Boomerang vs ILSpy

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.

ILSpy is free, open-source software for browsing and decompiling .NET assemblies on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Its Avalonia desktop interface converts assemblies to C#, including whole-project decompilation. Assemblies can come from disk, NuGet, running processes, or the Global Assembly Cache, although GAC support is limited to Windows. Search covers types, methods, and properties, with hyperlinks, bookmarks, base and derived type navigation, and an assembly metadata explorer. The application also includes BAML-to-XAML decompilation and support for ReadyToRun binaries for .NET Core. Related tooling includes Visual Studio 2022/2026 support, Visual Studio Code extensions, the ilspycmd dotnet tool, PowerShell cmdlets, and NuGet packages. Desktop plugins and a scripting API extend its use. ILSpy supports bytecode decompilation but not native-code decompilation. The project says it does not collect personally identifiable information, send user files to third-party services, or use application performance monitoring for telemetry. Release 11.1 is listed as the latest version, under the MIT License.