jwt-heartbreaker vs jwtear: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
jwt-heartbreaker is a free penetration testing tool. jwtear is a free penetration testing tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best penetration testing fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Penetration testers and AppSec engineers who routinely audit REST APIs will find jwt-heartbreaker indispensable for JWT validation testing inside Burp; it automates the tedious checks for unsigned tokens, weak secrets, and algorithm confusion that manual review misses. The 135 GitHub stars and active maintenance show real adoption among practitioners who integrate it into their standard Burp workflows rather than reaching for heavier, closed-source alternatives. Skip this if your threat model doesn't involve JWT-authenticated APIs or if you need post-exploitation JWT manipulation; jwt-heartbreaker focuses narrowly on the discovery and validation phase.
Penetration testers and AppSec engineers who need to quickly decode, validate, and forge JWT tokens during assessments will find jwtear indispensable; it's a command-line native that handles the manipulation workflows that web UI tools slow down. The 106 GitHub stars reflect active maintenance and real adoption by practitioners who live in terminals, not dashboards. Skip this if your team needs a GUI or a tool that also handles OAuth flows and other token types; jwtear is deliberately JWT-focused and lightweight.
