Best security tools (2026)

1. 1.TrivyApache-2.0 all-in-one vuln/IaC/secret/SBOM scanner; no paid tier

   Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 38.5k GitHub stars

   VerdictApache-2.0 security scanner. Fully free CLI; Aqua Platform is the paid cousin.

   CatchCLI/CI scanner — not Aqua Platform management UI/RBAC/policy SaaS. Vs Grype/Snyk: Aqua OSS default with broad target surface; Aqua Inc monetizes a separate commercial platform. You still triage and patch.

2. 2.CosignApache-2.0 Sigstore keyless container/artifact signing CLI

   Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 6.4k GitHub stars

   VerdictApache-2.0 Sigstore signing. Free CLI; policy engines are separate.

   CatchSigning CLI + public-good Sigstore infra — not a full policy admission controller (pair with Kyverno/OPA). Offline/air-gap needs different PKI. Registry must support referrers/OCI artifacts cleanly.

3. 3.GitleaksMIT secret scanner for git/dirs/stdin; CLI free, org Action needs free key

   Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 30.1k GitHub stars

   VerdictMIT secrets CLI. Free forever; org Action wants free license key.

   CatchMaintainer marks feature-complete (security patches; focus shifting to Betterleaks). Official Action for GitHub org repos needs a free license key from gitleaks.io — personal accounts exempt. Not a full ASVS/SAST suite. False positives need allowlists.

4. 4.GrypeApache-2.0 SBOM-first vulnerability scanner from Anchore; free CLI

   Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 13k GitHub stars

   VerdictApache-2.0 SBOM vuln scanner. Free CLI; Enterprise is the paid cousin.

   CatchVuln scanner — not Trivy's IaC/secrets swiss-army, not Cosign signing, not Anchore Enterprise governance UI. You still triage CVEs. Anchore monetizes Enterprise separately.

5. 5.AnubisMIT PoW challenge layer vs AI scrapers in front of Caddy/Traefik

   Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 23.5k GitHub stars

   VerdictMIT anti-scraper PoW layer. Free forever; tune policies.

   CatchPoW slows mass scrapers; determined headless solvers still pass. Can impede Archive/RSS unless you allowlist. Not Cloudflare WAF. Distinct from Traefik/Caddy proxies.

6. 6.direnvMIT per-directory env loader for any shell

   Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 15.5k GitHub stars

   VerdictMIT directory env. Free forever; allow once per project and stop polluting $PATH.

   CatchEach new .envrc needs `direnv allow`. Not a secrets vault — still files on disk.

7. 7.ageBSD-3 simple file encryption by FiloSottile

   Free / OSS · BSD-3-Clause · 24k GitHub stars

   VerdictBSD-3 file encryption. Free forever; pair with SOPS when the team outgrows ad-hoc scripts.

   CatchNot a password manager or key directory. You still distribute public keys yourself.

8. 8.AtuinMIT magical shell history with optional E2E sync

   Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 32k GitHub stars

   VerdictMIT shell history. Free forever CLI + self-host sync; hosted sync stays optional.

   CatchShell history tool — not a prompt (Starship), not a jumper (zoxide), not Dotfiles sync. Desktop/Hub team features are a separate product line (Hub not self-hostable). Atuin AI is free while in testing — treat that as temporary.

9. 9.SOPSMPL-2.0 encrypts config values; keys stay readable

   Free / OSS · MPL-2.0 · 23.4k GitHub stars

   VerdictMPL-2.0 secrets-in-git. Free forever; use age underneath when you want KMS-free recipients.

   CatchVs age (file encryption) and Infisical (secrets product): SOPS is the *structured config encryptor*, not a password manager and not a hosted vault UI. You still design key distribution, rotation, and who can decrypt in CI. Binary mode encrypts whole files when structure does not apply.

10. 10.SemgrepLGPL-2.1 SAST engine; Free Edition caps repos/contributors

    Free / OSS · LGPL-2.1 · 17.1k GitHub stars

    VerdictLGPL SAST. Free forever CLI; Free Edition SaaS for small teams; Teams when AppSec wants the paid platform.

    CatchVs Trivy/Gitleaks (scanners): Semgrep is SAST/SCA-shaped AppSec, not container CVE inventory or git-history secret regex alone. Teams starts ~$30/contributor/mo per product; Secrets is a separate SKU. Free Edition caps contributors/repos — OSS CLI without the SaaS seat is the uncapped escape hatch.

Also reviewed (19)

• restic — BSD-2-Clause encrypted, deduplicated backups to many backends
• Syft — Apache-2.0 SBOM CLI for images and filesystems (pairs with Grype)
• OSV-Scanner — Apache-2.0 OSV.dev vulnerability scanner for lockfiles and images
• Hadolint — GPL-3.0 AST Dockerfile linter + ShellCheck on RUN
• Destructive Command Guard — MIT-with-rider hook that blocks destructive agent shell and git commands
• AI-Infra-Guard — Red-team platform for agent, MCP, and skill infrastructure
• LitterBox — Malware and payload detection sandbox with LitterBoxMCP
• Agentao — MIT governed Python agent runtime — permissions, MCP, memory, replay
• SkillSpector — Apache NVIDIA scanner for agent skills before you install them
• MCP Scanner (Cisco) — Apache MCP security scanner — YARA, LLM, Cisco AI Defense
• HOL Guard — Apache local antivirus for agents — MCP, skills, shell, packages
• mcp-audit-tool — MIT static audit of MCP client configs — poisoning, rugs, secrets
• gstack — MIT Garry Tan’s Claude Code role stack — plan, review, QA, ship
• gVisor — Apache-2.0 userspace container sandbox — OCI runtime runsc for agent isolation
• Kyverno — Apache-2.0 CNCF Kubernetes policy engine — policies as YAML, not Rego
• Codex Security — OpenAI vulnerability finder and patcher
• Ghidra — Apache-2.0 NSA reverse-engineering suite with decompiler
• Technitium DNS Server — GPL-3.0 self-hosted recursive DNS server
• PrivateBin — Zlib zero-knowledge encrypted pastebin you self-host