awesome-hacking vs h4cker
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A curated list of links to hacking tutorials, tools and learning resources.
Open source · MIT
A large curated collection of cybersecurity links, scripts, labs and training notes.
The short answer
Choose awesome-hacking if you need…
- Students looking for a starting map of security topics
- Security learners who want tutorials and practice targets in one place
- Developers who want to find reverse engineering or pentesting tools to evaluate
- People preparing for CTF competitions or wargames
Choose h4cker if you need…
- Students looking for a structured starting point in cybersecurity
- Security learners who want to find resources by topic
- Certification candidates looking for study references
- Instructors who want curated material to point students to
Side-by-side
| awesome-hacking | h4cker | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Curated list | Curated list |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 17.4k | 30k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | See the README | Clone and build from source |
| Main language | — | Jupyter Notebook |
| Last code update | 2 years ago | 14 days ago |
What each one is
awesome-hacking
This is a long, hand-picked list of web links grouped by topic, such as system exploitation, reverse engineering, web security, networking, forensics, cryptography, and capture-the-flag (CTF) competitions. It points to tutorials, tools, Docker images for practice environments, and reference sites. It does not install or run software itself; you use it to find resources and then follow each linked project's own instructions.
h4cker
This is a large GitHub repository of cybersecurity references, scripts, tools, labs and training material maintained by Omar Santos. It is organized into folders for topics such as offensive and defensive security, cloud and container security, AI security, and certification study resources. It is described as supplemental material for Santos's books, video courses and live training.
Best for
awesome-hacking
- Students looking for a starting map of security topics
- Security learners who want tutorials and practice targets in one place
- Developers who want to find reverse engineering or pentesting tools to evaluate
- People preparing for CTF competitions or wargames
h4cker
- Students looking for a structured starting point in cybersecurity
- Security learners who want to find resources by topic
- Certification candidates looking for study references
- Instructors who want curated material to point students to
Strengths
awesome-hacking
- Broad coverage across many security subfields in one document
- Links are grouped by topic and subtopic, which makes browsing easier
- MIT licensed and widely starred, with a clear contribution path via pull requests
h4cker
- Broad coverage across many security domains in one place
- Organized into folders with a clear directory overview in the README
- Licensed under MIT, so it is free to use and reuse under those terms
Not ideal for
awesome-hacking
- Readers who need a single tool with step-by-step setup, since this is only an index of links
- Beginners with no computing background, who may need the basics first; the list assumes some technical knowledge
- Anyone expecting up-to-date recommendations, since the README shows no recent update history beyond the last push date
h4cker
- People who need a single installable tool, since this is a collection rather than software (the README describes it as references, scripts, and labs)
- Readers wanting vetted, up-to-date guidance on every linked item, since the README does not describe a verification process for each resource
Trade-offs
awesome-hacking
- It is a list of external links, so quality and availability depend on each linked project, and some links point to archived or old pages
- Some entries are dated (for example, the README mentions tools like OllyDbg and JAD that are old or unmaintained)
- The README is truncated here, so the full contents could not be checked
h4cker
- Its size can make it hard to know where to start without guidance
- The README is truncated here, so specific contents and currency of each item could not be verified
- Being a link collection, it provides no installed functionality of its own
Getting started
awesome-hacking
Clone the list locally (optional)
git clone https://github.com/carpedm20/awesome-hackingh4cker
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/The-Art-of-Hacking/h4ckerFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between awesome-hacking and h4cker?
awesome-hacking: A curated list of links to hacking tutorials, tools and learning resources. h4cker: A large curated collection of cybersecurity links, scripts, labs and training notes. awesome-hacking suits students looking for a starting map of security topics, while h4cker suits students looking for a structured starting point in cybersecurity.
Are awesome-hacking and h4cker free?
awesome-hacking: Free and open source. h4cker: Free and open source.
Is awesome-hacking or h4cker more popular?
h4cker has more GitHub stars (30k) than awesome-hacking (17.4k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to awesome-hacking and h4cker?
Other options people compare them with include Awesome Security, SecLists.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.