OWASP ZAP vs Wapiti
OWASP ZAP
zaproxy.orgWapiti
wapiti.sourceforge.ioSide by side
| Figure | OWASP ZAP | Wapiti |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Web Application Security Scanners | 8.5 (#3) | 7.5 (#16) |
| Authentication | Authentication features include browser-based, script-based, header-based and OAuth2 methods through the Authentication Helper add-on. | It supports Basic, Digest, and NTLM authentication, login forms, browser cookie imports, and custom Python code for complicated authentication cases. |
| Purpose | ZAP is a web application scanner and proxy for security testing. | Wapiti is a Python web vulnerability scanner that audits websites and web applications. |
Plans
In their own words
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.
Wapiti
Wapiti is a Python scanner that audits deployed websites and web applications for vulnerabilities. It crawls the application and sends payloads to links, forms, and scripts rather than inspecting source code. Listed checks cover SQL and XPath injection, cross-site scripting, file disclosure, command execution, XXE, SSRF, and open redirects. It can scan REST APIs using an OpenAPI (Swagger) file and supports authenticated scans through Basic, Digest, or NTLM authentication, login forms, imported browser cookies, or custom Python code. Users can configure scope, crawler limits, HTTP headers, and HTTP, HTTPS, or SOCKS5 proxies. Scans can be suspended and resumed using SQLite-backed sessions. Reports are available in HTML, XML, JSON, TXT, CSV, and Markdown. Wapiti is free and released under GNU GPL version 2; installation is offered with pip. The project lists Python 3.12, 3.13, or 3.14 as requirements and says Windows use can be done through WSL. Its README warns scans may disrupt targets or cause data loss and says the target owner's consent is required.