Binwalk vs Boomerang
Binwalk
github.comBoomerang
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Binwalk | Boomerang |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Reverse Engineering Tools | 8.0 (#13) | 8.5 (#6) |
| License | The repository is distributed under the MIT License, which grants permission to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and sell copies subject to its terms. | The repository describes Boomerang as BSD licensed. |
| Purpose | Binwalk identifies and can extract files and data embedded inside other files, with a primary focus on firmware analysis. | Boomerang is an open-source machine-code decompiler that attempts to turn executable files into high-level source code. |
Plans
In their own words
Boomerang
Boomerang is an open-source decompiler that translates supported machine-code binaries into C source code. It supports x86 (IA-32 only), PPC, and ST20 architectures, and accepts ELF, PE, DOS MZ, DOS/4GW LE, and Mach-O files. Users can run it as a command-line tool or a GUI application. The project describes its license as BSD, and the software is free. Build instructions cover Linux, macOS, and Windows, but compiling requires a 64-bit operating system and a C++17 compiler; 32-bit systems are not supported. Documented prerequisites include CMake, Qt5, Capstone, GNU bison, and GNU flex. Precompiled packages are available for release versions, although the project recommends building the development branch from source. Unit and regression tests are provided, but the README says the regression test suite cannot be built on Windows. The maker describes the release as intended for developers and experimenters and warns that large-binary decompilation may disappoint. Decompiled output does not recreate the original source file and may differ from it. The project directs users to its GitHub issue tracker for bug reports.