Gitleaks vs Secretlint
Gitleaks
github.comSecretlint
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Gitleaks | Secretlint |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Secrets Scanning Software | 7.8 (#11) | 7.5 (#16) |
| Installation | The project documents installation through Homebrew, Docker, Go, and prebuilt release binaries. | Secretlint can be installed with Node.js, run in Docker, or used as a single-executable binary that does not require Node.js. |
| License | The repository is distributed under the MIT License, which permits use, copying, modification, distribution, sublicensing, and sale subject to its terms. | The repository states that Secretlint is licensed under MIT. |
| Purpose | Gitleaks detects secrets such as passwords, API keys, and tokens in Git repositories, files, and stdin. | Secretlint is a pluggable linting tool to find credentials in projects and prevent committing them. |
Plans
In their own words
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.
Secretlint
Secretlint is a free, MIT-licensed, open-source linting tool for finding credentials in projects and helping prevent commits that contain them. Its command-line interface scans files, glob patterns, or standard input. Detection rules are separate modules, and custom rules can be distributed as npm packages. Secret values are masked in lint error messages by default, reducing exposure in terminal output and logs. Secretlint supports Git workflows, including pre-commit integrations with Husky and lint-staged, pre-commit, and Git hooks. Documentation covers GitHub Actions checks and pull-request annotations through the GitHub formatter. Listed integrations also include Mega-Linter, SARIF formatting, a browser extension, and a macOS clipboard app. The WebExtension works with Chrome and Firefox DevTools to help notice credentials in requests and responses. Installation options include Node.js, Docker, or a single executable without Node.js; the Node.js route requires version 22 or later. It detects secrets but does not automatically fix them.