discord server to chat with the team and community. Trademarks and Citations This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products…
read the full PyRIT overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is shannon or PyRIT more popular?
shannon has 50,964 GitHub stars and PyRIT has 4,731. shannon has the larger community by that measure.
Are shannon and PyRIT free?
Both are open source. shannon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and PyRIT under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between shannon and PyRIT?
shannon is written in TypeScript and PyRIT in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, shannon or PyRIT?
Choose shannon if you want the larger community (50,964 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose PyRIT if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.