WinDbg vs CUDA-GDB

WinDbg9.0Visit CUDA-GDB8.3Visit

Higher score WinDbg #3 in Debuggers 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Microsoft

vs

CUDA-GDB #8 in Debuggers 8.3/10 Open source ✓ 3 of 5 features Visit NVIDIA

• WinDbg fits best

  Windows and kernel debugging

• CUDA-GDB fits best

  CUDA CPU/GPU debugging

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Side by side

Feature	WinDbg 9.0/10 Visit ↗	CUDA-GDB 8.3/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.3
Ranking	#3 in Debuggers	#8 in Debuggers
Best for	Windows and kernel debugging	CUDA CPU/GPU debugging
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Open source
Free plan	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Desktop	Desktop
Platforms	Windows	Linux
Support	Docs	Email, Community, Docs
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features WinDbg 5/5 · CUDA-GDB 3/5
Remote debugging	✓	✓
Conditional breakpoints	✓	✓
Exception breakpoints	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Time-travel debugging	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Core dump debugging	✓	✓
Specs
Supported languages	C++, C#, JavaScript, assembly	C/C++, Fortran
Target platforms	Windows; Linux crash dumps	Linux, QNX
Our review
Pros	Combines user-mode and kernel-mode debugging for Windows code and drivers Supports crash dumps, remote sessions, and configurable exception handling Time Travel Debugging records and replays execution for deeper analysis	Debugs CPU and GPU code simultaneously Supports CUDA C/C++, Fortran, remote sessions, and core dumps Inspects GPU state across multi-GPU debugging sessions
Cons	Its primary focus is Windows rather than cross-platform debugging Linux support centers on kernel and ELF core-dump analysis The broad feature set may be more than basic application debugging requires	Focused on NVIDIA GPU development Listed platform coverage centers on Linux Command-line workflow may not suit every development team
Our verdict	WinDbg is Microsoft’s debugger for live user-mode and kernel-mode code, crash dumps, and minidumps. It is aimed at software developers, driver developers, system engineers, and incident investigators working with Windows applications,… Read the review →	CUDA-GDB is NVIDIA's open-source extension to the GNU Project Debugger for debugging CUDA applications on actual NVIDIA hardware. It is aimed at developers working with CUDA C/C++, CUDA Fortran, and mixed CPU/GPU programs who need one… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• WinDbg — where it wins

  • Combines user-mode and kernel-mode debugging for Windows code and drivers
  • Supports crash dumps, remote sessions, and configurable exception handling
  • Time Travel Debugging records and replays execution for deeper analysis

  Where it doesn't

  • Its primary focus is Windows rather than cross-platform debugging
  • Linux support centers on kernel and ELF core-dump analysis
  • The broad feature set may be more than basic application debugging requires

• CUDA-GDB — where it wins

  • Debugs CPU and GPU code simultaneously
  • Supports CUDA C/C++, Fortran, remote sessions, and core dumps
  • Inspects GPU state across multi-GPU debugging sessions

  Where it doesn't

  • Focused on NVIDIA GPU development
  • Listed platform coverage centers on Linux
  • Command-line workflow may not suit every development team

• WinDbg9.0/10 · Free plan

  A free, deeply capable debugger for Windows applications, drivers, and crash analysis.

  Visit MicrosoftFull verdict →
• CUDA-GDB8.3/10 · Open source

  A capable open-source debugger for inspecting CUDA CPU and GPU execution together.

  Visit NVIDIAFull verdict →