Software Verify Tools vs GlowCode
GlowCode from Electric Software, Inc. is a memory profiler, performance profiler, and – per its features page – a code coverage and execution tracing tool for C, C++, C#, and .NET on Windows.
The most recent known version is v10.0 Build 1002.1.
MSVC support ends with Visual Studio 2017.
Windows support ends with Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019 – Windows 11 is not supported.
As of June 2026, the website is in an advanced state of disrepair: it loads without graphics or CSS, renders portions of its content in Thai rather than English, and evaluation downloads do not work.
This guide compares GlowCode with Software Verify products across all four claimed capability areas.
Tools in Scope
GlowCode’s features page claims four capability areas, each mapping to a Software Verify tool. A fifth Software Verify tool – Thread Validator – covers capabilities that GlowCode does not include at all.
- Memory Validator – for GlowCode’s memory and resource leak detection capabilities
- Performance Validator – for GlowCode’s code profiling and performance analysis capabilities
- Coverage Validator – for GlowCode’s code coverage capability
- Bug Validator – for GlowCode’s execution tracing capability
- Thread Validator – no GlowCode equivalent. GlowCode has no deadlock detection and thread error detection capability.
Note: Code coverage and execution tracing are listed on GlowCode’s features page. No supporting documentation is available – the website is non-functional and the evaluation download did not work as of June 2026. These features are taken at face value from the features page. The product has not been updated since Visual Studio 2017.
Quick Summary: Memory Analysis
| Capability | GlowCode | Memory Validator |
|---|---|---|
| Heap memory leak detection | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| .NET managed heap | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| GDI handle tracking | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Win32 handle tracking | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Summary / overview page | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Statistical views (type, size) | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| .NET views (ages, generations) | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Memory hotspot view | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Query and search | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Watermarks | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Bookmarks | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Custom hooking | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Developer API | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Mixed-mode (native + .NET) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Windows Service / IIS profiling | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Rust support | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Highest supported MSVC | VS 2017 | VS 2026 (VC6 through current) |
| GCC / Clang / MinGW | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Delphi support | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Windows 11 support | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Windows Server 2022 support | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
Quick Summary: Performance Analysis
| Capability | GlowCode | Performance Validator |
|---|---|---|
| Function-level profiling | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Call tree / call graph | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Sampling mode | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Instrumented mode | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| .NET profiling | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Function timing on by default | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Line timing | ❌ No | ✅ Yes (off by default) |
| Windows Service / IIS profiling | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Highest supported MSVC | VS 2019+ (PDB-based instrumentation) | VS 2026 (VC6 through current) |
| GCC / Clang / MinGW | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Delphi support | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Windows 11 support | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Windows Server 2022 support | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
Quick Summary: Thread Error Detection
| Capability | GlowCode | Thread Validator |
|---|---|---|
| Deadlock detection | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Potential deadlock detection | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Lock-order violation detection | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Out-of-order critical section detection | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Stalled thread detection | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Wait chain analysis | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| No recompile required | N/A | ✅ Yes |
| Native C++ support | N/A | ✅ Yes |
GlowCode’s Capabilities
GlowCode provides both memory analysis and performance profiling in a single tool – teams who need both can buy one product rather than two.
Memory side: GlowCode tracks heap allocations and reports leaks for C/C++, C#, and .NET applications. It includes GDI handle tracking and Win32 handles. It reports leaks and handle counts – allocation stack traces, sizes, and locations. What it does not provide is a summary overview page, statistical views by memory type or size, .NET views by allocation age or generation, a memory hotspot view, query and search, watermarks, bookmarks, custom hooking, or a developer API. It does not support profiling Windows services or IIS-hosted applications.
Performance side: GlowCode provides function-level profiling with both sampling and instrumented modes, call trees, and hot-path identification. It supports native C++ and .NET. Profiling uses PDB-based binary instrumentation (the same approach as Performance Validator) – applications built with VS 2019 or later can be profiled. Function timing is on by default. It does not provide line-level timing. GlowCode does not support profiling Windows services or IIS-hosted applications.
Coverage and tracing: GlowCode’s features page lists code coverage and execution tracing. No documentation is available – the website is non-functional and the evaluation download did not work as of June 2026. These features are taken at face value from the features page; the product has not been updated since Visual Studio 2017.
Thread errors: GlowCode has no thread error detection capability. Deadlock detection, lock-order violation analysis, and stalled thread identification are not part of GlowCode’s feature set.
Memory profiling tops out at VS 2017. Performance profiling extends to VS 2019 and later via PDB-based binary instrumentation.
