Ciphey vs Juice Shop
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
Paste encoded or encrypted text and it works out the layers and shows the plaintext, no key needed.
Open source · MIT
A deliberately insecure web shop for practicing finding and exploiting security flaws.
The short answer
Choose Ciphey if you need…
- CTF players working through encoding puzzles
- Security students learning common ciphers and encodings
- Pentesters checking what an encoded string contains
- People who want a quick decode of several stacked layers
Choose Juice Shop if you need…
- Security students learning web vulnerabilities hands-on
- Trainers running awareness workshops or demos
- CTF players looking for practice challenges
- Teams testing their own security scanning tools against a known-vulnerable target
Side-by-side
| Ciphey | Juice Shop | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | App | App |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 21.7k | 14.3k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 6 days ago | 7 days ago |
What each one is
Ciphey
Ciphey takes text that has been encoded or encrypted and tries chains of decoders until it finds something that looks like readable plaintext. You do not need to know the key or the cipher name. It also tries to identify what the result is, such as a password or an IP address, using the LemmeKnow pattern matcher. It is written in Rust and runs from the command line.
Juice Shop
OWASP Juice Shop is a web application full of intentional security holes. It is built to be attacked, so people can learn how common vulnerabilities work in a safe, legal setting. The README says it covers vulnerabilities from the entire OWASP Top Ten plus other real-world flaws, and it is used in security training, demos, CTF competitions, and as a test target for security tools.
Best for
Ciphey
- CTF players working through encoding puzzles
- Security students learning common ciphers and encodings
- Pentesters checking what an encoded string contains
- People who want a quick decode of several stacked layers
Juice Shop
- Security students learning web vulnerabilities hands-on
- Trainers running awareness workshops or demos
- CTF players looking for practice challenges
- Teams testing their own security scanning tools against a known-vulnerable target
Strengths
Ciphey
- Works without a key or cipher name, across 24 decoders and crackers as listed in the README
- Fast on the benchmarks the README reports, compared with Python Ciphey 5.14
- Result caching and a regex or wordlist option help narrow the search
Juice Shop
- Covers a broad range of OWASP Top Ten vulnerabilities in one app
- Multiple install options: from source, packaged downloads, Docker, or Vagrant
- Open source under the MIT license and an OWASP flagship project
Not ideal for
Ciphey
- Protecting real data: it is a decoding and cracking tool, not an encryption product for keeping secrets safe
- Strong modern encryption with unknown keys, which the README does not claim it can break
- Users who need a graphical interface, since the README only describes a terminal workflow
Juice Shop
- Anyone who wants to run it as a real online shop, since it is intentionally insecure
- Public deployment: the README says the demo instance is for deployment tests only and has no guaranteed uptime
- People without basic web or command-line familiarity, since setup requires Node.js or Docker
Trade-offs
Ciphey
- Only 24 decoders are included today; the README notes 109 more are not yet supported
- Results depend on a plaintext-looking heuristic, so it may stop on a wrong answer or need confirmation
- Speed figures come from the project's own benchmark on one machine
Juice Shop
- Some challenges need an AI/LLM provider, which requires extra configuration per the docs
- Supported Node.js versions and packaged builds vary; check the compatibility table before installing
- Intentionally vulnerable, so it must be kept off the public internet and out of production networks
Getting started
Ciphey
Install with Cargo
cargo install cipheyClone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bee-san/CipheyJuice Shop
Clone the repository from source
git clone https://github.com/juice-shop/juice-shop.git --depth 1Install dependencies
npm installFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Ciphey and Juice Shop?
Ciphey: Paste encoded or encrypted text and it works out the layers and shows the plaintext, no key needed. Juice Shop: A deliberately insecure web shop for practicing finding and exploiting security flaws. Ciphey suits ctf players working through encoding puzzles, while Juice Shop suits security students learning web vulnerabilities hands-on.
Are Ciphey and Juice Shop free?
Ciphey: Free and open source. Juice Shop: Free and open source.
Is Ciphey or Juice Shop more popular?
Ciphey has more GitHub stars (21.7k) than Juice Shop (14.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Ciphey and Juice Shop?
Other options people compare them with include Anoma, Bitcoin Core.
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.