head to head · open source
osv-scanner vs reconftw
osv-scanner has 11,075 GitHub stars, 797 forks, 113 open issues and last shipped today. reconftw has 8,138 stars, 1,235 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped yesterday. osv-scanner leads on adoption by 36% (11,075 vs 8,138 stars). osv-scanner is written in Go under Apache-2.0; reconftw is written in Shell under MIT. osv-scanner has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, reconftw 15%. osv-scanner was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| osv-scanner | reconftw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 8.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 797 | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick osv-scanner if
- You weight community size — 11K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick reconftw if
- You want the reconftw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and reconftw fits your workflow better
About osv-scanner
OSV Scanner is an Apache 2.0 licensed vulnerability scanner written in Go that connects a project's list of dependencies with the vulnerabilities affecting them, using data from the open OSV.dev database, and it is aimed at developers, maintainers, and security teams who need to find known vulnerabilities in the dependencies they already ship.
read the full osv-scanner overview →
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 →
More in Security & Privacy
Related comparisons
More Threat Detection & Response projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Threat Detection & Response field.
Frequently asked questions
Is osv-scanner or reconftw more popular?
osv-scanner has 11,075 GitHub stars and reconftw has 8,138. osv-scanner has the larger community by that measure.
Are osv-scanner and reconftw free?
Both are open source. osv-scanner is licensed under Apache-2.0 and reconftw under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between osv-scanner and reconftw?
osv-scanner is written in Go and reconftw 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, osv-scanner or reconftw?
Choose osv-scanner if you want the larger community (11,075 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose reconftw if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.