# BFG Repo-Cleaner vs Gitleaks

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Gitleaks

| Attribute | BFG Repo-Cleaner | Gitleaks |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 29.3 (63% (medium)) | 40.2 (43% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 0 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 60 | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 12,201 | 29,885 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A command-line tool that removes large blobs and sensitive data from Git repositories. Distributed as free and open source software under the GNU General Public License. It is indexed under Secrets Scanning.","source":"https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner","question":"What is BFG Repo-Cleaner?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"BFG Repo-Cleaner is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the GPL-3.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner","question":"Is BFG Repo-Cleaner free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"BFG Repo-Cleaner supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner","question":"What platforms does BFG Repo-Cleaner support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. BFG Repo-Cleaner can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner","question":"Can BFG Repo-Cleaner be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. BFG Repo-Cleaner is published under the GPL-3.0 licence, a copyleft licence, so check its terms before embedding it in a closed-source product. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner","question":"Is BFG Repo-Cleaner open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"An open-source utility that automatically scans git repositories, individual files, and directories to identify secrets and sensitive credentials. It integrates with GitHub Actions to enable continuous secret scanning on pull requests and commits. It is indexed under Secrets Scanning.","source":"https://gitleaks.io","question":"What is Gitleaks?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Gitleaks is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://gitleaks.io","question":"Is Gitleaks free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Gitleaks supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://gitleaks.io","question":"What platforms does Gitleaks support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Gitleaks can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://gitleaks.io","question":"Can Gitleaks be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Gitleaks is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks","question":"Is Gitleaks open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A Scala-based utility that removes large or problematic files from Git repository history more efficiently than the standard git-filter-branch command. | An open-source utility that automatically scans git repositories, individual files, and directories to identify secrets and sensitive credentials. It integrates with GitHub Actions to enable continuous secret scanning on pull requests and commits. |
| features.capabilities | `{"pricing_model":"open_source","deployment_model":"local_cli_only","git_repository_historical_scanning":true}` | `{"pricing_model":"open_source","git_repository_historical_scanning":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 1 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"GitHub"}]` |
| language.primary | Scala | Go |
| license.spdx | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner","retrievedAt":"2026-10-15T20:24:15.655Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Free and open-source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://gitleaks.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-19T21:35:55.718Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 118 | 13 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/releases/tag/v1.15.0","date":"2025-01-18T21:34:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/releases/tag/v1.14.0","date":"2021-02-27T16:46:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/releases/tag/v1.13.0","date":"2018-01-31T09:26:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/releases/tag/v1.12.5","date":"2015-10-01T22:41:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.12.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/releases/tag/v1.12.4","date":"2015-08-06T08:58:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.12.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/releases/tag/git-lfs-alpha","date":"2015-04-09T10:11:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"git-lfs-alpha"},{"url":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/releases/tag/v1.12.0","date":"2015-01-01T20:14:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/releases/tag/v1.11.5","date":"2014-04-20T14:20:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.11.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/releases/tag/v1.11.2","date":"2014-03-25T09:49:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.11.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/releases/tag/v1.11.1","date":"2014-02-01T17:33:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.11.1"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.30.1","date":"2026-03-21T02:17:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.30.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.30.0","date":"2025-11-26T16:31:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.30.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.29.1","date":"2025-11-19T21:18:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.29.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.29.0","date":"2025-11-04T21:42:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.29.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.28.0","date":"2025-07-20T16:18:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.28.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.27.2","date":"2025-06-09T00:35:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.27.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.27.1","date":"2025-06-08T01:59:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.27.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.27.0","date":"2025-06-01T16:36:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.27.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.26.0","date":"2025-05-12T21:03:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.26.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.25.1","date":"2025-04-30T13:51:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.25.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.25.0","date":"2025-04-29T14:53:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.25.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.24.3","date":"2025-04-11T14:27:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.24.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.24.2","date":"2025-03-22T12:08:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.24.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.24.0","date":"2025-02-20T02:11:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.24.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.23.3","date":"2025-01-29T14:46:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.23.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.23.2","date":"2025-01-24T14:25:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.23.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.23.1","date":"2025-01-15T12:51:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.23.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.23.0","date":"2025-01-13T15:04:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.23.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.22.1","date":"2024-12-30T16:25:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.22.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/releases/tag/v8.22.0","date":"2024-12-20T16:12:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v8.22.0"}]` |
| security.scorecard | 2.8 | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=homebrew&package_name=bfg&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=debian&package_name=gitleaks&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Secrets Scanning)

| Capability | BFG Repo-Cleaner | Gitleaks |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Deployment model | Local CLI only | - |
| Git repository historical scanning | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pre commit developer hooks | - | - |
| Active token validation engine | - | - |
| High entropy regex detection | - | - |
| Slack teams jira scanning | - | - |
| Automated key revocation apis | - | - |
| Custom regex rules support | - | - |
| Ci cd pipeline build blocking | - | - |
| Compliance audit reporting | - | - |
| SOC2 type ii | - | - |
| ISO 27001 | - | - |
| Pricing model | Open source | Open source |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:29:46.953Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*