metahttp vs Ground Control: 2026 Comparison
metahttp is a free penetration testing tool. Ground Control 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 doing XXE discovery in scope-constrained engagements will find metahttp useful for its laser focus: it's a lightweight bash script that hunts HTTP resources through XML external entity injection without the overhead of full-stack scanners. The 38 GitHub stars and free pricing reflect honest adoption limits; this is a specialized tool, not a platform. Skip it if you need post-exploitation capabilities or are scanning environments where you can't inject XXE payloads; metahttp does one job and doesn't pretend otherwise.
AppSec teams hunting SSRF, blind XSS, and XXE vulnerabilities will move faster with Ground Control's purpose-built debugging scripts than with generic burp extensions or manual payload crafting. The 549 GitHub stars and free pricing mean you're getting battle-tested payloads from practitioners who've actually debugged these vulnerabilities in production systems. Skip this if you need a full penetration testing platform; Ground Control is a specialist's toolkit, not a framework replacement.
