Charlotte vs Donut: 2026 Comparison
Charlotte is a free offensive security tool. Donut is a free offensive security tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best offensive security fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Red teamers and penetration testers who need reliable shellcode execution without triggering EDR will find Charlotte indispensable; its C++ implementation and undetected status across major security stacks give you consistent command execution where batch scripts and PowerShell fail. The 979 GitHub stars reflect active maintenance and real-world validation from operators who depend on it. This is not for blue teams or organizations evaluating defensive tools; Charlotte is purpose-built for offense and makes no attempt to hide that.
Red teamers and penetration testers who need to deliver .NET and PE payloads that evade memory-scanning EDR will find Donut essential; it generates position-independent shellcode that executes directly from memory without touching disk, eliminating the most common detection vector. With 4,492 GitHub stars and active community contributions, the tool has been battle-tested across real engagements and stays current with Windows API changes. Skip this if you're looking for post-exploitation frameworks with built-in C2 capability or if your scope is limited to external reconnaissance; Donut is narrowly focused on the injection problem and assumes you already have payload delivery sorted.
