head to head · open source
shannon vs Adrian
shannon has 50,964 GitHub stars, 5,926 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Adrian has 589 stars, 96 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. shannon leads on adoption by 8,553% (50,964 vs 589 stars). shannon is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Adrian is written in Python under Apache-2.0. shannon has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Adrian 16%. shannon 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 | Adrian | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 51K | ★ 589 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-27 | 2026-10-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 96 |
| 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 Adrian if
- You want the Adrian 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 Adrian 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 Adrian
Agent attacks slip past static analysis and network monitoring. Adrian catches them at runtime, by watching what the agent actually does (its actions and its reasoning) and stepping in before it acts. Open source, free forever. +35% detection accuracy · 4x more nuanced attacks caught vs behaviour only monitoring ( OpenAI & DeepMind research ) ⭐ If you think agents need a runtime security layer, star the repo. It is how new people find Adrian, and how we know to keep building it in the open. Adrian is an open source, AARM aligned runtime security monitoring and control engine for AI agents. It analyses both agent…
read the full Adrian overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is shannon or Adrian more popular?
shannon has 50,964 GitHub stars and Adrian has 589. shannon has the larger community by that measure.
Are shannon and Adrian free?
Both are open source. shannon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Adrian under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between shannon and Adrian?
shannon is written in TypeScript and Adrian 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 Adrian?
Choose shannon if you want the larger community (50,964 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Adrian if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.