Best Application Control Software for Windows of 2025

ManageEngine's Endpoint Central, formerly Desktop Central, is a Unified Endpoint Management Solution that manages enterprise mobility management, including all features of mobile app management and mobile device management, as well as client management for a wide range of endpoints such as mobile devices, laptops computers, tablets, servers, and other machines. ManageEngine Endpoint Central allows users to automate their desktop management tasks such as installing software, patching, managing IT assets, imaging, and deploying OS.

Enhance the capabilities of your system administrators and users with App Control. Select from a variety of criteria such as file location, publisher, certificate, vendor name, software title, MD5 hash, and additional options to easily permit or restrict application launches. Gain mastery over your system according to your preferences.

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform provides extensive application control with features like ring-fencing and selective elevation, ensuring meticulous execution management. Offering learning mode and extensive support, it integrates threat detection and activity monitoring to enhance compliance, reduce costs, and bolster cybersecurity through alerts and approvals. Despite its strengths, there are areas for improvement in training flexibility, policy updates, and interface enhancements, along with challenges in handling non-digitally signed software. Deployed across environments, it works well with existing cybersecurity instruments for real-time threat prevention.

Unified Endpoint Management system that is modular, scalable, and highly affordable for IT management, security, and workflow automation. Modules can be accessed from one interface, a single database. You can choose from any of the 18 modules available now and add more as you need for OS Install & Cloning and Patch Management, Vulnerability Management and MDM.

Identify and populate all local administrator accounts on endpoints across your IT network. Eliminate local administrators and prevent malware and ransomware propagation in your network. Replace privileges with a seamless permission based system for smooth employee experience. Discover and add applications that require elevated privileges to run automatically. Whitelist and blacklist applications using comprehensive application control policies. Enforce principle of least privilege and principle of zero-trust across the organization. Comply with industry regulations with complete audit trails and record all activities. Track application usage across the organization using comprehensive reports and gain insights that help you with creating policies for smoother experience.

Privileges and associated credentials are extremely important as they grant access to your organization's most sensitive information. The type of sensitive information varies a lot based on the industry. For example, healthcare organizations hold a lot of patient data and banks and financial institutions hold payment details, customer data. It is important to lock down access to these privileged accounts. Often, these accounts are left unmanaged and spread around the entire organization. You need a Privileged Access Management solution like Securden Unified PAM that helps consolidate all privileged identities and accounts into a centralized vault for easy management. Restrict access to these privileged accounts and enforce principle of Just-in-time access. Users can launch one-click remote connections to IT assets they have access to. Monitor and manage remote sessions launched by users, third party vendors, IT admin with shadowing capabilities. Eliminate local admin rights from endpoints and use application control policies to efficiently enforce Zero-Trust without impacting productivity. Record and track all activities with comprehensive audit trails and actionable reports and ensure compliance with industry standards.

Privilege Manager is the most complete endpoint privilege elevation and control solution, and it operates at cloud speed. By removing administrative rights from local endpoints and implementing policies-based controls on applications, you can prevent malware exploiting these applications. Privilege Manager prevents malware attacks and does not cause any friction for end users. This slows down productivity. Privilege Manager is available on-premises or in the cloud. Fast-growing companies and teams can manage hundreds to thousands of machines using Privilege Manager. Privilege Manager makes it easier than ever for executives and auditors to manage endpoints. It includes built-in application control, real time threat intelligence, and actionable reports.

Heimdal Application Control offers a new approach to integrative app management and user rights curation. App Control is modular and easy to set-up. It allows the system administrator to create all encompassing rule-based frameworks and streamline auto-dismissal and auto-approval flows. It also enforces individual rights per Active Directory group. The uniqueness of the tool comes from its ability, in perfect coordination with a (PAM), Privileged Access Management solution. This allows for the user to have granular oversight over software inventories and hardware assets.

PC Matic Pro incorporates application whitelisting as an essential protective barrier that enhances existing endpoint security measures. This zero trust approach effectively thwarts hacking attempts and cyber threats. It effectively halts the execution of malware, ransomware, and harmful scripts, ensuring robust protection for business data, users, and the network through our specialized whitelist cybersecurity system. Representing a significant advancement in the cybersecurity landscape, PC Matic Pro is a necessary evolution toward comprehensive prevention. Given the current threats targeting critical infrastructure, various industries, and government entities, such a proactive stance is imperative. It features a patented default-deny security mechanism at the device level that prevents all unknown executions without creating complications for IT teams. In contrast to traditional security options, there is no need for customer infections to enhance the whitelisting framework. Furthermore, local overrides can be implemented post-prevention with an emphasis on precision, allowing organizations to maintain a worry-free environment without needing to react to existing threats. This ensures a fortified defense that adapts seamlessly to evolving cyber risks.

The NGFW TrusGuard has received recognition through a comprehensive market evaluation for its advanced technology, robust performance, and consistent stability. This firewall solution, along with its features such as IPS, application control, VPN, C&C, Anti-Virus/Anti-Spam, and Data Loss Prevention (DLP), provides crucial protection for business environments. TrusGuard boasts a comprehensive range of models, catering to everything from entry-level systems to data center solutions. It is designed to scale efficiently, safeguarding high-performance networks and adeptly managing increasing network traffic, thanks to its optimization for high-performance multicore environments. The system guarantees network stability and fortifies resources—including websites, database servers, applications, and client machines—against unknown cyber threats through a three-step defense mechanism. It is fully equipped to support IPv6 network environments, ensuring seamless integration. By significantly reducing the total cost of operation (TCO), it offers financial advantages over the amalgamation of multiple security products, ultimately alleviating the operational and labor costs tied to managing various security solutions. This consolidation not only enhances productivity but also improves overall network efficiency, making it an indispensable asset for modern businesses.

The PolicyPak Platform offers organizations a range of editions tailored to their specific management and security needs. In the current hybrid work landscape, users frequently access their desktops from various locations, including the office, home, while traveling, through kiosks, and virtually. This diversity in access poses significant challenges for managing and securing these environments, as many management systems were not originally designed to handle contemporary scenarios. PolicyPak addresses this issue by providing innovative solutions that enhance and modernize your existing infrastructure. By integrating PolicyPak with Active Directory, you can streamline the management and security of computers joined to Active Directory using Microsoft Group Policy. Although Microsoft Group Policy is a robust tool that you depend on regularly, it requires enhancements to effectively address the management, security, reporting, and automation demands of today's enterprises. With PolicyPak, organizations can overcome these challenges and adapt to the modern digital workspace more efficiently.

Airlock Digital delivers an easy-to-manage and scalable application control solution to protect endpoints with confidence. Built by cybersecurity professionals and trusted by organizations worldwide, Airlock Digital enforces a Deny by Default security posture to block all untrusted code, including unknown applications, unwanted scripts, malware, and ransomware.