head to head · open source
reconftw vs Nettacker
reconftw has 8,138 GitHub stars, 1,235 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Nettacker has 5,614 stars, 1,184 forks, 249 open issues and last shipped yesterday. reconftw leads on adoption by 45% (8,138 vs 5,614 stars). reconftw is written in Shell under MIT; Nettacker is written in Python under Apache-2.0. reconftw has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Nettacker 21%. Nettacker was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (penetration-testing, pentesting), 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
| reconftw | Nettacker | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.1K | ★ 5.6K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Shell | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-22 | 2026-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick reconftw if
- You weight community size — 8.1K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Nettacker if
- You want the Nettacker feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Nettacker fits your workflow better
About reconftw
reconFTW is an automated reconnaissance framework, written in Shell under the MIT licence, that runs a curated chain of security tools against a target domain to enumerate subdomains and hosts, gather OSINT, analyse web surfaces, and check for vulnerabilities; it is built for security researchers, penetration testers, and bug bounty hunters.
read the full reconftw overview →
About Nettacker
OWASP Nettacker is an open source, Python based automated penetration testing and information gathering framework for cyber security professionals and ethical hackers who need to run reconnaissance, vulnerability assessment, and network security audits efficiently.
read the full Nettacker overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is reconftw or Nettacker more popular?
reconftw has 8,138 GitHub stars and Nettacker has 5,614. reconftw has the larger community by that measure.
Are reconftw and Nettacker free?
Both are open source. reconftw is licensed under MIT and Nettacker under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between reconftw and Nettacker?
reconftw is written in Shell and Nettacker 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, reconftw or Nettacker?
Choose reconftw if you want the larger community (8,138 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Nettacker if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.