head to head · open source
shannon vs h5i
shannon has 50,964 GitHub stars, 5,926 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. h5i has 887 stars, 77 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped yesterday. shannon leads on adoption by 5,646% (50,964 vs 887 stars). shannon is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; h5i is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. shannon has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, h5i 9%. h5i was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (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 | h5i | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 51K | ★ 887 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-27 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 77 |
| 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 h5i if
- You want the h5i feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and h5i 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 h5i
The Red Teaming Browser for AI Agents h5i (pronounced high five ) is a lightweight browser built for AI agents to test web applications. It combines page automation with direct control over HTTP traffic, letting agents capture, inspect, modify, replay, and compare requests through one interface. Sandboxing, network policies, credential isolation, and auditable sessions keep autonomous testing contained and within scope. Agent native red teaming Browser + direct HTTP control Attack replay in CI Replay attack flows in CI Sandboxed & auditable Isolated execution with logs Fast & lightweight 3× faster, 86% less…
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Frequently asked questions
Is shannon or h5i more popular?
shannon has 50,964 GitHub stars and h5i has 887. shannon has the larger community by that measure.
Are shannon and h5i free?
Both are open source. shannon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and h5i under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between shannon and h5i?
shannon is written in TypeScript and h5i in Rust. 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 h5i?
Choose shannon if you want the larger community (50,964 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose h5i if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.