x8 vs hakrawler: 2026 Comparison
x8 is a free penetration testing tool. hakrawler 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:
API security teams operating on a budget will find x8's value in its ability to surface hidden parameters that manual testing misses, particularly across microservices architectures where API sprawl creates blind spots. The tool's free pricing and 1,915 GitHub stars indicate solid community adoption and active maintenance, lowering risk for lean security orgs. x8 works best as a targeted discovery layer in your pre-production testing pipeline, not as a replacement for full penetration testing platforms; if you need vulnerability scoring, remediation tracking, or exploit validation in one tool, you'll outgrow it quickly.
Penetration testers and bug bounty hunters who need fast endpoint discovery during reconnaissance should start with hakrawler; it crawls web applications an order of magnitude quicker than manual mapping, with 4,841 GitHub stars reflecting sustained adoption by practitioners who run it continuously across engagement kickoffs. The tool's speed comes from its parallelized crawling architecture, which surfaces forgotten endpoints and asset exposure before deeper testing begins. Skip this if your mandate is vulnerability scoring or compliance reporting; hakrawler is reconnaissance-only, and you'll need separate tools for exploitation and risk quantification.
