head to head · open source
shannon vs CyberStrike
shannon has 50,964 GitHub stars, 5,926 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. CyberStrike has 3,354 stars, 574 forks, 43 open issues and last shipped yesterday. shannon leads on adoption by 1,419% (50,964 vs 3,354 stars). shannon is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; CyberStrike is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. shannon has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, CyberStrike 17%. CyberStrike was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (ai-penetration-testing, ai-security, cybersecurity, ethical-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
| shannon | CyberStrike | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 51K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-27 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 574 |
| 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 CyberStrike if
- You want the CyberStrike feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and CyberStrike 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 CyberStrike
English 简体中文 繁體中文 한국어 Deutsch Español Français Italiano Dansk 日本語 Polski Русский Bosanski العربية Norsk Português (Brasil) ไทย Türkçe Українська বাংলা Ελληνικά Tiếng Việt हिन्दी The first open source AI agent built for offensive security. Automated penetration testing from your terminal — plug in your Claude, GPT, or any LLM subscription and turn it into an autonomous red team agent with 13+ specialized agents, 7,600+ security skills, and 120+ OWASP test cases. 150+ AI providers • 5,300+ models • 56+ built in tools • 176+ MCP tools Quick Start • Intelligence Layer • What Makes It…
read the full CyberStrike overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is shannon or CyberStrike more popular?
shannon has 50,964 GitHub stars and CyberStrike has 3,354. shannon has the larger community by that measure.
Are shannon and CyberStrike free?
Both are open source. shannon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and CyberStrike under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between shannon and CyberStrike?
shannon is written in TypeScript and CyberStrike in TypeScript. 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 CyberStrike?
Choose shannon if you want the larger community (50,964 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose CyberStrike if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.