Passware Kit
Commercial password recovery and decryption suite for files, disks and devices, used in forensics.
Updated · AppBreakup editorial · Windows, macOS
Is Passware Kit free?
No, it's a paid product
3 alternatives with a free optionSwitch from Passware Kit to
All 4
John the RipperOpen source
HashcatOpen source
Elcomsoft Distributed Password RecoveryStarting price: $699 (up to 5 clients)
- Verified facts
- 5 of 5
- Alternatives ranked
- 4
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Passware Kit
Passware Kit is a family of commercial password recovery tools from Passware, used by law enforcement, corporate investigators and IT departments to regain access to encrypted data they're authorised to examine. Editions range from Basic, which recovers passwords for common documents and resets Windows logins, up to Forensic and Ultimate, which recognise more than 420 file types and handle full-disk encryption such as BitLocker, FileVault 2, APFS, LUKS and VeraCrypt. The Forensic edition also scans a computer for every encrypted item, analyses memory images to pull out encryption keys, and runs attacks in batch. Recovery is accelerated with NVIDIA, AMD and Intel Arc GPUs, rainbow tables and distributed agents on Windows, Linux, Amazon EC2 or Azure. It runs on Windows, with a Mac version of the Forensic edition. Licences are sold per edition, from inexpensive home tiers to costly forensic bundles with annual updates. Compared with open-source crackers, it trades flexibility for a guided GUI and wide format support.
Best for: Forensic examiners and IT teams who need a supported GUI tool for many file and disk formats.
Pros and cons
What works
- Recognises over 420 file types
- Full-disk encryption support including BitLocker and FileVault 2
- GPU and distributed recovery with cloud agents
- Guided GUI that doesn't require command-line skills
Why people leave
- Forensic editions are expensive
- Closed source, so attack modes can't be customised like John's
- Many features are reserved for higher editions
Passware Kit vs John the Ripper, Hashcat and Elcomsoft Distributed Password Recovery
From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.
| Attribute | Passware Kit | John the Ripper | Hashcat | Elcomsoft Distributed Password Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Open source | Open source | Paid |
| Verified price | — | — | — | $699 (up to 5 clients) |
| Free plan | No | Free app | Free app | No |
| Open source | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows |
Top Passware Kit alternatives
See all 4- 1John the Ripper68.8
Free and open source with scriptable rules and many hash formats, for those comfortable on the command line.
- 2Hashcat64.8
Free GPU cracker with a vast list of hash modes, if you can extract hashes yourself.
- 3Elcomsoft Distributed Password Recovery61.8
Similar commercial forensic tool that scales a single job across thousands of machines.
- 4
Hash Suite59.4Much cheaper Windows GUI focused on auditing Windows and common hash passwords.
Why people left Passware Kit
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Passware Kit, review the app you switched to and tell us why.
Reviews
No approved reviews yet. How we verify reviewers
Write a review of Passware Kit
Passware Kit: common questions
What is Passware Kit?
Passware Kit: Commercial password recovery and decryption suite for files, disks and devices, used in forensics. Best for forensic examiners and IT teams who need a supported GUI tool for many file and disk formats. Available for Windows and macOS.
Is Passware Kit free?
No, Passware Kit is a paid product.
Is Passware Kit open source?
No, Passware Kit is not open source. Open-source alternatives include John the Ripper and Hashcat.
What platforms does Passware Kit run on?
Passware Kit is available for Windows and macOS.
What are the best alternatives to Passware Kit?
The highest-ranked Passware Kit alternatives right now are John the Ripper, Hashcat and Elcomsoft Distributed Password Recovery. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.
Passware Kit vs John the Ripper: what's the difference?
Passware Kit is a paid product; John the Ripper is free and open source. John the Ripper is open source and Passware Kit is not. Only John the Ripper runs on Linux.