Wapiti vs SET: Which Network Auditing Tool tool is Best in 2025?

Wapiti, pre-installed in Kali Linux, is an open-source web application vulnerability scanner designed for black-box security testing of web applications. Written in Python, it crawls websites to identify scripts and forms, injecting payloads to detect vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), file disclosure, command execution, XML external entity (XXE) injection, CRLF injection, and server-side request forgery (SSRF). Wapiti leverages a Nikto database to search for dangerous files and supports authentication, proxies, Tor, and customizable scan scopes (e.g., page, folder, domain). Its lightweight 1.54 MB footprint and modular design make it ideal for penetration testers and security auditors.

SET, or Social-Engineer Toolkit, is a leading open-source framework pre-installed in Kali Linux (version 8.0.3), designed for ethical hackers and penetration testers. This social engineering toolkit for cybersecurity automates attacks like phishing, credential theft, and payload delivery, making it a premier penetration testing tool for social engineering assessments. With a 30.40 MB footprint and over 10 attack vectors, SET empowers red teams to simulate real-world threats, integrating seamlessly with Metasploit for robust security testing.