CAINE vs X-Ways Imager
CAINE
caine-live.netX-Ways Imager
x-ways.netSide by side
| Figure | CAINE | X-Ways Imager |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | 6.17 CHF/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 2 |
| Spec score · Digital Forensics Software | 8.8 (#3) | 7.0 (#27) |
| Purpose | CAINE is an Italian GNU/Linux live distribution created as a digital forensics project. | X-Ways Imager is a forensic disk imaging tool and a stripped-down version of X-Ways Forensics focused on imaging functionality. |
| Support | The site provides a contact form for questions or problems and links to a user forum. | The maker lists general or technical inquiries by email and says to check the program help or user manual first. |
Plans
X-Ways Imager
- X-Ways Imager non-perpetual license74 CHF a year
- X-Ways Imager perpetual license157 CHF, paid once
In their own words
CAINE
CAINE is a free Italian GNU/Linux live distribution for digital forensics. It combines existing forensic programs as modules behind a graphical interface and is intended to support investigators through four investigation phases. The current listed download is CAINE 14.0 “LIGHTSTREAM,” dated 24/Mar/2025. That release sets block devices to read-only by default, while UnBlock can change the setting. rbfstab supports read-only mounting, and Mounter provides graphical mounting and unmounting. Included analysis utilities include Autopsy, FTK Imager, PhotoRec, TestDisk, hashcat, and memory-analysis scripts, alongside Windows incident-response tools such as Nirsoft utilities, WinAudit, FTK Imager, and USB Write Protector. CAINE supports disk imaging, memory and mobile forensics, and sources including raw/dd images, EnCase files, databases, internet histories, and Windows registries. Reports can be exported as raw/dd, EnCase, or text. The ISO is approximately 4000 MB, and third-party software keeps its own licenses.
X-Ways Imager
X-Ways Imager has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.