Andriller CE (Community Edition) vs Exterro FTK Imager Pro: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

Andriller CE (Community Edition)

Forensic examiners and incident responders who need to extract data from iOS and Android devices without monthly licensing will find Andriller CE's decoding engine genuinely useful; it handles SQLite databases, call logs, and messaging artifacts that commercial tools charge thousands annually to access. The 1,534 GitHub stars reflect active community validation of its extraction accuracy across multiple Android versions. Skip this if your team needs cloud forensics, Windows memory analysis, or vendor support; Andriller CE is phone-focused and community-maintained, which means you're reading Stack Overflow threads when extraction fails, not calling support.

Exterro FTK Imager Pro

Incident response teams and forensic investigators handling iOS devices or encrypted endpoints need FTK Imager Pro for its logical collection capability, which pulls messages, photos, and app data without full disk imaging, cutting acquisition time significantly. The tool's BitLocker detection and decryption paired with write-blocking covers NIST RS.AN and ID.RA requirements for evidence integrity and faster analysis cycles. Skip this if your primary need is network-layer incident detection or you lack dedicated forensics staff; FTK Imager Pro demands hands-on operator expertise and fits workflows where disk acquisition and mobile extraction are blocking your investigation timeline.