head to head · open source
shannon vs hol-guard
shannon has 50,964 GitHub stars, 5,926 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. hol-guard has 1,054 stars, 230 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped yesterday. shannon leads on adoption by 4,735% (50,964 vs 1,054 stars). shannon is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; hol-guard is written in Python under Apache-2.0. shannon has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, hol-guard 22%. hol-guard was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai-security, devsecops), 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 | hol-guard | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 51K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-27 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 230 |
| 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 hol-guard if
- You want the hol-guard 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 hol-guard 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 hol-guard
HOL Guard: Open Source Antivirus for AI Agents HOL Guard reviews agent actions before they run: shell commands, file access, package installs, and MCP tool calls. It detects secret exposure, destructive operations, prompt injection, and supply chain risks, then allows, blocks, or requests approval according to your policy. Run it locally without an account. Use the CLI and local dashboard to manage protection, resolve approvals, and inspect decision history. Optional Guard Cloud adds shared history, team policy, and fleet management. Get started · Supported agents · Plugin scanner · Documentation · Contribute an…
read the full hol-guard overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is shannon or hol-guard more popular?
shannon has 50,964 GitHub stars and hol-guard has 1,054. shannon has the larger community by that measure.
Are shannon and hol-guard free?
Both are open source. shannon is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and hol-guard under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between shannon and hol-guard?
shannon is written in TypeScript and hol-guard 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 hol-guard?
Choose shannon if you want the larger community (50,964 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose hol-guard if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.