Kali Linux vs OWASP ZAP
Kali Linux
kali.orgOWASP ZAP
zaproxy.orgSide by side
| Figure | Kali Linux | OWASP ZAP |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Penetration Testing Software | 8.8 (#2) | 8.6 (#5) |
| Spec score · Offensive Security | 8.6 (#2) | 8.5 (#3) |
| Audience | Kali is tailored to experienced penetration testers and security specialists, and its documentation assumes familiarity with Linux. | ZAP says it is designed for developers, testers new to security testing, and security testing specialists. |
| Founded | 2013 | 2010 |
| Purpose | Kali Linux is a Debian-based distribution for advanced penetration testing and security auditing. | ZAP is a web application scanner and proxy for security testing. |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.2 out of 5 from 5 reviews. | 5.0 out of 5 from 4 reviews. |
| Rating on GetApp | 4.2 out of 5 from 5 reviews. | 5.0 out of 5 from 4 reviews. |
| Rating on TrustRadius | 7.3 out of 10 from 30 reviews. | 7.3 out of 10 from 2 reviews. |
| Self-hosting | Kali is distributed as installable images and can be rebuilt locally with Debian live-build scripts and public Git repositories. | ZAP can run locally from platform installers, cross-platform packages or official Docker images. |
| System requirements | A headless SSH installation can use 128 MB RAM and 2 GB disk, while the default Xfce desktop target is at least 2 GB RAM and 20 GB disk. | Windows and Linux packages require Java 17 or newer; the macOS installer bundles Java 17; weekly packages also require Java 17 or newer. |
| What it does | Kali Linux is a Debian-based operating system for penetration testing, security auditing, forensics, reverse engineering and vulnerability work. | ZAP is a web application security scanner and interception proxy for automated and manual testing. |
Plans
In their own words
Kali Linux
Kali Linux is a Debian-based distribution for advanced penetration testing and security auditing. It includes tools and configurations for computer forensics, reverse engineering, vulnerability detection, and other information security work. Its listed tools include Aircrack-ng, Burp Suite, Hydra, John the Ripper, Metasploit Framework, Nmap, sqlmap, and Wireshark. Kali is intended for experienced penetration testers and security specialists; its documentation assumes Linux familiarity. It supports bare-metal installs, virtual machines, cloud, containers, ARM devices, USB or DVD live environments, and Windows Subsystem for Linux. A Live USB can run without changing the host operating system, and persistence volumes can be encrypted. Users can build custom ISO images with metapackages and live-build. Network services are disabled by default, Bluetooth is blocklisted, and packages and repositories are signed. Kali is free of charge, though its non-free section includes some tools that are not open source. It follows a rolling release model, with fresh official point-release images generated quarterly. Kali NetHunter is a free and open-source Android penetration testing platform with a Kali container, desktop experience, app, and app store.
OWASP ZAP
OWASP ZAP is a web application scanner and proxy for security testing. Its tools include active and passive scanning, a spider, alerts, and scan policies. ZAP’s Automation Framework uses YAML plans to coordinate jobs such as scanning, spidering, API imports, and report generation. It can import OpenAPI, GraphQL, SOAP, and Postman definitions through jobs or add-ons. GitHub Actions are available for baseline, full, and API scans via Docker-packaged scans, and the project publishes Docker images, including a minimal image for CI. Add-ons come from an online Marketplace and are generally installed or removed without restarting ZAP. The software is free and open source, with a free plan at free. It supports Linux, macOS, Windows, API use, and self-hosted deployment. Windows and Linux installers require Java 17 or later; the macOS installer includes Java 17. ZAP says it can support only its latest full release, and current releases are unsigned, though checksums are provided.