Core Impact vs Kali Linux
Core Impact
coresecurity.comKali Linux
kali.orgSide by side
| Figure | Core Impact | Kali Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $787.50/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 1 |
| Spec score · Penetration Testing Software | 8.2 (#10) | 8.8 (#2) |
| Purpose | Core Impact is penetration testing software for safely uncovering and exploiting security weaknesses. | Kali Linux is a Debian-based distribution for advanced penetration testing and security auditing. |
| Support | Basic and Pro include customer portal and email support; Enterprise includes phone, customer portal, and email support. | Official support covers Kali operating system and packaging issues, not penetration testing or tool usage support. |
| System requirements | The datasheet lists Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, and Windows Server 2016 Standard as system requirements. | A headless SSH installation can use 128 MB RAM and 2 GB disk, while the default Xfce desktop target is at least 2 GB RAM and 20 GB disk. |
Plans
Core Impact
- Core Impact Basic$9,450 a year
- Core Impact Pro$12,600 a year
- Core Impact EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Core Impact
Core Impact has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Kali Linux
Kali Linux is a Debian-based distribution for advanced penetration testing and security auditing. It includes tools and configurations for computer forensics, reverse engineering, vulnerability detection, and other information security work. Its listed tools include Aircrack-ng, Burp Suite, Hydra, John the Ripper, Metasploit Framework, Nmap, sqlmap, and Wireshark. Kali is intended for experienced penetration testers and security specialists; its documentation assumes Linux familiarity. It supports bare-metal installs, virtual machines, cloud, containers, ARM devices, USB or DVD live environments, and Windows Subsystem for Linux. A Live USB can run without changing the host operating system, and persistence volumes can be encrypted. Users can build custom ISO images with metapackages and live-build. Network services are disabled by default, Bluetooth is blocklisted, and packages and repositories are signed. Kali is free of charge, though its non-free section includes some tools that are not open source. It follows a rolling release model, with fresh official point-release images generated quarterly. Kali NetHunter is a free and open-source Android penetration testing platform with a Kali container, desktop experience, app, and app store.