# Full & Pro versions

Malcat comes in three different editions, which you can download or buy from our website:

- Malcat Lite is a free (as in free food) edition with some limitations

- Malcat Full is the full version of the tool, affordable by hobbyists

- Malcat Pro is targeted toward computer infosec professionals. It allows commercial use and comes with support

Note

If you are not sure if the software can run on your configuration, please test with the free lite edition first.

There is also an OEM edition that let you integrate Malcat’s analysis library at larger scale. Feel free to Contact us if you are interested.

## Features comparison

We have tried to make the lite version of Malcat relatively complete. It means there are no time limitation nor nag screen in the free version. Features-wise, it should be enough if you just want to analyse some programs/file formats from time to time.

On the other hand, if you do RE/malware analysis on a regular basis, the full and pro versions of Malcat offer additional features that you may find useful:

Feature | Malcat Lite | Malcat Full | Malcat Professional | Malcat OEM
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
hexadecimal / structure editor | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
file format parser (50+ formats) | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
file carving + extraction | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
Yara scanner + editor | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
strings and symbols | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
transform data in-place (50+ algos) | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
scripting support | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
threat intelligence | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
disassemblers | x86/x64 only | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
decompilers |  | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
anomaly scanner |  | ☑ | ☑ | ☑
headless scripting |  | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ (including offline Kesakode!)
Kesakode access |  | 40 queries / month | 80 queries / month | customisable
support |  | best effort | ☑ | ☑
commercial use |  |  | ☑ | ☑ + rights to use the analysis results in derivative works

The full edition of Malcat is currently priced at 49€ on our website. The professional version is priced at 199€. Paid versions give you access to unlimited use of the software on Linux, MacOS and Windows platforms (the software can be installed on up to five different machines), and access to product updates for one year. The licenses are named license.

## Paid versions FAQ

### What kind of license is offered?

Currently only named license are offered. If you want to integrate Malcat in your tool (for instance via headless scripting, see Legal restrictions when using the python module), please Contact us.

### Why is the price low in comparison to XXX?

We have deliberately kept the price down in comparison to other similar software. First, because Malcat is currently in beta phase. It means that while the software is finished and polished, it has not been tested extensively by its user base and documentation is kind of sparse.

Second, we find it way more motivating to have a big user base that a big bank account (not that any of these is likely to happen anyway). Malcat is a side project done mainly by passion. Money is just there to afford more time working on the software.

### What does it mean to buy a license?

Paid versions give you access to unlimited use of the software on Linux, MacOS and Windows platforms, and access to product updates for one year. Licenses are user-locked and allow installation on up to 5 different machines.

After your purchase, you’ll receive an email with a download link and a license key. You may download the software an unlimited amount of times during your 1 year period. You’ll get notified of updates on the same email address. Once your updates period ends, you’ll still be able to use the software, but you won’t be able to install new updates.

### How long can I use/update the software? Do I need to renew every year?

If you purchase a license, you may run the software for an unlimited period of time. You only get updates for one year though. After this period of one year, you may still run the software, but won’t be able to get new updates until you renew your license.

You don’t have to renew the license every year though, you may chose to renew your license at the time of your choice (even long after the 1 year threshold) and you will always benefit of the low license renewal price (50%). We don’t want to milk users every year. It’s up to us to convince you that Malcat’s improvements are worth it.

### What do you mean by “commercial use”?

Commercial use means use in your daily (paid) job or in any activity that directly or indirectly generates revenues. Here are two examples that may be helpful:

- Non-commercial usage: You are a network administrator at a commercial organization with discretionary budget and have been practicing CTF on your own time using work resources (approved by work). Your usage qualifies for non-commercial use as you are using Malcat purely for educational, non-commercial purposes.

- Commercial usage: You are a network administrator at a non-profit or government organization who regularly engages in malware analysis as a part of your job. You plan to use Malcat to analyze malware during paid work-hours. Your use is commercial.

We also apply a “de minimis” standard. If your use (running ads on Youtube videos, for example) makes you less money than 5 times the cost of a pro license, we’re happy to have you continue to use a personal license. Once you start making above this amount, we ask that you then upgrade. If you have a doubt, Contact us for more information.

### Can I purchase via a purchase order or get an invoice?

Purchase orders and invoices are supported for purchases of 5 or more copies of the Pro license. Contact us for more information.

## Activate the software

If you have bought a full or professional copy of Malcat, first a big thank you for supporting the development of this software. You should have received a link to our license manager system. You now need to activate your license. It needs to be done after every purchase or license renewal, so about once a year. To activate the license on a machine, you have two choices: online or offline activation.

A license can be activated on up to 5 different hardware (belonging to you), e.g. 1 computer using Linux, one laptop using Windows 10 and a virtual machine running Windows 11 would make 3 distinct activations. But don’t worry if you reach your activation limit, you can always contact us and we’ll find a way to make it work.

Note

It is totally safe to activate a software several times on the same machine: it won’t consume additional activation token!

### Online activation

If your computer is connected to the internet, activating the software is pretty easy. Open the activation dialog using the menu: Help ‣ Activate/show license. Enter your license, click `Activate` and voilà, you’re good to go!

Activate the software online

The activation performs a https request to https://license.malcat.fr so make sure your firewall is ok with that. If you have a system proxy defined, it should be used automatically. After activation, a message box will tell you how many activations you have left.

### Offline activation

If your computer is not connected to the internet, there is an offline activation procedure available. You will need a second computer (aka the relay) connected to the internet. First, on your offline computer, you have to copy the computer’s installation ID. Open the About dialog via Help ‣ About and copy the `Installation` field: this is a unique identifier for your hardware. Make also sure your license key ready.

Copy installation id for offline activation

Now go to your relay computer, the one with an active internet connexion, and navigate to Malcat’s license manager (you can also follow the direct link that you have received per email when you ordered Malcat). Now select your order and find the license you wish to activate. Once you have it, click on the button for `offline activation`. The license number is already pre-filled, you just have to paste the installation ID of the offline computer and click `Activate`:

Run the activation

If everything went well, you should see the screen below. Save the activation code.

Copy your activation code

Finally on your offline computer, run Malcat and open the license dialog using the menu: Help ‣ Activate/show license. Enter your activation code, click `Activate` and voilà, you’re good to go!

Paste the activation code there

Note that you don’t need to redo this process before your next license renewal.

## License management

### Renew your license

#### Why and when to renew your license?

You can use the full and pro versions of Malcat for as long as you want, but you will get updates (and access to the online instance of Kesakode) for one year only. After this period of time, you can continue to use the software skipping new updates, or renew your license at a 50% discount of the original (full) purchase price.

You don’t have to renew the license every year though, you may chose to renew your license at the time of your choice (even long after the 1 year threshold) and you will always benefit of the low license renewal price (50% of full price). Or if you are happy with the current set of features, you don’t have to renew at all. We don’t want to milk users every year. It’s up to us to convince you that Malcat’s improvements are worth it.

#### License renewal process

When you have bought your first copy of Malcat, you got per email a direct link to your order hosted on Malcat’s license manager. At the bottom of the page, you will the the license renewal dialog shown below. Fill it to your need and proceed to checkout.

The license renewal screen on Malcat’s license manager website

A couple of information regarding license renewal:

- You will get new license IDs that you need to activate once, exactly like for the previous license(s) (cf. Activate the software)

- License order does not matter, use any new license to renew any old license

- The validity period of the renewed license is one year starting effectively from the day of the renewal (so don’t renew while your license is still running)

- The price of a license renewal is 50% of the original (full) price of the software

- That’s it!

You can now install new versions of the software for one year, congratulations!