Ethereal AlternativesNetwork Analyzers and other similar apps like Ethereal

Ethereal is described as 'Is used by network professionals around the world for troubleshooting, analysis, software and protocol development, and education. It has all of the standard features you would expect in a protocol analyzer, and several features not seen in any other product' and is a network analyzer in the network & admin category. There are more than 10 alternatives to Ethereal for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and BSD apps. The best Ethereal alternative is Wireshark, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Ethereal are tcpdump, NetworkMiner, Ettercap and netcat.

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Ethereal is used by network professionals around the world for troubleshooting, analysis, software and protocol...

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Ethereal alternatives page was last updated Sep 9, 2022
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  1. Wireshark icon
     925 likes
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    Wireshark is a premier network protocol analyzer used globally in industries and education, offering multi-platform support, deep protocol inspection, powerful display filters, and VoIP analysis. It allows both live capture and offline analysis, supporting various networks and protocols.

    55 Wireshark alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Homebrew
    • Chocolatey

    Wireshark Features

    1.  Detailed packet analysis
    2.  Network Usage History
    3.  Support for Android Things
    4.  Website Monitoring
    5.  Work Item Tracking
    6.  Command line interface

    Wireshark VS Ethereal

     
    • Wireshark is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Ethereal.

    • Wireshark is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Ethereal.

    • Wireshark is Free and Open SourceEthereal is also Free and Open Source
  2. tcpdump icon
     59 likes
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    tcpdump is a common packet analyzer that runs under the command line. It allows the user to intercept and display TCP/IP and other packets being transmitted or received over a network to which the computer is attached.

    26 tcpdump alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD

    tcpdump Features

    1.  Bib Tex Sniffer

    tcpdump VS Ethereal

     
  3. NetworkMiner icon
     17 likes
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    NetworkMiner is a Network Forensic Analysis Tool (NFAT) for Windows. NetworkMiner can parse PCAP files and regenerate/reassemble transmitted files and certificates from PCAP files with HTTP, FTP, SMB, SMB2, TFTP and several other protocols.

    35 NetworkMiner alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • SE flagSweden
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Windows

    NetworkMiner Features

    1.  Portable

    NetworkMiner VS Ethereal

     
  4. Ettercap icon
     18 likes
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    Ettercap is a suite for man in the middle attacks on LAN. It features sniffing of live connections, content filtering on the fly and many other interesting tricks.

    18 Ettercap alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    Ettercap Features

    1.  Network Tools
    2.  Based on Ubuntu

    Ettercap VS Ethereal

     
  5. netcat icon
     33 likes
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    Netcat is a featured networking utility which reads and writes data across network connections, using the TCP/IP protocol. It is designed to be a reliable "back-end" tool that can be used directly or easily driven by other programs and scripts.

    21 netcat alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Discontinued

    The last version (0.7.1) was released in January 2004.

    netcat Features

    1.  Connect
    2.  Support for IPv6
    3.  Peer-To-Peer
    4.  Network Tools

    netcat VS Ethereal

     
  6. SmartSniff icon
     13 likes
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    SmartSniff is a packet sniffer that capture TCP/IP packets and display them as sequence of conversations between clients and servers. You can view the TCP/IP conversations in Ascii mode (for text-based protocols, like HTTP, SMTP, POP3 and FTP) or as hex dump (for non-text base...

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • IL flagIsrael

    Platforms

    • Windows

    SmartSniff Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Sockets

    SmartSniff VS Ethereal

     
  7. PCAPdroid icon
     3 likes
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    PCAPdroid is an android app to capture the phone traffic and analyze it remotely (e.g. via Wireshark). The traffic can be easily downloaded from a remote device thanks to the integrated HTTP server, or streamed to a remote UDP receiver.

    43 PCAPdroid alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • IT flagItaly
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Android
    • F-Droid

    PCAPdroid Features

    1.  Traffic Monitoring
    2.  HTTP Monitoring

    PCAPdroid VS Ethereal

     
    • PCAPdroid is the most popular Android alternative to Ethereal.

    • PCAPdroid is Free and Open SourceEthereal is also Free and Open Source
  8. PsPing icon
     2 likes
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    PsPing is a command-line utility for measuring network performance. In addition to standard ICMP ping functionality, it can report the latency of connecting to TCP ports, the latency of TCP and UDP round-trip communication between systems, and the TCP or UDP bandwidth available...

    10 PsPing alternatives

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows

    PsPing Features

    1.  Network Tools

    PsPing VS Ethereal

     
  9. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Capsa performs real-time packet capturing, 24/7 network monitoring, protocol analysis, in-depth packet decoding, and automatic expert diagnosis.

    License model

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Colasoft Capsa Features

    1.  Portable

    Colasoft Capsa VS Ethereal

     
    • Colasoft Capsa is the most popular commercial alternative to Ethereal.

    • Colasoft Capsa is Paid and ProprietaryEthereal is Free and Open Source
  10. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Native Cocoa app for capturing and analyzing packets. Similar to Wireshark, but with a native interface (and less features). If you don't like the X11 GTK Wireshark, this is your app.

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac

    Cocoa Packet Analyzer VS Ethereal

     
  11. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    MicroOLAP TCPDUMP is a clone of tcpdump , the most used network sniffer/analyzer for UNIX, compiled with the original tcpdump code (http://www.tcpdump.org/), and MicroOLAP Packet Sniffer SDK.

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • UA flagUkraine

    Platforms

    • Windows

    MicroOLAP TCPDUMP Features

    1.  Portable

    MicroOLAP TCPDUMP VS Ethereal

     
  12. Pirni Pro icon
     1 like
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    Pirni Pro is a network security tool designed for iOS, and specifically for iPhone and iPod Touch devices. It is capable of intercepting traffic on a wireless network segment, capturing passwords, and regular expressions entered by the user.

    License model

    Application type

    Platforms

    • iPhone
    Discontinued

    The latest update is from January 2014.

    Pirni Pro Features

    1.  Support for regular expressions
    2.  Network Scanner
    3.  Filtering
    4.  Jailbreak required

    Pirni Pro VS Ethereal

     
    • Pirni Pro is the most popular iPhone alternative to Ethereal.

    • Pirni Pro is Paid and ProprietaryEthereal is Free and Open Source
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