head to head · open source
thc-hydra vs WhatWeb
thc-hydra has 12,478 GitHub stars, 2,702 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. WhatWeb has 6,995 stars, 1,020 forks, 51 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. thc-hydra leads on adoption by 78% (12,478 vs 6,995 stars). thc-hydra is written in C under AGPL-3.0; WhatWeb is written in Ruby under GPL-2.0. thc-hydra has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, WhatWeb 15%. thc-hydra was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (network-security, 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 | WhatWeb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 7.0K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-11-08 | 2026-04-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 WhatWeb if
- You want the WhatWeb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and WhatWeb fits your workflow better
About thc-hydra
H Y D R A (c) 2001 2023 by van Hauser / THC Many modules were written by David (dot) Maciejak @ gmail (dot) com BFG code by Jan Dlabal Licensed under AGPLv3 (see LICENSE file) Please do not use in military or secret service organizations, or for illegal purposes. (This is the wish of the author and non binding. Many people working in these organizations do not care for laws and ethics anyway. You are not one of the "good" ones if you ignore this.) NOTE: No, this is not meant to be a markdown doc! old school! Hydra in the most current GitHub state can be directly downloaded via Docker: INTRODUCTION Number one of…
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About WhatWeb
WhatWeb Next generation web scanner Developed by Andrew Horton urbanadventurer and Brendan Coles bcoles Latest Release: v0.6.4. April 3, 2026 License: GPLv2 This product is subject to the terms detailed in the license agreement. For more information about WhatWeb visit Wiki: If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding WhatWeb, please consult the documentation prior to contacting one of the developers. Your feedback is always welcome. Contents About WhatWeb Example Usage Usage Logging & Output Plugins Aggression Performance & Stability Optional Dependencies Writing Plugins Updates & Additional…
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Frequently asked questions
Is thc-hydra or WhatWeb more popular?
thc-hydra has 12,478 GitHub stars and WhatWeb has 6,995. thc-hydra has the larger community by that measure.
Are thc-hydra and WhatWeb free?
Both are open source. thc-hydra is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and WhatWeb under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between thc-hydra and WhatWeb?
thc-hydra is written in C and WhatWeb in Ruby. 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 WhatWeb?
Choose thc-hydra if you want the larger community (12,478 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose WhatWeb if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.