head to head · open source
shannon vs hol-guard
shannon has 48,118 GitHub stars, 5,517 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. hol-guard has 624 stars, 69 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped today. shannon leads on adoption by 7,611% (48,118 vs 624 stars). shannon is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; hol-guard is written in Python under Apache-2.0. shannon has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, hol-guard 11%. 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 | ★ 48K | ★ 624 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-08 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 69 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick shannon if
- You weight community size — 48K 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
Shannon is an autonomous AI pentester for web applications and APIs that reads an application's source code, identifies attack paths, and executes real exploits so that only vulnerabilities with a working proof of concept are reported, built for AppSec, DevSecOps, and security engineering teams that ship code continuously.
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 48,118 GitHub stars and hol-guard has 624. 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 (48,118 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.