# A Security vs Papa Shango: side-by-side comparison (2026)

[A Security](https://cybersectools.com/tools/a-security) is a commercial [red-team & adversary emulation](https://cybersectools.com/categories/offensive-security) solution by [A Security](https://cybersectools.com/companies/asecurity). [Papa Shango](https://cybersectools.com/tools/papa-shango) is a free [red-team & adversary emulation](https://cybersectools.com/categories/offensive-security) solution. Features, integrations, deployment and the company behind each one, side by side.

## Side-by-side comparison

| | A Security | Papa Shango |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Commercial | Free |
| Category | Red-Team & Adversary Emulation | Red-Team & Adversary Emulation |
| Verified | No | No |
| Deployment type | Cloud | On-Premises |
| Company size fit | Mid-Market, Enterprise | Mid-Market, Enterprise |
| GitHub stars | – | 4 |
| Last commit | – | Aug 2019 |
| Company | A Security | – |
| Headquarters | – | – |

### Use cases and capabilities

| | A Security | Papa Shango |
|---|---|---|
| Attack Paths | Yes | – |
| Continuous Testing | Yes | – |
| Red Team | Yes | – |
| Vulnerability Exploitation | Yes | – |
| AI Pentesting | Yes | – |
| MITRE ATT&CK | Yes | – |
| Exploit Development | Yes | – |
| Security Validation | Yes | – |
| Penetration Testing Framework | Yes | – |
| Lateral Movement | Yes | – |
| Post Exploitation | – | Yes |
| Shellcode | – | Yes |
| Linux | – | Yes |
| Process Injection | – | Yes |
| Payload Generation | – | Yes |

### Core features

**A Security**

9 features listed. Sign in on the page to see them.

**Papa Shango**

No features listed.

### Integrations

**A Security**

1 integration listed. Sign in on the page to see them.

**Papa Shango**

No integrations listed.

## Which one fits you

Based on what each listing shows: deployment, company size, price and open source.

- [A Security](https://cybersectools.com/tools/a-security) fits if you want a cloud product.
- [Papa Shango](https://cybersectools.com/tools/papa-shango) fits if you need to run it on your own servers, you need a free product and you want an open-source product.

## A Security vs Papa Shango FAQ

Common questions when comparing A Security vs Papa Shango for red-team & adversary emulation.

### What is the difference between A Security and Papa Shango?

**A Security**: Autonomous offensive security platform that finds, validates, and remediates attack paths. Built by A Security.

**Papa Shango**: A Linux process injection tool that uses ptrace() to inject assembly-based shellcode into running processes without NULL byte restrictions.

The table above shows where their features, integrations, deployment and company size fit differ.

### Who makes A Security and Papa Shango?

**A Security** is made by A Security. **Papa Shango** is open-source with 4 GitHub stars. The vendor behind a product decides its roadmap, support, and longevity, so check each company's profile before you commit.

### Is A Security a good alternative to Papa Shango?

Often, yes. A Security and Papa Shango are both Red-Team & Adversary Emulation products. Key differences: A Security is Commercial while Papa Shango is Free, Papa Shango is open-source. Use the table above to see where features, deployment and company size fit differ.

## Related comparisons

- [A Security vs Core Security Outflank Security Tooling](https://cybersectools.com/compare/a-security-vs-core-security-outflank-security-tooling)
- [A Security vs Crimson7 Offensive Engineering](https://cybersectools.com/compare/a-security-vs-crimson7-offensive-engineering)
- [A Security vs Fortra Cobalt Strike](https://cybersectools.com/compare/a-security-vs-fortra-cobalt-strike)
- [Papa Shango vs Core Security Outflank Security Tooling](https://cybersectools.com/compare/core-security-outflank-security-tooling-vs-papa-shango)
- [Papa Shango vs Crimson7 Offensive Engineering](https://cybersectools.com/compare/crimson7-offensive-engineering-vs-papa-shango)
- [Papa Shango vs Fortra Cobalt Strike](https://cybersectools.com/compare/fortra-cobalt-strike-vs-papa-shango)

## Alternatives to each

- [See all A Security alternatives](https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/a-security)
- [See all Papa Shango alternatives](https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/papa-shango)

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Source: https://cybersectools.com/compare/a-security-vs-papa-shango

For AI agents: each product above has its own Markdown page (add .md to its URL, for example https://cybersectools.com/tools/a-security.md). Every CybersecTools shortlist is listed at https://cybersectools.com/shortlists.md.

More on A Security and Papa Shango: funding, momentum, hiring and news, plus the full product and company record, are available through the Mandos MCP Server (paid plans), which connects to AI assistants: https://mandos.io/mcp?utm_source=cybersectools.com&utm_medium=compare-md