capa vs hollows_hunter: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
capa is a free digital forensics and incident response tool. hollows_hunter is a free digital forensics and incident response tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best digital forensics and incident response fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Malware analysts and incident responders who need fast capability extraction from suspect binaries should reach for capa; it maps executable behaviors directly to ATT&CK techniques without requiring sandbox execution, cutting analysis time when you're triaging thousands of samples. The tool supports PE, ELF, and .NET formats plus shellcode analysis, and its 5,887 GitHub stars reflect active community validation in real incident work. Skip capa if your team needs automated triage at scale or integration with your existing EDR alerts; this is a manual analysis workbench, not a detection layer.
Incident responders and threat hunters investigating suspected process memory compromise need hollows_hunter for one reason: it catches in-memory implants and hooks that EDR telemetry often misses, giving you direct forensic proof of what actually ran. The 2,318 GitHub stars reflect real adoption among practitioners doing manual malware analysis, not marketing reach. Skip this if your team lacks Windows reverse-engineering skills or expects automated remediation; hollows_hunter is a scalpel for hands-on investigators, not a fire-and-forget detection engine.
