head to head · open source
suricata vs Defguard
suricata has 6,812 GitHub stars, 1,783 forks, 86 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Defguard has 2,894 stars, 121 forks, 308 open issues and last shipped yesterday. suricata leads on adoption by 135% (6,812 vs 2,894 stars). suricata is written in C under GPL-2.0; Defguard is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. suricata has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, Defguard 4%. Defguard was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| suricata | Defguard | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.8K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | C | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 121 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick suricata if
- You weight community size — 6.8K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Defguard if
- You want the Defguard feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Defguard fits your workflow better
About suricata
Suricata Introduction Suricata is a network IDS, IPS and NSM engine developed by the OISF and the Suricata community. Resources Home Page Bug Tracker User Guide Dev Guide Installation Guide User Support Forum Contributing We're happily taking patches and other contributions. Please see our Contribution Process for how to get started. Suricata is a complex piece of software dealing with mostly untrusted input. Mishandling this input will have serious consequences: in IPS mode a crash may knock a network offline in passive mode a compromise of the IDS may lead to loss of critical and confidential data missed…
read the full suricata overview →
About Defguard
Defguard is a self hosted secure remote access platform that combines WireGuard VPN, identity and access management, multi factor authentication, and network access control in a single solution. Built with a security first architecture, Defguard helps organizations securely manage access to infrastructure, applications, and private networks while maintaining full control over their environment. Why Defguard? Modern organizations often rely on multiple disconnected tools to manage identity, VPN access, authentication, and network permissions. Defguard brings these capabilities together into a unified platform…
read the full Defguard overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is suricata or Defguard more popular?
suricata has 6,812 GitHub stars and Defguard has 2,894. suricata has the larger community by that measure.
Are suricata and Defguard free?
Both are open source. suricata is licensed under GPL-2.0, and Defguard has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between suricata and Defguard?
suricata is written in C and Defguard 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, suricata or Defguard?
Choose suricata if you want the larger community (6,812 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Defguard if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.