Software Alternatives & Reviews

IDA VS WinDbg

Compare IDA VS WinDbg and see what are their differences

IDA logo IDA

The best-of-breed binary code analysis tool, an indispensable item in the toolbox of world-class software analysts, reverse engineers, malware analyst and cybersecurity professionals.

WinDbg logo WinDbg

WinDbg is a multipurposed debugger for Microsoft Windows, distributed on the web by Microsoft as...
  • IDA Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-11-11

A powerful disassembler and a versatile debugger IDA Pro as a disassembler is capable of creating maps of their execution to show the binary instructions that are actually executed by the processor in a symbolic representation (assembly language). Advanced techniques have been implemented into IDA Pro so that it can generate assembly language source code from machine-executable code and make this complex code more human-readable.

The debugging feature augmented IDA with the dynamic analysis. It supports multiple debugging targets and can handle remote applications. Its cross-platform debugging capability enables instant debugging, easy connection to both local and remote processes and support for 64-bit systems and new connection possibilities.

  • WinDbg Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-18

IDA

Categories
  • IDE
  • Software Development
  • Decompiler
  • Disassembler
  • Debugger
  • Code Analysis
  • Static Code Analysis
Website hex-rays.com
Platforms
Windows Linux Mac OSX
Release Date1991-05-21

WinDbg

Categories
  • IDE
  • Software Development
  • OS & Utilities
  • Decompiler
Website learn.microsoft.com
Platforms
-
Release Date-

IDA videos

Mark Kermode reviews Ida

More videos:

  • Review - My Review for IDA (non-spoiler)
  • Review - The New Canon: 'Ida'

WinDbg videos

Getting familiar with WinDbg Preview - THR3014

More videos:

  • Review - Analyzing Windows crash dump using WINDBG
  • Review - Analyzing User Mode Dumps With WinDbg

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to IDA and WinDbg)
IDE
67 67%
33% 33
Software Development
66 66%
34% 34
Decompiler
89 89%
11% 11
OS & Utilities
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using IDA and WinDbg. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare IDA and WinDbg

IDA Reviews

Reverse engineering tools review
IDA that is Interactive DisAssembler in an undpisupted king among tools used in reverse engineering. IDA is a disassembler and debugger with built-in code analysis for over 60 types of processors. It has its own script language, large base of signatures of the most popular programming libraries as well as support for plug-ins that additionally enhance functionality e.g. by...
Source: www.pelock.com
The 5 Best Reverse Engineering Software for 2022
The interactive nature of the IDA Pro disassembler means you can change elements of the displayed data in real-time, including functions, variables, names, and library functions. It's written in C++ and runs on Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux. The IDA Pro platform benefits from several plugins, the most notable of which is the Hex-Rays decompiler. With this tool, software...
Source: online.yu.edu

WinDbg Reviews

We have no reviews of WinDbg yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, IDA should be more popular than WinDbg. It has been mentiond 10 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

IDA mentions (10)

  • how do i make mynown cracks for my steam games?
    Learn assembly and then fuck around with https://hex-rays.com/ida-pro/. Gonna take you a week max. Source: 4 months ago
  • Disabling a pointless hardware check in an old DOS EXE
    To RE the executable IDA Pro can be very useful: Https://hex-rays.com/ida-pro/. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?
    It’s a good disassembler that is fairly expensive. https://hex-rays.com/ida-pro/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Activision’s Faulty Anti-Cheat Software
    It's a disassembler, widely used for creating, for example, cracks/executable patches for games. https://hex-rays.com/ida-pro/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • A 3D game made with PHP - Counter-Strike: Football 🏉
    Mabalik tayo sa games: even if it's a compiled language, even if it's just a single binary file, sometimes, it's still possible to "steal" your code. This is what you call "disassembly". Tools like IDA Pro https://hex-rays.com/ida-pro/ or Ghidra https://ghidra-sre.org/ can do this. Eto yung tools na ginagamit ng mga "game crackers" but they operate in a very small scope - basta mairun lang yung games without the... Source: over 1 year ago
View more

WinDbg mentions (6)

  • Having Issues Deploying a Driver to my Test System - Windows Docs so confusing
    Windows 11, version 22H2 release of the WDK Installed + added to Visual Studio. Source: 9 months ago
  • Stack Trace / Thread Dump Analysis
    The stack frames will look cryptic, but if that's good enough for you -- there you go! If you want a clearer ST, you'll have to download and install Debug Tools and load Debug Symbols into the ProcessExplorer as shown in tutorials:. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Dagger: a new way to build CI/CD pipelines
    Okay, here’s an SDK I use. It’s 16GB. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/download-the-wdk#enterprise-wdk-ewdk Show me how to use this with GitHub actions, if it’s not too hard. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Creating a driver - Where to start, I have 0 knowledge or experience
    1) I have downloaded VScode, windows SDK, windows WDK, and the EWDK. The video only mentions downloading the first three items ^. However, the windows link I used to download the SDK and WDK had a 3rd step to download the EWDK. Link for Reference. What is an EWDK and do I need it? 2) I am using windows and the video says to download a VM. I assume I do not need to do that because I am already in windows. If my... Source: about 2 years ago
  • Open a dump file with MS studio?
    I also downloaded the " Windows Driver Kit (WDK). " Not really sure what to do next... Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing IDA and WinDbg, you can also consider the following products

Ghidra - Software Reverse Engineering (SRE) Framework

OllyDbg - OllyDbg is a 32-bit assembler level analysing debugger.

X64dbg - X64dbg is a debugging software that can debug x64 and x32 applications.

Immunity Debugger - Immunity Debugger is a powerful new way to write exploits, analyze malware, and reverse engineer...

Binary Ninja - A reverse engineering platform and GUI

SoftICE - SoftICE is a debugging software for windows and DOS that analyzes all your programs and repairs them.