Nuclei vs Nuclei
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 template-driven vulnerability scanner that checks apps, APIs, networks, DNS and cloud setups for known issue
Open source · MIT
A large community collection of YAML scan templates for the nuclei scanner to find security weaknesses.
The short answer
Choose Nuclei if you need…
- Security engineers who want to run community-maintained vulnerability checks against their own systems
- Teams that want to add vulnerability scanning to CI/CD pipelines for regression testing
- Penetration testers who want a scriptable, customizable scanner
- Developers who want to write their own YAML checks for internal issues
Choose Nuclei if you need…
- Security testers who already use the nuclei scanner and want ready-made checks
- Bug bounty hunters looking for known issues across many web targets
- Security teams wanting to scan for actively exploited vulnerabilities using the kev and vkev tags
- Developers who want examples of how nuclei templates are written
Side-by-side
| Nuclei | Nuclei | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | CLI | Dev tool |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 32.5k | 13.3k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Clone and build from source |
| Main language | Go | JavaScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
Nuclei
Nuclei is a command-line scanner that looks for security weaknesses in websites, APIs, servers, DNS records and cloud configurations. It works by running checks written as small YAML templates, which the community shares and maintains, so new known vulnerabilities can be checked for quickly. People use it to find problems in systems they own or are authorized to test, and to repeat those checks automatically.
Nuclei
This repository holds a large set of community-contributed and team-written templates used by the nuclei scanner, a separate tool from the same project. Each template describes a check for a known vulnerability, misconfiguration, or exposed panel, and nuclei runs those checks against web applications and other targets. The README says it is intended for finding security vulnerabilities in applications and is widely used for security testing.
Best for
Nuclei
- Security engineers who want to run community-maintained vulnerability checks against their own systems
- Teams that want to add vulnerability scanning to CI/CD pipelines for regression testing
- Penetration testers who want a scriptable, customizable scanner
- Developers who want to write their own YAML checks for internal issues
Nuclei
- Security testers who already use the nuclei scanner and want ready-made checks
- Bug bounty hunters looking for known issues across many web targets
- Security teams wanting to scan for actively exploited vulnerabilities using the kev and vkev tags
- Developers who want examples of how nuclei templates are written
Strengths
Nuclei
- Checks are plain YAML templates, which makes them readable and easy to customize
- Large community contribution of templates, according to the README
- Supports multiple protocols including HTTP, DNS, TCP, SSL and more
Nuclei
- Large collection, with the README reporting over 11,000 files across 873 directories
- Organized by tags, severity, author, and type, which makes filtering practical
- Open source under the MIT license and actively maintained, with a recent push and a published release
Not ideal for
Nuclei
- People who need a point-and-click graphical interface, since the README describes it as primarily a standalone CLI tool
- Anyone wanting to run it as an always-on service, because the README warns that running nuclei as a service may pose security risks
- Users who need scanning without any security background, since reading findings and writing templates assumes familiarity with vulnerabilities
Nuclei
- People who only want a standalone app: this repo contains templates, and the nuclei scanner itself is a separate project
- Anyone scanning systems they do not have permission to test, since the templates actively probe targets
- Beginners with no security background, since results need interpretation
Trade-offs
Nuclei
- The README states the project is in active development and may have breaking changes between releases
- Requires Go 1.27.3 or newer for the documented install method, which is a fairly new version requirement
- Running it as a service carries security risks the README explicitly calls out
Nuclei
- The templates only work with the separate nuclei scanner, so you must install and learn that tool first
- Scanning produces findings that still need manual verification; the README does not describe accuracy rates
- Community contributions vary in quality and coverage, which the README does not measure
Getting started
Nuclei
Install nuclei with Go
go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latestShow all command line flags
nuclei -hNuclei
Clone the templates repository
git clone https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templatesFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Nuclei and Nuclei?
Nuclei: A template-driven vulnerability scanner that checks apps, APIs, networks, DNS and cloud setups for known issue. Nuclei: A large community collection of YAML scan templates for the nuclei scanner to find security weaknesses. Nuclei suits security engineers who want to run community-maintained vulnerability checks against their own systems, while Nuclei suits security testers who already use the nuclei scanner and want ready-made checks.
Are Nuclei and Nuclei free?
Nuclei: Free and open source. Nuclei: Free and open source.
Is Nuclei or Nuclei more popular?
Nuclei has more GitHub stars (32.5k) than Nuclei (13.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
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.