head to head · open source
Raccoon vs emba
Raccoon has 4,027 GitHub stars, 501 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. emba has 3,672 stars, 325 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Raccoon leads on adoption by 10% (4,027 vs 3,672 stars). Raccoon is written in Python under MIT; emba is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. Raccoon has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, emba 9%. emba was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (hacking), 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
| Raccoon | emba | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.0K | ★ 3.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-04-21 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 501 | ⑂ 325 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Raccoon if
- You weight community size — 4.0K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick emba if
- You want the emba feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and emba fits your workflow better
About Raccoon
Raccoon is an open source, MIT licensed offensive security tool written in Python for reconnaissance and information gathering, built for penetration testers, bug bounty hunters, and security analysts who need to map a target's DNS, TLS, network, and web footprint from a single command line.
read the full Raccoon overview →
About emba
EMBA is the open source security analyzer for firmware of embedded devices, a Shell based command line tool that carries penetration testers, product security teams, developers and product managers from firmware extraction through static analysis, emulation based dynamic analysis and SBOM creation to a web based vulnerability report.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Raccoon or emba more popular?
Raccoon has 4,027 GitHub stars and emba has 3,672. Raccoon has the larger community by that measure.
Are Raccoon and emba free?
Both are open source. Raccoon is licensed under MIT and emba under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Raccoon and emba?
Raccoon is written in Python and emba in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Raccoon or emba?
Choose Raccoon if you want the larger community (4,027 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose emba if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.