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GnuPG vs PGPTool: catalog facts
GnuPG	PGPTool
Free Free and open source under the GPL.	Free Free to download and use.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux
The reference free OpenPGP implementation, present everywhere Smartcard and hardware token support through its agent	Compatible with the OpenPGP specification Suggests encryption and decryption settings from previous actions
Key management and the command line are famously unforgiving Defaults and trust models confuse newcomers into unsafe practice	Requires a separately installed Java Runtime Environment 17 or later Non-Oracle JREs need JAVA_HOME set or the ZIP package on Windows
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Closed source
License: GPL-3.0	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.