east-tec DisposeSecure vs Overwrite

east-tec DisposeSecure erases hard drives, selected partitions and connected external drives before computers are resold, donated or retired. The maker says its wiping methods meet and exceed the U.S. Department of Defense 5220.22-M disk-sanitizing standard, as well as other military, government and industrial standards. It can start from USB, CD, DVD, floppy or a local network, so erasure can run independently of the computer’s operating system. A Windows module handles detected non-system drives and partitions, including USB drives, memory cards and optical media. Over a local network, it can wipe multiple computers and send reports to a server; reports can also be saved locally for auditing or recordkeeping. The DisposeSecure Plan covers up to 10 PCs and includes one year of free updates and support. A fully functional 15-day trial is offered at no cost or obligation. Listed plan prices are $29.50 a month and $29.50 a year. For bootable disk use, the download page lists support for hard drives up to 1 TB.

Overwrite is a macOS utility for sanitizing external drives, USB sticks, and SD cards. Its Mac App Store edition deletes files and overwrites free space through the file system. Overwrite Elite can instead overwrite every block the Mac can address on an external drive, using 1-, 3-, 7-, or 35-pass protocols. Completed wipes produce a locally signed Certificate of Data Erasure; Elite certificates can be checked with a free standalone verifier. Elite also offers optional read-back after a multi-pass Full Disk wipe and prints measured coverage on the certificate. The utility is designed for external and removable media and cannot erase the internal boot drive. Both editions have no accounts, analytics, or crash reporting; Elite makes three disclosed connections, while the App Store edition uses Apple’s StoreKit. The free Preview plan lets users explore drives and app screens but does not include secure wiping or certificates. Annual Pro costs $12.99 per year, Lifetime Pro costs $24.99 once, and Overwrite Elite costs $99 once.