Ghidra vs ImHex

Ghidra is a software reverse engineering framework maintained by the NSA Research Directorate. It analyzes compiled code with tools for disassembly, assembly, decompilation, graphing and scripting, and supports many processor instruction sets and executable formats. The framework can operate interactively or in automated workflows, including work intended to address team and scale needs in complex reverse engineering. Users can write extensions and scripts in Java or Python. Development options include a GhidraDev plugin for Eclipse and support for script editing and module projects in Visual Studio Code. The project describes compiled-code analysis on Windows, macOS and Linux. Installation requires a 64-bit JDK 25 and an official multi-platform release archive. Ghidra is free under the Apache License, Version 2.0, whose terms grant no-charge, royalty-free copyright and patent licenses. The repository warns that some versions have known security vulnerabilities and directs users to security advisories. Its policy directs vulnerability reports to GitHub private vulnerability reporting rather than public issues.

ImHex is a hex editor for reverse engineers and programmers, available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its Pattern Language uses C-like syntax to describe structures and data types, which ImHex can use to parse and highlight file contents. The hex view supports searching, byte patching, patch management, and undo and redo. Analysis features include data inspection, file type parsing, byte type and entropy graphs, and detection of encrypted or compressed files. A YARA view scans files with rules, highlights matches, and lets users jump to them. The in-app Content Store offers community patterns, libraries, processor nodes, encodings, themes, and YARA rules; developers can also build plugins with libimhex, the API, and Content Registry. ImHex is free. Most of the application is GPLv2-only, while libimhex and the UI plugin library are LGPLv2.1. It generally requires a GPU with OpenGL 3.0 support; slower software-rendered releases are available. macOS release binaries require macOS 15 or higher.