head to head · open source
SkillSpector vs pipelock
SkillSpector has 17,624 GitHub stars, 1,504 forks, 136 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pipelock has 879 stars, 101 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SkillSpector leads on adoption by 1,905% (17,624 vs 879 stars). SkillSpector is written in Python under Apache-2.0; pipelock is written in Go under Apache-2.0. SkillSpector has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, pipelock 11%. SkillSpector was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (agent-security, 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
| SkillSpector | pipelock | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 879 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 101 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SkillSpector if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pipelock if
- You want the pipelock feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and pipelock fits your workflow better
About SkillSpector
SkillSpector is an open source security scanner for AI agent skills that detects vulnerabilities, malicious patterns, prompt injection, data exfiltration, and supply chain risk in Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, and MCP skills before they are installed — built for developers who install agent skills and for security teams that vet or publish them.
read the full SkillSpector overview →
About pipelock
Pipelock is an open source AI agent firewall written in Go and licensed Apache 2.0 that sits between AI agents and the network, inspecting mediated HTTP, WebSocket, MCP, and A2A traffic for secret exfiltration, prompt injection, SSRF, tool poisoning, and risky tool call chains, and emitting mediator signed action receipts so a reviewer can verify what the boundary decided from outside the agent runtime.
read the full pipelock overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SkillSpector or pipelock more popular?
SkillSpector has 17,624 GitHub stars and pipelock has 879. SkillSpector has the larger community by that measure.
Are SkillSpector and pipelock free?
Both are open source. SkillSpector is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pipelock under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SkillSpector and pipelock?
SkillSpector is written in Python and pipelock in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, SkillSpector or pipelock?
Choose SkillSpector if you want the larger community (17,624 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pipelock if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.