head to head · open source
thc-hydra vs pacu
thc-hydra has 12,332 GitHub stars, 2,677 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. pacu has 5,345 stars, 800 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. thc-hydra leads on adoption by 131% (12,332 vs 5,345 stars). thc-hydra is written in C under AGPL-3.0; pacu is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. thc-hydra has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, pacu 15%. thc-hydra 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.
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Side by side
| thc-hydra | pacu | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 5.3K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | C | Python |
| Last push | 2026-07-30 | 2026-05-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 800 |
| 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 pacu if
- You want the pacu feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pacu 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 pacu
Pacu is an open source AWS exploitation framework from Rhino Security Labs, built for penetration testers and offensive security teams who need to test the security of Amazon Web Services environments.
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Frequently asked questions
Is thc-hydra or pacu more popular?
thc-hydra has 12,332 GitHub stars and pacu has 5,345. thc-hydra has the larger community by that measure.
Are thc-hydra and pacu free?
Both are open source. thc-hydra is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and pacu under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between thc-hydra and pacu?
thc-hydra is written in C and pacu 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, thc-hydra or pacu?
Choose thc-hydra if you want the larger community (12,332 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose pacu if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.