Cobalt Strike's ExternalC2 framework vs Pupy: side-by-side comparison (2026)

Cobalt Strike's ExternalC2 framework: A specification/framework for extending default C2 communication channels in Cobalt Strike.

Pupy: Pupy is an open-source, cross-platform C2 framework that provides remote access and control capabilities for compromised systems across Windows, Linux, OSX, and Android platforms.

The table above shows where their features, integrations, deployment and company size fit differ.

Often, yes. Cobalt Strike's ExternalC2 framework and Pupy are both Red-Team & Adversary Emulation products, and both cover C2. Key differences: Pupy is open-source. Use the table above to see where features, deployment and company size fit differ.