About c't

c't

c't – Magazin für Computertechnik is Germany's leading computer-technology magazine, published fortnightly by Heise Medien in Hanover. Founded in 1983, it is one of Europe's most respected IT publications, renowned for its independent, technically rigorous journalism: in-depth tests, background analyses, security research and practical know-how for everyone from the ambitious home user to the IT professional. The magazine's name derives from the "computing technology" it covers, and its digital home is heise.de/ct within the heise online portal — one of the most-visited German-language technology websites.

Overview

c't appears every two weeks and addresses readers who want to understand technology deeply: the hardware enthusiast, the software tinkerer, the security-conscious user and the IT professional. Each issue carries extensive test reports — hardware tested in the magazine's own labs with detailed measurements — alongside background features on technology trends, security analyses, programming and maker topics, and the practical workshops that teach readers to master their systems.

The magazine's defining characteristic is independence: c't is famous for testing without regard to manufacturers' sensitivities, for disclosing test methods in detail, and for the thoroughness of its security research — including the responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities. Its verdicts carry weight in the German-speaking IT world precisely because they are earned rather than granted.

History

c't was founded in 1983 by the Heise publishing house of Hanover — initially emerging from the electronics magazine elrad's computer coverage — at the dawn of the personal-computer era. The first issues documented the home-computer revolution: the Commodore 64, the Schneider CPC, the early IBM compatibles. As the PC conquered the office and then the home, c't grew into the authoritative German voice of computer technology, its fortnightly rhythm keeping pace with an industry that reinvented itself every eighteen months.

Through the decades the magazine chronicled every transformation: the Windows era, the internet revolution, the open-source movement, the mobile age, cloud computing, and now artificial intelligence. The c't test lab became legendary for its rigour — power-consumption measurements, noise analyses, display calibrations, security audits — and the magazine's security team has repeatedly uncovered significant vulnerabilities, disclosing them responsibly and forcing the industry to respond.

Heise Medien, the Hanover-based publishing and media group, grew around c't into one of Germany's leading technology publishers, with heise online, the iX professional magazine, Mac & i, Technology Review's German edition and a portfolio of events including the heise security conferences.

The 1983 founding context is worth recalling: c't emerged from the electronics magazine elrad's computer coverage, at the moment the home computer was becoming a mass phenomenon. The Commodore 64, the Schneider CPC, the Sinclair Spectrum — these were the machines of the first c't readers, and the magazine's early issues taught a generation to program, to solder and to understand the machines they had brought into their homes. That pedagogical impulse — the magazine as teacher, not just reporter — has remained central through every subsequent platform shift, from the PC to the internet to the smartphone to AI.

Content

Hardware tests are the core: CPUs, graphics cards, mainboards, storage, displays, notebooks, smartphones and peripherals are tested in the c't lab with detailed measurements — performance benchmarks, power consumption, noise levels, display quality — and the results presented in the comprehensive tables the magazine's readers expect. The test methods are disclosed openly, allowing readers to assess the verdicts' foundations.

Security is a signature: the magazine's security analyses dissect malware, vulnerabilities, encryption and privacy topics with a depth unmatched in the general press, and its responsible disclosures have repeatedly made industry news. Software coverage spans operating systems — Windows, macOS, Linux — applications, programming languages and the open-source world, with practical workshops teaching everything from network configuration to Python scripting.

Background features analyse the technology industry's directions — AI, quantum computing, chip architectures, the politics of technology — while the maker and DIY sections serve the hands-on reader. The famous "c't-Leserbriefe" (readers' letters) and the magazine's insider humour give the title a community character rare in technology publishing.

The security research deserves particular emphasis, for it is where c't's independence has had its most visible public impact. The magazine's security team has repeatedly uncovered significant vulnerabilities — in software, in hardware, in the infrastructure of everyday digital life — and disclosed them responsibly: informing the vendor, allowing time for fixes, then publishing the analysis that forces the industry and the public to confront the problem. This is expensive, difficult journalism — it requires expertise the general press lacks and a willingness to displease the industry's giants that the advertising-dependent press cannot afford. That a Hanover magazine publishing house sustains it, issue after issue, is a large part of why c't's reputation extends far beyond its readership.

Coverage & Audience

c't is sold throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland at newsstands and by subscription, appearing fortnightly, and heise.de — with the c't section at heise.de/ct — is one of the most-visited German-language technology portals. The readership is the technically engaged: IT professionals, developers, administrators, ambitious home users and the maker community — readers who want depth rather than headlines.

The magazine's influence extends into the industry: manufacturers submit products to the c't lab knowing the verdicts are respected by the trade and by buyers, and the security research shapes the practices of German IT. Among European technology publications, c't's combination of lab rigour, editorial independence and security expertise remains distinctive.

Ownership

c't is published by Heise Medien GmbH & Co. KG, the Hanover-based media group founded around the magazine. Heise Medien is one of Germany's leading special-interest publishers, with a portfolio spanning heise online, the iX IT-professional magazine, Mac & i, the German edition of MIT Technology Review, Telepolis and a range of events and services. The company remains family-owned, with its headquarters in Hanover.

The family ownership and the publishing house's identity as a technology specialist — rather than a generalist media conglomerate — underpin c't's editorial independence. The magazine's editors operate with the freedom to criticise the industry's giants, a freedom the title has exercised consistently for four decades.

Digital Presence

heise.de is the digital home of the brand and one of the most important German-language technology portals: daily news from the IT world, the c't test content, security analyses, forums and the legendary heise comment community — knowledgeable, critical and often entertaining. The c't section at heise.de/ct gathers the magazine's digital content, and the e-paper editions serve readers who prefer the fortnightly magazine on screen.

The heise forums are an institution of German internet culture: the informed, sometimes combative discussions beneath the articles are read as avidly as the articles themselves. For the technically engaged reader, the combination of the fortnightly magazine's depth and heise online's daily currency and community makes c't the complete medium of computer technology.

The fortnightly rhythm gives c't its currency: the hardware tests as the products appear, the security findings as they emerge, the industry's fortnight digested with the depth the subject requires. The c't lab is the methodology's home: the benchmarks, the power measurements, the display analyses — the data that make the test verdicts trustworthy. The security research is the magazine's most consequential journalism: the vulnerabilities uncovered, responsibly disclosed, then published — the expensive, difficult work that the advertising-dependent press cannot afford and the general press cannot perform. The heise forums extend the magazine into the community: the discussions where the readers — the administrators, the developers, the enthusiasts — debate the articles with the expertise of practitioners. The special issues serve the reference shelf: the deep dives into the technologies that define the era, kept long after the news cycle. In the German technology press, c't holds the position it has held since 1983: the magazine for those who want to understand the machine — its hardware, its software, its security, its implications — with the thoroughness the subject deserves and the independence the reader requires.