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PingCastle vs ADRecon: catalog facts
PingCastle	ADRecon
Best for: Active Directory security assessment tool that scores risky configuration	Best for: Security assessors and administrators documenting an Active Directory domain
Free + paid options Free for non-commercial evaluation. Commercial use of the full feature set requires a Netwrix licence.	Free Free to download from the GitHub repository.
Windows	Windows, Command line
A single scan produces a readable risk report and a maturity score, deliberately aiming to find most of… Full strengths for PingCastle A single scan produces a readable risk report and a maturity score, deliberately aiming to find most of the critical issues in a fraction of the usual time.	Single PowerShell script with nothing to install Produces a formatted Excel report of the domain All 3 strengths for ADRecon Single PowerShell script with nothing to install Produces a formatted Excel report of the domain Covers many AD artefacts in one run
The tool is not open source, and commercial use of the full feature set requires a paid Netwrix… Full limitations for PingCastle The tool is not open source, and commercial use of the full feature set requires a paid Netwrix licence.	Excel report formatting depends on Microsoft Excel Intended for authorized testing and auditing of environments you are permitted to assess
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Not open source	Open source
License not stated	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for PingCastle github.com/netwrix/pingcastle Catalog checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for ADRecon github.com/adrecon/ADRecon Catalog checked September 23, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.