PHD2 is the second generation of Craig Stark's original PHD application. PHD became a fixture of the amateur astronomy community with more than a quarter million downloads. From its inception, it has successfully embraced three seemingly conflicting objectives:
- For the beginning or casual imager, to deliver ease of use and good guiding performance "out of the box".
- For the experienced imager, to deliver sophisticated guiding algorithms, extensive options for tuning, and broad support for imaging equipment.
- For all users, to consistently exhibit a commercial level of quality while being available free of charge.
Since the original code was released to open-source in 2013, it has been completely overhauled to make it more extensible and supportable. With the restructuring in place, substantial new features and capabilities have been added, many of which focus on helping you achieve better guiding results. Users of PHD2 can be confident it will remain committed to the three objectives that made the original application so successful.
Publisher’s description
What is PHD 2?
PHD 2 is an open-source firewall & privacy program for Windows from Open PHD Guiding. It is written in C++.
Installation and requirements
Official installers exist for 32-bit as EXE (Inno Setup). The main installer is 32.2 MB. Installation asks for administrator rights. The installer supports unattended (silent) installation.
Updates and version history
The current version is 2.6.14, released on December 29, 2025. 2 versions are listed since December 22, 2023, each with links to its own installer files. That is about 1 releases a year.
Popularity and file types
The source code on GitHub (OpenPHDGuiding/phd2) has 302 stars. Similar programs include OnionShare, Portmaster and Prey Anti-Theft.
Project description on GitHub: “PHD2 Guiding”
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Open source: the code can be inspected and built by anyone
- Documented silent install
Cons
- No native ARM64 build
- 32-bit only
- Installation needs administrator rights
In short: PHD 2 is an open-source firewall & privacy tool for 32-bit PCs. Administrators can deploy it unattended.
Is PHD 2 safe to download?
- The file is served by openphdguiding.org, the publisher’s own domain
- The download link uses HTTPS
- A SHA256 hash is published, so you can verify the file:
D7A21F67DE32B901C6D173DA9A27D765A0D98874798F898DF6CA51CD5453B5FF· Open the VirusTotal report for this hash - The link answered when we last checked it (October 22, 2026)
- The source code is public
- ExeAtlas does not host, wrap or modify installers
Related guide: How to check a file’s SHA256 hash on Windows
Recent versions
All 2 versions ›2 versions over 2 years · about 1 a year
| Version | Date | Size | Files |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.6.14Latest | December 29, 2025 | 32.2 MB | 32-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 2.6.13 | December 22, 2023 | — | 32-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
Install from the command line
Silent install ›winget install --id OpenPHDGuiding.PHD2 -ephd2-2.6.14-installer.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART /SP-Related guide: How to use winget: install and update apps
Information
- Publisher
- Open PHD Guiding
- Category
- Firewall & privacy
- Licence
- BSD-3-Clause
- Price
- Free
- Source code
- github.com/OpenPHDGuiding/phd2
- Written in
- C++
- Requires
- Windows 11 / 10
- Architecture
- 32-bit
- Installer
- EXE (Inno Setup)
- Version
- 2.6.14
- Released
- December 29, 2025
- Added to the catalogue
- March 6, 2025
- Versions listed
- 2
- Updates / year
- 1
- GitHub stars
- 302
- GitHub forks
- 140
- Website
- openphdguiding.org
- winget ID
- OpenPHDGuiding.PHD2
Ratings and reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate it.
Alternatives to PHD 2
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Frequently asked questions
Is PHD 2 free?
Yes. PHD 2 is open-source software under the BSD-3-Clause licence.
Is PHD 2 safe to download?
The download comes from openphdguiding.org, which belongs to the publisher; ExeAtlas does not host or change the file. Compare its SHA256 hash with the one shown here, or open the VirusTotal report for that hash.
How do I install PHD 2 with winget?
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run the winget command shown on this page. winget downloads the official installer and checks its SHA256 hash before running it.
Can PHD 2 be installed silently?
Yes. The silent install page lists the exact command for each installer.
Does PHD 2 run on ARM (Windows on Arm)?
There is no ARM64 build; Windows 11 on Arm can run the 32-bit version through emulation.
Where can I download an older version of PHD 2?
The versions page lists all 2 versions with links to their official installer files, back to December 22, 2023.
What are alternatives to PHD 2?
OnionShare, Portmaster, Prey Anti-Theft, dnscrypt-proxy and DingTalk Workspace CLI. The alternatives page compares them.
