Hecate vs Q22

Hecate is a free terminal hex editor for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It displays interpretations of byte values beneath their hexadecimal representations, including text, bit patterns, integers, and floating-point values. Users can move the cursor with Vim-like controls, edit data in place, and write changes to disk. The README also lists tabbed browsing, large-file support, full-file searches, and expressions for specifying file offsets. Interpretation options include toggling endianness and signedness, decoding dates, and configuring the date epoch. The project describes byte interpretation as useful for reverse-engineering work. Downloads are linked for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows, and the README provides a Go command for compiling the editor from source. Hecate is licensed under MIT. The releases page lists version 0.0.1 as the latest release; the license states that the software is provided without warranty. The repository includes usage instructions and a help screen command, but does not state a support service.

Q22 is a free, open-source binary editor for Linux and Windows, and the successor to Catch22 HexEdit for Windows. It opens large binary files and supports cut, copy, paste, insertion, deletion, undo, and redo. Data can be viewed as hexadecimal, decimal, octal, binary, or text, with bytes grouped into 8-, 16-, 32-, or 64-bit values. Structure View expands headers, sections, imports, exports, and symbols in PE and ELF files, and accepts custom Strata .strata definitions. The disassembler handles x86 32-bit and 64-bit, ARM, ARM Thumb, and AArch64, while detecting PE and ELF entrypoints. Bookmarks and highlights retain positions for later use. Clipboard, import, and export formats include raw data, Base64, Intel HEX, Motorola S-records, HTML, C, C++, and assembler-style data. Panels provide file properties, checksums, and string extraction. Themes, palettes, preferences, docked panels, and platform-specific window chrome are configurable.