Belkasoft X Forensic vs Colander

Belkasoft X Forensic acquires, analyzes, and reports digital evidence from computers, mobile devices, RAM, cars, drones, and cloud sources. Its acquisition options include DD/E01 imaging, iOS checkm8 and agent-based acquisition, and several Android methods. Analysis features include timeline and connection graph views, SQLite recovery, hash-set analysis, file carving, and picture and video analysis. The software can examine UFED and GrayKey images, virtual machines, Amazon S3-based images, Berla car exports, and data from services including Google Drive, iCloud, Microsoft 365, WhatsApp, and Telegram. Reports can be produced in formats such as HTML, XML, CSV, PDF, Excel, Word, ProjectVIC JSON, and Relativity Short Message Format. Colleagues can view shared findings with the free Evidence Reader, whether or not X Forensic is installed. The product is self-hosted and offered to government customers only. Its license is perpetual, with optional annual software maintenance and support; pricing is provided by quote. A 30-day trial requires internet access. Trial reports contain half of randomly selected artifacts, and several acquisition, decryption, virtual-machine, and command-line automation features are excluded. The company describes it as suited to digital forensic laboratories at federal and state-level law-enforcement agencies.

Colander is a web-based platform for case management, digital investigations, and shared knowledge building. It organizes evidence and investigative knowledge into cases, supports team collaboration, and allows information sharing with other organizations. A web graph editor represents artifacts, actors, observables, and events. Through Threatr, users can retrieve intelligence from VirusTotal, MISP, and OTX AlienVault. Colander can collect and sign PiRogue artifacts, track their integrity and authenticity, and analyze decrypted network traffic and payloads. Payloads can be decoded with CyberChef, while YARA rules can be applied to network traffic. Users can generate data transmission reports and create feeds in different formats. A Python 3 library abstracts the REST API and uses an API key from the user profile. The project is open source under AGPL v3, with API, Linux, web, and self-hosted options. Deployment guidance recommends current Debian, at least 4 cores, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB storage, and a public IP.