libqcow vs DMG2IMG: 2026 Comparison
libqcow is a free digital forensics and incident response tool. DMG2IMG 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:
Forensic investigators and incident responders who need to parse QCOW disk images without touching the host filesystem will find libqcow indispensable; it's the only read-only parser that handles multiple QCOW versions and compression formats in a single library. The tool has been in active development across cloud forensics workflows where QEMU-based infrastructure dominates, and its GitHub presence reflects genuine adoption in labs processing virtual machine evidence. Skip this if you need write capability or GUI-based triage; libqcow is strictly a programmatic library for analysts comfortable integrating it into Python or C workflows.
Forensic investigators and incident responders handling seized Apple devices need DMG2IMG to convert proprietary DMG archives into mountable HFS+ images without proprietary tools; the tool supports all three major compression formats (zlib, bzip2, LZFSE) and costs nothing, making it indispensable for chain-of-custody workflows. With 255 GitHub stars and active maintenance, it's proven in real investigations where you can't wait for commercial licensing. Skip this if your team exclusively uses commercial forensic suites like Cellebrite or Axiom that handle DMG conversion natively; DMG2IMG shines when you need a standalone, auditable converter that doesn't lock you into a vendor ecosystem.