The Compiler and OS Gap
GlowCode uses PDB-based binary instrumentation for both memory and performance profiling – the same approach as Performance Validator. For memory profiling, MSVC support tops out at Visual Studio 2017. Any developer on VS 2019 or later is building binaries that GlowCode’s memory analysis has not been confirmed to support – seven years of Visual Studio releases, covering VS 2019, VS 2022, and VS 2026.
For code coverage, performance profiling and execution tracing, the PDB-based instrumentation works on applications built with VS 2019 and later.
GlowCode does not support GCC, Clang, MinGW, Delphi, or Rust for memory analysis.
The OS gap compounds this. GlowCode supports Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019. It does not support Windows 11 (released October 2021) or Windows Server 2022. A developer on a current Windows 11 workstation or deploying to a Windows Server 2022 host is running GlowCode on an unsupported OS.
Coverage Validator, Memory Validator, Performance Validator, Thread Validator and Bug Validator support MSVC VC6 through VS 2026, GCC, Clang, Delphi, C++Builder, Fortran, Rust, Windows 10 and 11, and all current Windows Server versions.
Software Verify: Separate Products, Broader Coverage
Software Verify separates memory analysis (Memory Validator) and performance analysis (Performance Validator). A team that needs both will license two products. The advantage is that each product is fully developed and maintained in its own right.
Coverage Validator vs GlowCode (code coverage): Coverage Validator provides code coverage for native C++ and .NET across the same MSVC VC6 through VS 2026 range. It adds code coverage merging, Windows Service profiling, IIS profiling, and Windows 11 / Server 2022 support.
Memory Validator vs GlowCode (memory): Memory Validator covers the same heap, handle, and .NET managed memory that GlowCode covers, and adds a full analytical environment above the detection layer. Where GlowCode reports that a leak occurred, Memory Validator provides a summary page, multiple statistical views broken down by memory type and size, .NET views by allocation age and generation, a memory hotspot view, and advanced query and search. Watermarks and bookmarks let you mark points in a session for direct comparison; custom hooking and a developer API let you integrate memory analysis into your own test and build workflows. It supports MSVC through VS 2026, GCC, Clang, Delphi, C++Builder, and Fortran – and Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022.
Performance Validator vs GlowCode (performance): Performance Validator provides instrumented and sampling profiling for native C++ and .NET across the same MSVC VC6 through VS 2026 range. It adds line-level timing, Windows Service profiling, IIS profiling, and Windows 11 / Server 2022 support.
Thread Validator – no GlowCode equivalent: Thread Validator detects deadlocks, potential deadlocks, lock-order violations, out-of-order critical section acquisitions, and stalled threads in native C++ applications. No recompile required. GlowCode has no thread error detection at all – this is not a gap in depth, it is an absent capability.
Bug Validator vs GlowCode (execution tracing): Bug Validator provides execution tracing for native C/C++ across the same MSVC VC6 through VS 2026 range. It also supports Windows Service profiling, IIS profiling, and Windows 11 / Server 2022 support. 32 bit only. This tool is in Beta.
The Compiler Ceiling
GlowCode’s memory analysis tops out at Visual Studio 2017. VS 2019, VS 2022, and VS 2026 – four years of releases – are outside its confirmed support envelope for memory profiling. Performance profiling uses PDB-based instrumentation and works with VS 2019 and later; the compiler ceiling applies to memory analysis specifically.
Any team currently building with a VS 2019 or later toolchain should verify GlowCode’s memory profiling behaviour before relying on it for production leak analysis.
One Tool vs the Right Tool
GlowCode claims to do four things: detect memory and handle leaks, profile performance, measure code coverage, and trace execution. One tool, one licence, four jobs.
That is the Swiss army knife proposition. Every developer has one. They are genuinely useful when you are somewhere without the right tool and you need to get something done. But when you are back at your bench doing real work, you reach for the chef’s knife – the tool built for exactly the job in front of you.
The question with GlowCode is whether a tool built to do four things does any of them as well as a tool built to do one.
Thread error detection is not even in GlowCode’s feature set. That is not a Swiss army knife with a blunt blade – it is a Swiss army knife with no blade at all for that job.
Memory Validator, Performance Validator, Coverage Validator, Bug Validator, and Thread Validator are the chef’s knives equivalent – each designed for one job and built to do it thoroughly.
Software Verify tools are bought separately, one per job. That separation is the point – each tool exists to do one thing thoroughly, without making trade-offs for the demands of three others.
Licence Model
GlowCode is a commercial product with a perpetual licence. Pricing is not publicly listed on the website; as of June 2026 the website is non-functional and pricing cannot be confirmed.
Coverage Validator, Memory Validator, Performance Validator and Thread Validator are commercial products with perpetual licences. All are available as a 30-day free trial.
Bug Validator is currently in beta.
All Software Verify tools can be purchased individually or as part of the suite. Software maintenance can be renewed on an annual basis.