Hardentools vs AppLocker Guidance: 2026 Comparison
Hardentools is a free endpoint protection platform tool. AppLocker Guidance is a free endpoint protection platform tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best endpoint protection platform fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Individual Windows users and small teams without dedicated security staff should pick Hardentools for its surgical approach to attack surface reduction; it disables specific Windows and application features known to be abuse vectors rather than relying on detection. The tool has 3,042 GitHub stars and zero licensing overhead, making it practical for resource-constrained environments. Skip this if you need centralized policy management, endpoint telemetry, or incident response capabilities; Hardentools is hardening-only and doesn't report back to a console.
