Domain Hunter vs Fortra Cobalt Strike: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
Domain Hunter is a free offensive security tool. Fortra Cobalt Strike is a commercial offensive security tool by Fortra. 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 NIST CSF 2.0 coverage, core features, company size fit, deployment model, here is our conclusion:
Red teamers and penetration testers running infrastructure reconnaissance will find Domain Hunter valuable for quickly filtering expired domains by reputation and historical categorization, saving hours manually cross-referencing WHOIS, DNS, and Archive.org data. The tool is free and maintains active GitHub development with 1,644 stars, lowering the bar to integration into existing workflows. Skip this if you need automation around domain registration or DNS failover; Domain Hunter stops at analysis and leaves operational decisions to you.
Mid-market and enterprise red teams will pick Fortra Cobalt Strike for the Malleable C2 language, which lets you reshape network indicators to match your target environment instead of fighting against detection signatures built for the tool's defaults. The shared team server and asynchronous low-and-slow communication model reflect NIST ID.RA and DE.AE coverage, meaning you can run realistic adversary simulations that actually test how your SOC detects slow exfiltration and lateral movement, not just fast attacks. Skip this if your organization needs purple team automation or wants the tool to generate its own reports without manual TTP documentation; Cobalt Strike is built for operators who know what they're hunting for.
