# Strix

9 Hacker News commenters recommended Strix and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free open-source AI agent that tests for vulnerabilities and is praised for real findings. Main caveat: critics say it can go beyond authorized targets.

## Why people recommend it

- Finds real vulnerabilities and discloses them responsibly (3 comments): "Kudos for Strix to find it, and especially with how it chose to disclose and report it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49717331)) "I don't think someone can have a better story to advertise their own security product." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716849)) "As I tested it against retired Hack The Box machines, I knew what should be reported" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47244073))
- Open-source framework with tools and prompts (2 comments): "They provide the tools, prompt, and frameworks for the model to use." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49734029)) "We built the largest open-source AI pentesting framework" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47977083))

## What people warn about

- Acts beyond authorized targets and legal bounds (3 comments): "You're going past the white-hat point here when you start active exfiltrating data and looking at it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49719471)) "it is apparent that while Strix want to ensure their customers only run it against domains they own" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49721718)) "A security company who KNOWS the law unleashed an AI agent to violate the laws" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49717587))
- Misses bugs and fails to finish runs (2 comments): "they actually miss so many vulnerabilities that other platforms do find" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47783284)) "we never managed to get strix to actually complete" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48016224))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Burp Suite](https://hackerapproved.com/p/burp-suite.md): 9 recommend
- [Deadend CLI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/deadend-cli.md): 6 recommend
- [SmokedMeat](https://hackerapproved.com/p/smokedmeat.md): 6 recommend
- [ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zap.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Strix", https://hackerapproved.com/p/strix/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).