git-secrets vs Gitleaks
git-secrets
github.comGitleaks
github.comSide by side
| Figure | git-secrets | Gitleaks |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 1 |
| Spec score · Secrets Scanning Software | 5.8 (#22) | 7.8 (#11) |
Plans
In their own words
git-secrets
git-secrets 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.