Git Secret Scanner vs Gitleaks
Git Secret Scanner
github.com
Gitleaks
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Git Secret Scanner | Gitleaks |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Secrets Scanning Software | 7.7 (#13) | 7.8 (#11) |
| Integrations | The README provides GitHub Actions and GitLab CI examples and documents SARIF upload to GitHub Advanced Security. | The project documents use as a pre-commit hook and as a GitHub Action. |
| License | The repository states that the tool is MIT licensed and may be used and modified for personal or commercial projects. | The repository is distributed under the MIT License, which permits use, copying, modification, distribution, sublicensing, and sale subject to its terms. |
| Platforms | The README documents macOS Spotlight, Linux locate, and Windows PowerShell optimizations, with Python filesystem traversal as a fallback. | The releases page lists binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows architectures. |
| Purpose | Git Secret Scanner detects hardcoded credentials in GitHub organizations and local filesystems. | Gitleaks detects secrets such as passwords, API keys, and tokens in Git repositories, files, and stdin. |
| Reports | It exports findings as JSON, CSV, or SARIF, with SARIF described as compatible with GitHub Advanced Security, Azure DevOps, GitLab Security Dashboard, and SonarQube. | Gitleaks can output reports in JSON, CSV, JUnit, SARIF, or template format. |
Plans
In their own words
Git Secret Scanner
Git Secret Scanner has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Gitleaks
Gitleaks is free, MIT-licensed software that detects secrets such as passwords, API keys, and tokens in Git repositories, files, and standard input. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted systems. Scans can target repositories, directories, individual files, or streamed data. Custom rules can use Go regular expressions, entropy checks, path matching, keywords, and allowlists. A previous report can serve as a baseline so later scans show only new findings. Output is available in JSON, CSV, JUnit, SARIF, or template formats. The project documents pre-commit hook and GitHub Action use, plus CI/CD, pull-request, and supported VCS workflows for GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, Gitea, and Bitbucket. Installation options include Homebrew, Docker, Go, and prebuilt release binaries. A redaction option masks secrets in logs and standard output, with a default redaction value of 100%. The project describes itself as feature complete, with future releases limited to security patches, and its security policy supports only the latest version.