Lethe vs Strix Disk Cleaner

Lethe is a free, open-source command-line utility for wiping drives on Linux, macOS and Windows. It overwrites existing data with randomly generated data or a static pattern, then can read data back to check whether write commands succeeded. The project says it should work with HDDs, flash drives and SSDs, but warns that its current approach cannot reliably erase all SSD data because of wear leveling and compression.

Lethe requires root or administrator access to operate on real drives. It uses a fast cryptographic random generator and lets users override the operating system's recommended block size. It can track and automatically skip bad blocks and other localized errors, though that feature is experimental. Available binaries cover Windows x86-64, Intel macOS, experimental Apple macOS and Linux x86-64; installation from Rust sources is also documented. The project says initial active development is complete, though occasional changes may still be made. Lethe is licensed under Apache License 2.0.

Strix Disk Cleaner is a free tool for permanently wiping whole drives on Windows and Linux. It uses hardware sanitize where possible or multi-pass overwriting, and detects SSDs to recommend hardware sanitization because wear-levelling can make overwriting unreliable. The Windows edition provides a graphical interface and a printable destruction certificate; the Linux edition is a unit-tested command-line eraser. It cannot target individual files: its scope is whole drives. To reduce accidental selection, the system disk and mounted disks are unavailable, and destructive actions require typed confirmation. The tool makes no network calls and requires no account. SHA-256 checksums are published with each release for download verification. Builds are not yet code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may warn on first run. The Free plan costs nothing and is open-source under the MIT license. The product page links to source code, documentation, and a security guide.