head to head · open source
thc-hydra vs linWinPwn
thc-hydra has 12,349 GitHub stars, 2,679 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. linWinPwn has 2,224 stars, 311 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. thc-hydra leads on adoption by 455% (12,349 vs 2,224 stars). thc-hydra is written in C under AGPL-3.0; linWinPwn is written in Shell under MIT. thc-hydra has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, linWinPwn 14%. linWinPwn was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (penetration-testing), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| thc-hydra | linWinPwn | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-07-30 | 2026-09-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 311 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick thc-hydra if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick linWinPwn if
- You want the linWinPwn feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and linWinPwn fits your workflow better
About thc-hydra
Hydra is an AGPL 3.0 licensed, C based login cracker that attacks dozens of network protocols in parallel, built for security researchers and penetration testing consultants who need to demonstrate how easily a remote system can be reached with weak credentials.
read the full thc-hydra overview →
About linWinPwn
linWinPwn is a bash script that wraps and streamlines a large collection of Active Directory penetration testing tools on Linux, aimed at security testers who work in Active Directory environments.
read the full linWinPwn overview →
More in Security & Privacy
Related comparisons
More Threat Detection & Response projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Threat Detection & Response field.
Frequently asked questions
Is thc-hydra or linWinPwn more popular?
thc-hydra has 12,349 GitHub stars and linWinPwn has 2,224. thc-hydra has the larger community by that measure.
Are thc-hydra and linWinPwn free?
Both are open source. thc-hydra is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and linWinPwn under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between thc-hydra and linWinPwn?
thc-hydra is written in C and linWinPwn in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, thc-hydra or linWinPwn?
Choose thc-hydra if you want the larger community (12,349 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose linWinPwn if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.