REA vs Ghidra vs IDA

Unofficial guide. This site is an independent community guide and is not affiliated with the REA project. For authoritative docs see the official REA website and the morluto/rea GitHub repository. Commands here are taken from the official README/docs (checked 2026-10-13); REA changes quickly, so verify against the official docs.

The key point: REA is not a disassembler competing with Ghidra or IDA. For native binaries REA uses an existing Hopper, Ghidra or IDA installation as its analysis provider, and exposes the results to your AI agent through MCP with evidence attached.

	REA	Ghidra	IDA Pro
What it is	MCP server + CLI for agents	Disassembler/decompiler suite (NSA, open source)	Commercial disassembler/decompiler (Hex-Rays)
License	MIT	Apache 2.0	Commercial
Primary user	Your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor…)	Human analyst in GUI	Human analyst in GUI
Native binaries	Via Hopper, Ghidra or IDA	Built in	Built in
JS/Electron, .NET, websites, HAR	Built in	Not the focus	Not the focus
Output	Findings + evidence + limitations for the agent	Interactive project	Interactive database

When to use which

Use REA when you want an agent to answer “how does this feature work?” and build a version of it, across native and non-native targets.
Use Ghidra as a free native backend for REA, or by hand for deep manual analysis.
Use IDA if you already own a license; REA can use it as a provider (see the official IDA guide).

REA grants no license for IDA, Hopper or JEB. You must legally obtain commercial tools.

FAQ

Does REA replace Ghidra?

No. REA can use Ghidra as its native analysis provider and adds an agent-facing MCP layer plus JavaScript, .NET, web and Android analysis.

Can REA use IDA Pro?

Yes, an existing IDA installation can be a provider. You need your own legal IDA license.

Which is cheapest?

REA and Ghidra are both free and open source; together they give a zero-cost native reverse-engineering setup for AI agents.