Compare software

Nuclei vs Nikto: catalog facts
Nuclei	Nikto
Freemium The Nuclei command-line scanner and its templates are free and open source under the MIT…	Free The software is free under its open-source licence. Hosting, hardware and external…
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	macOS, Linux, Command line
Checks are readable YAML templates, so you can review and write them yourself Community templates cover trending vulnerabilities within days	It checks thousands of known-dangerous paths and server configuration issues out of the box, and runs cleanly from…
Only legitimate against systems you are authorised to scan Coverage depends on the template library; an untemplated vulnerability is invisible	The scan is noisy and easily detected, and its checks are signature-based rather than intelligent.
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MIT	License: GPL-3.0
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.