netcat AlternativesNetwork Monitors and other similar apps like netcat

netcat is described as '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' and is a Network Monitor in the network & admin category. There are more than 10 alternatives to netcat for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iPhone apps. The best netcat alternative is Wireshark, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like netcat are socat, Ettercap, PCAPdroid and pwncat.

netcat iconnetcat
  33
  • ...

Netcat is a featured networking utility which reads and writes data across network connections, using the TCP/IP protocol. ...

More about netcat
netcat alternatives page was last updated Sep 9, 2022
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Alternatives
  1. Wireshark icon
     912 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    54 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 netcat

     
    Comments about Wireshark as an Alternative to netcat
    SuperS06
    Negative Jan 28, 2021
    0

    Wireshark is a tool for monitoring network traffic. Netcat is a tool for generating traffic.

    netcat Icon
    Wireshark icon
    • Wireshark is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to netcat.

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

    • Wireshark is Free and Open Sourcenetcat is also Free and Open Source
  2. socat icon
     6 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    socat, SOcket CAT, is a relay for bidirectional data transfer between two independent data channels. Each of these data channels may be a file, pipe, device (serial line etc. or a pseudo terminal), a socket (UNIX, IP4, IP6 - raw, UDP, TCP), an SSL socket, proxy CONNECT...

    5 socat alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Linux

    socat Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Command line interface
    3.  Data transfer
    4.  Port Forwarding

    socat VS netcat

     
  3. Ettercap icon
     18 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    17 Ettercap alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    Ettercap Features

    1.  Network Tools
    2.  Based on Ubuntu

    Ettercap VS netcat

     
  4. PCAPdroid icon
     3 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    42 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 netcat

     
    • PCAPdroid is the most popular Android alternative to netcat.

    • PCAPdroid is Free and Open Sourcenetcat is also Free and Open Source
  5. pwncat icon
     4 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    pwncat - netcat on steroids with Firewall, IDS/IPS evasion, bind and reverse shell, self-injecting shell and port forwarding magic - and its fully scriptable with Python (PSE).

    3 pwncat alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD

    pwncat Features

    1.  Port Forwarding

    pwncat VS netcat

     
  6. SmartSniff icon
     12 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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...

    34 SmartSniff alternatives

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • IL flagIsrael

    Platforms

    • Windows

    SmartSniff Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Sockets

    SmartSniff VS netcat

     
  7. Packetyzer icon
     6 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Packetyzer provides a Windows user interface for the Ethereal packet capture and dissection library. Ethereal is used by network professionals around the world for troubleshooting, analysis, software and protocol development, and education.

    27 Packetyzer alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Discontinued

    Packetyzer VS netcat

     
  8.  2 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    PowerShell Iperf GUI - A PowerShell script to start iperf and show the output (similar to Jperf).

    9 PPerf alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Windows

    PPerf Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Graphical User Interface

    PPerf VS netcat

     
  9. PsPing icon
     2 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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...

    9 PsPing alternatives

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows

    PsPing Features

    1.  Network Tools

    PsPing VS netcat

     
  10.  3 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    tcpflow, a TCP Flow Recorder, is a program that captures data transmitted as part of TCP connections (flows), and stores the data in a way that is convenient for protocol analysis or debugging. A program like 'tcpdump' shows a summary of packets seen on the wire, but...

    16 tcpflow alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    tcpflow VS netcat

     
  11. Debookee icon
     2 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Debookee is the simplest & most powerful network traffic analyzer for macOS.

    14 Debookee alternatives

    License model

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Mac

    Debookee Features

    1.  Network Scanner

    Debookee VS netcat

     
    • Debookee is the most popular commercial alternative to netcat.

    • Debookee is Paid and Proprietarynetcat is Free and Open Source
  12. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Packet Sender can send and receive UDP, TCP, and SSL on the ports of your choosing. All servers and clients may run simultaneously.

    3 Packet Sender alternatives

    License model

    • FreemiumOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad

    Packet Sender Features

    1.  SSL
    2.  Network Tools

    Packet Sender VS netcat

     
    • Packet Sender is the most popular iPhone, iPad & Android Tablet alternative to netcat.

    • Packet Sender is Freemium and Open Sourcenetcat is Free and Open Source
12 of 21 netcat alternatives