Radare2 vs PEDA: 2026 Comparison
Radare2 is a free penetration testing tool. PEDA is a free penetration testing tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best penetration testing fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Security researchers and red teamers who need to analyze malware and firmware will find Radare2 invaluable for its scriptable disassembly and its command-line efficiency across Linux, Windows, and macOS without licensing friction. With 22,210 GitHub stars and active development, the community-driven framework covers binary analysis end-to-end: disassembly, debugging, and patching all in one tool. Skip this if your team needs GUI-first workflows or expects vendor support; Radare2 has a steep learning curve and rewards operators who think in assembly and Python, not point-and-click analysts.
Penetration testers and security researchers doing manual exploit development on Linux will find PEDA indispensable for speeding up low-level binary analysis; the 6,111 GitHub stars reflect years of active use in red teams who've standardized on GDB workflows. The tool's colorized output and exploit-specific commands cut analysis time significantly compared to raw GDB, particularly for stack overflow and format string research. Skip PEDA if your team relies primarily on Windows binaries or needs a graphical debugger; it's a command-line power tool for practitioners who already speak GDB fluently.
