Ghidra vs pycdc
Ghidra
github.compycdc
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Ghidra | pycdc |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Reverse Engineering Tools | 8.7 (#5) | 7.4 (#37) |
| Spec score · Decompiler Software | 8.8 (#3) | 7.5 (#16) |
| Decompiler | The product translates low-level machine code into higher-level C-like output through its decompiler. | The pycdc command decompiles a PYC file and prints Python source to standard output. |
| License | The repository includes the Apache License, Version 2.0, which grants no-charge, royalty-free copyright and patent licenses subject to its terms. | The project is released under the GNU General Public License, version 3. |
| Purpose | Ghidra is a software reverse engineering framework maintained by the NSA Research Directorate. | Decompyle++ aims to translate compiled Python bytecode into valid, human-readable Python source code. |
Plans
In their own words
Ghidra
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.
pycdc
pycdc is the command-line decompiler in Decompyle++, a free C++ project that converts compiled Python bytecode into readable Python source. The pycdc command accepts a PYC file and prints source to standard output. Its companion, pycdas, disassembles a PYC file and prints bytecode. Both commands handle Python marshalled code objects, but those objects do not contain version metadata, so the Python version must be supplied. The project seeks compatibility with bytecode from any Python version and focuses on bytecode rather than native-code decompilation. Decompyle++ runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Building uses CMake to generate a project or makefile, followed by compilation; the README describes MSVC for Windows projects and makefile instructions for Unix-like systems or MSYS. CMake is the named build-system requirement, with no product integrations listed. The project is GPL version 3, credits Michael Hansen and Darryl Pogue, and has no packaged GitHub releases. Its listed plan is free.